SOUTH KINGSTOWN — When Toll Gate met defending Division II champions South Kingstown last month, it was a 7-0 defensive brawl won by the Rebels, and Toll Gate didn’t gain a first down until the second half.

Last night it looked like two different teams were on the field. South Kingstown rode its three-headed rushing attack to a 34-22 victory, with standout runner Tim Hazard scoring three touchdowns in the semifinal of the Division II tournament.

The win puts the 10-2 South Kingstown Rebels in the Division II Super Bowl for the second straight year, and Monday they will meet Tolman, a 29-0 winner over Cumberland, at Cranston Stadium for the league title.

“We had a goal at the beginning of the season to get there, and the kids did a tremendous job,” said Rebels’ first-year head coach Eric Anderson.

The two teams came out pounding the ball down each other’s throats — neither team attempted a pass until the second quarter.

South Kingstown slammed Hazard into the Toll Gate line, and used the threat of his rushes to set up misdirection plays for the tandem of speedy Kane Noka and bruiser Patrick Franco. The Rebels scored on their opening possession, failing on the two-point conversion but taking a 6-0 lead, seemingly significant considering these teams’ last meeting.

Toll Gate, which finished the season 6-5, quickly proved this would be a different kind of game. The Titans relied on their do-it-all senior captain, 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, Doug Johnson, who plays quarterback, running back, inside linebacker, and returns kicks. Johnson ran the ball on nearly every play to set up a Zach Furtado 19-yard touchdown run, tying the game at 6. The extra-point kick was blocked.

South Kingstown responded with more rushes in formations designed to pull Johnson away from the line of scrimmage in order to open up the run.

“We made some serious adjustments over the last couple of weeks, watched a lot of tape,” Anderson said. “Our idea was to get Doug Johnson out of the box, and we did that, and it opened up our running game.”

Hazard soon scored again and added a two-point conversion to make it 14-6.

But Johnson wouldn’t let Toll Gate go away quietly. He returned an ensuing punt 54 yards for a touchdown, bringing Toll Gate to within two, 14-12

At that, the Rebel passing game finally came out of its shell, and South Kingstown quarterback Ben Hamill hit wideout Patrick Gee for a 54-yard TD pass to put the Rebels ahead, 22-12. Toll Gate added a field goal to make it 22-15 at the half.

Johnson wasn’t done, however. He returned the second-half opening kickoff 90 yards for a score, and brought the visiting crowd back into what was suddenly a tied game.

After two periods of near-constant offense, the game settled into a field position battle reminiscent of the teams’ regular-season duel. Finally, with just over five minutes remaining, Hazard, a 6-foot, 190-pound senior, bulled his way down the field to set up a Hamill touchdown pass to Justin Favreau that would give South Kingstown the lead for good. Hazard added a 57-yard touchdown run for insurance later in the quarter.

Toll Gate coach Steve Spaziano said his team left too many opportunities on the field, and against such a strong team, that’s suicide.

“It’s no shame to lose to the best team in the league. They’re undefeated [in the division] for a reason,” Spaziano said, adding that he told his players how proud he was of them for such a strong season.

Toll Gate

6 9 7  0 — 22

South Kingstown

6  16 0 12 — 34

 Toll Gate scoring: touchdowns – Zach Furtado (19 run), Doug Johnson 2 (54 punt return, 90 kick return); field goal – Joel Haduch (22 yards); conversion — Haduch (kick)

 South Kingstown scoring: touchdowns – Tim Hazard 3 (30 run, 13 run, 57 run), Patrick Gee (54 pass from Ben Hamill), Justin Favreau (12 pass from Hamill); conversions: Hazard (run), Favreau (pass from Hamill).

dbarbari@projo.com