Ground and pound is the key to Titans’ success

Posted 9/25/14

Apart from one year when it toyed with a spread offense, the Toll Gate football program is smashmouth all the way. The last few years, though, the Titans couldn’t always deliver. Like many things, …

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Ground and pound is the key to Titans’ success

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Apart from one year when it toyed with a spread offense, the Toll Gate football program is smashmouth all the way. The last few years, though, the Titans couldn’t always deliver. Like many things, it was the casualty of a rough couple of years.

When head coach Jim Stringfellow took over the program this season, he wanted to see the running game come back with a vengeance.

It’s happening.

With a rebuilt offensive line under the tutelage of two new assistant coaches and a corps of running backs, the Titans have been able to pound the ball. They’ve rushed for 415 yards in their two games.

“Narragansett was putting eight guys in the box, but we’re not going to change what we’re doing,” Stringfellow said. “We know and we feel confident that we can get five yards a pop. That’s who we are.”

After a good showing in the Injury Fund, the Titans rushed for 240 yards in a non-league win over PCD/Wheeler/Juanita Sanchez. Last week, they opened league play with a loss to Narragansett, but the motor was still humming. The Titans rushed for 175 yards against the Mariners.

The Titans may not be steamrolling – many of their drives are methodical – but they’re getting it done.

“We’re over 500 yards for the three games,” Stringfellow said. “The guys are doing a nice job.”

The offensive line has paved the way. Senior captain James Marsella leads the charge and he’s joined by seniors Cameron Vickers and David Pardy, and juniors Jake Stachurski and Brandon Neiwert.

It’s a unit that has already come a long way. One of Stringfellow’s first orders of business when he took over was to find coaches whose top priority would be the offensive line. Erik Stachurski and Matt Raso fit the bill and helped set the tone from day one.

“They put a lot of time and effort in,” Stringfellow said. “I wanted guys who knew how to coach the line. It’s helped a ton in practice and it’s helped in games, too.”

As is the case all over the field, confidence was also a key.

“The line, those guys believe in themselves and they believe in our philosophy,” Stringfellow said. “They bought into that and that’s when everything turned around. All the kids – we’ve had a consistent 42 kids at practice. The linemen are working every day and they’re loving it.”

With the holes there, the Titans’ deep group of backs has done the rest. Toll Gate doesn’t have a workhorse who’s going to get 30 carries and rush for over 100 yards. But their three – and sometimes four – headed monster creates a pretty good approximation.

Senior captains Nick Lemoie and Sean Vann have carried a big load, along with junior Alex Mowry. Tight end Jacob Moran has gotten in on the act with big plays on end-arounds, and quarterback Dan Smith has helped the cause, too.

Mowry led the way against PCD with 77 yards. Against Narragansett, he only had 23 yards, but Lemoie and Vann picked up the slack with 65 and 60 yards rushing.

They’re getting it done.

“We spread the ball around,” Stringfellow said. “They all have different talents. Nick is one of our bigger guys so he’s at fullback. Sean and Alex are speed guys. Jake is a little bit of both. They can all do different things.”

The Titans will keep running this weekend when they face East Greenwich. The Avengers had their hands full with a stable of Middletown running backs in a loss last week, and the Titans hope to put them in the same tough spot.

“We’re going to do what we do,” Stringfellow said.

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