The playoffs are a fresh start, and if ever a team needed a clean slate it’s Westerly High’s football team.

Just a little more than two weeks ago, the Bulldogs were undefeated in league play and were marching toward the Division II-A title.

Westerly had a 10-0 halftime lead at West Warwick and had stopped the Wizards’ offense cold. A win would have clinched the crown.

But things have not gone well for the local eleven since.

West Warwick dominated the second half for a 20-10 win and six days later the Bulldogs fell again – 38-20 to Woonsocket, last Friday on Senior Night.

As a result of those two games and others, there was a most improbable five-way tie for first place, and everyone had to hold their breath until the Rhode Island Interscholastic League resolved the situation Sunday night.

It proved worth the wait for Westerly, however, because the procedure the football committee used made the Bulldogs the No. 2 seed giving them a home playoff game.

Westerly (6-3, 5-2 Division II-A) will host Toll Gate (5-3, 4-3 Division II-B) on Friday at 7 p.m. The Titans finished third in their league.

Westerly coach Chris Wriedt was deeply concerned about the psyche of his team following the loss to Woonsocket, but said the Bulldogs are “excited about playing again.”

But if the Bulldogs are to stay excited, they’re going to have to find a way to contain one very fine player – Titan senior Doug Johnson.

Johnson has scored 16 touchdowns in Toll Gate’s eight games and has thrown for two more. The Titans have only scored two touchdowns which Johnson didn’t have a direct part in. “He’s about 5-11, 215. He can run, he’s strong and he’s tough to bring down,” Wriedt said.

And he plays more than one offensive position. “When they’re in shot gun he’s the quarterback. When they’re in the I-formation, he’s the tailback and sometimes he’s in the backfield alone,” Wriedt said.

Johnson has scored on runs of 15, 20, 35 (twice), 40, 44, 47, 69, 70 (twice) and a few shorter ones. He has returned a kickoff 78 yards for a score and has thrown TD passes of 15 and 35 yards. “You don’t stop someone like him, all you can do is slow him down,” Wriedt said.

“He’s kind of like Brian Lynch, only a little bigger,” he added, referring to Westerly’s fine fullback in 2001 and 2002.

The only team to stop Johnson was South Kingstown, which shut out Toll Gate 7-0 last Friday. SK finished atop Division II-B with a 7-0 record.

Westerly is the only team that has beaten South this season, edging the Rebels 14-12 in a non-league game on Oct. 17.

Wreidt said Toll Gate’s offensive line has does a pretty good job of blocking for Johnson and that the Titans and Bulldogs are similar size-wise.

Facing such an explosive player, it’s going to be important for Westerly’s offense to be more effective than it has in the last three weeks. “They’re kind of like West Warwick (defensively). They bring anyone and everyone from anywhere, anytime,” Wriedt said. “We have to try and throw the ball a little bit early and see if we can loosen them up and get them out of the box.”

Westerly’s backfield, which has been slowed by a variety of injuries to a number of players, is getting healthier. “I think Benny Khang and Ricky Doucette are getting a little more healthy,” the Bulldog coach said. “They’re not as hobbled and are able to give us a little more. And Mike McLeod is running like he did in the Chariho game before he hurt his shoulder again.”

If Westerly wins, it will play South Kingstown or Warwick Veterans on the Tuesday, Dec. at the site of the higher-seeded team.

Stonington at Fitch, Friday, 6:30 p.m.

If you like the double-wing offense, Fitch is the place to be Friday night.

Both teams run it, so the outcome might come down to which team runs theirs best.

And don’t be fooled by the won-lost records. Stonington comes in at 6-3, while Fitch enters the non-league game at 1-7 – having won its first game last week (26-22 against East Lyme).

The Falcons lost to Montville 29-28 in overtime in the second week of the season, and lost close games against NFA (26-22) and Waterford (28-22). Montville’s only loss is to unbeaten New London, 27-26, and it’s a game the Indians led in the final minute. NFA is 6-2 and Waterford is 5-4.

Fitch is a very athletic team and a win would be a feather in Stonington’s cap despite the records. The Bears’ chances are enhanced by the return of two-way starting lineman Stephen Bailey. He missed last week’s 54-14 win against hapless Tourtellotte/Ellis Tech with a sore knee.

Coventry at Chariho, Friday, 7 p.m.

A weight was lifted from the Chargers’ shoulders last Saturday when they cracked the win column for the first time with a 24-8 victory against winless Burrillville.

Now the Chargers will look to build on that momentum in a non-league game that pits the seventh-place teams in the two Division II leagues. Chariho went 1-6 in II-A, while Coventry went 2-5 in II-B.

Coventry played South Kingstown (8-1, 7-0 II-B) tough in its first league game, losing 14-12, and then beat Cumberland (4-4, 3-4 II-B) 22-20.

The Oakers beat Pilgrim (2-6, 2-5 II-B) 21-14 the next week, but has lost four straight games since and none of them have been close.

Chariho, which has been hobbled by an assortment of injuries all season, got one key player back last week, but lost another one.

Senior running back Josh Murphy, who had been out with a concussion, returned and freshman back Colton Place suffered a foot injury that might keep him out the rest of the season.

It will be the Chargers’ last game before Thanksgiving when they take on an Exeter-West Greenwich team that is 8-1 overall, 6-1 in Division IV.