The Mt. Hope High School football team secured the win it needed to solidify its spot in the 2026 Division III championship tournament when the locals thumped visiting North Providence, 42-22, to close out their regular season Saturday morning, Oct. 31, at Veterans Field in Warren.

Mt. Hope improved to 4-4 overall with victory. The Huskies entered the week slotted in the sixth and last playoff spot in the league's power ratings. Courtesy of the victory, they moved up to fifth in the final standings with 2.003 points.

Mt. Hope will travel to fourth-seeded Chariho in the tourney quarterfinals Friday night, Nov. 6. The Chargers (6-2) beat winless Moses Brown/Excel Academy co-op in their finale to narrowly gain the fourth seed over the Huskies with a rating of 2.030.

The Huskies and Chargers did not meet in the regular season. They had one common opponent, Lincoln, both defeating the Lions. Mt. Hope beat Lincoln, 19-8, while Chariho needed two overtime series to better the Lions, 39-38.

North Providence not only lost the game to Mt. Hope, but also lost out on hosting a playoff game. The Cougars wound up with a 4-4 record and fell from third to sixth in the ratings with 1.870 points.

Playoff notes
The survivor of the Huskies-Chargers quarter advances to the semifinals where they'll face top-seeded Davies Career and Tech. Mt. Hope and the first-place Patriots did not play this fall.

Davies finished atop the D-III regular season standings with a 7-1 mark and with a better power rating than Cranston East even though it lost to the undefeated Thunderbolts (8-0).

The Patriots had a slightly higher rating (3.044-2.947) because they played and defeated a pair of D-II teams (Classical and Burrillville) while one of East's wins came against the D-IV Providence Country Day/Juanita Sanchez co-op.

Cranston East is the two seed and draws into the semis where the Bolts await the winner of the three-six quarter matchup between East Greenwich (7-1/2.819) and North Providence also taking place this weekend.

Finale notes
Against the Cougars, the Huskies were off and running, literally, when quarterback Will Francis kept the carry on the first play from scrimmage and raced 80 yards for a touchdown. Jack Mancieri's kick for point gave the locals an immediate 7-0 lead.

Mt. Hope built a 14-0 lead at the end of the opening 12 minutes after Brody Cavalieri ran it in from the six-yard line. The senior rushed for 18 yards on the previous play to set up the score. Mancieri's PAT gave the locals the two-TD spread.

The Huskies would maintain that same margin by taking a 21-6 lead to the intermission. Cavalieri added another sizable scamper during Mt. Hope's next scoring possession, 51 yards. Francis later finished the drive with a one-yard rush. Mancieri tacked on his third PAT.

The Cougars opened the third quarter with a deep drive after receiving the kick, but the MHHS defense stiffened. NP opted to attempt a 26-yard field goal, which was blocked, scooped and scored all in one fell swoop by the Huskies' Nick Rogers. Mancieri's kick made it 28-6.

The rout was officially on when Mancieri's ensuing pooch kick off was recovered by the Huskies. Mt. Hope blew the game open after Francis hit Cam Oliver with a 12-yard scoring strike down the slot. The fifth Mancieri PAT upped the margin to 35-6.

Following a Cougars touchdown pass late in the third and a two-point conversion, Francis accounted for last six of the morning for the locals with a 27-yard run in the fourth. Mancieri finished the scoring the MHHS with his sixth kick for point.

North Providence tacked on an otherwise meaningless touchdown and two with just over two minutes remaining in the contest to account for the final score.

The Huskies did nearly all of their damage in the game on the ground. Cavalieri had 152 yards on eight carries and a TD. Francis rushed six times for 148 yards and the three TDs. He went 3-for-5 in the air for 24 yards, including the touchdown toss to Oliver.

The linebacker duo of Travis Furtado and Cavalieri led MHHS with eight and seven solo tackles apiece. Furtado had 12 total and Cavalieri 15. Matthew Thibaudeau had 10 total, five solo and five shared. Rogers also had eight tackles with five solos. Finn Loftus chipped in seven, including four solos.

Besides the field goal block, Rogers also had an interception from his defensive back position. Lucas Machado, likewise, blocked the Cougars' kick for point following their first TD and was in on a third-down tackle for a loss on the play prior to Rogers' scoop-and-score. And Chase Savinon had the Huskies' lone sack of the game.