Pats and Titans can finally believe again

Posted 9/11/14

The Pilgrim and Toll Gate football teams might not win the Division III championship this season.

The Titans and Pats might not even qualify for the playoffs.

They might win just one game …

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Pats and Titans can finally believe again

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The Pilgrim and Toll Gate football teams might not win the Division III championship this season.

The Titans and Pats might not even qualify for the playoffs.

They might win just one game apiece, maybe two.

They could struggle to gain yards, struggle to play solid defense, struggle to come up with big plays in big moments.

But at least they’ll have a chance. That’s something neither program had a year ago.

Both teams finished 0-7 in Division II, but a winless season doesn’t tell the whole story. Toll Gate lost by an average of 23.7 points in league play. Pilgrim struggled even more, losing by an average of 37 points in its seven games.

The Pats lost three consecutive games 62-0, 55-0 and 34-0. Toll Gate lost a game 35-0 and another 35-6.

Realistically, there just wasn’t any hope for a win. The losses kept piling up, the deficits getting worse and worse. Teams around Division II were significantly bigger than Toll Gate and Pilgrim, and no matter what they did, they weren’t going to win a game.

Toll Gate finished the season with 16 players, Pilgrim less than 30. Everything about their seasons was demoralizing.

Those days are over. Both teams have numbers higher than a year ago now, with Toll Gate more than doubling its total. As important, they’ve each moved down to Division III, where they’ll face teams similarly sized and similarly skilled, for the most part.

They’ll have a chance.

“Playoffs,” said Pilgrim running back Owen Kelly on Tuesday. “Playoffs is the goal.”

That was a laughable goal to be set at this time last year, while the teams were just trying to win a game.

But all it takes is a little bit of hope, and that goal becomes possible. Some programs might have too much pride to think that moving down is the right thing to do, but it’s unquestionably the right thing to do for Toll Gate and Pilgrim.

It’s a simple as this – they couldn’t compete in Division II. They can compete in Division III.

Just ask the players – no one wants to play for a team that doesn’t have any hope of winning a game, whether it’s Division I or Division infinity. That’s why the attitude is already completely different this year. There is reason to believe that wins are on the horizon.

“They’re upbeat, they’re positive,” said first-year Toll Gate head coach Jim Stringfellow, after his team dominated Division II Warwick Vets in last week’s Injury Fund game. “Nothing negative. They’re out every day giving 110 percent at practice. It shows. It’s a totally different team from last year to this year.”

It’s the same feeling over at Pilgrim. The team played decently in an Injury Fund loss to Moses Brown, and it knows the competition will be a little bit more on par with itself once league play kicks in.

It’s not ridiculous anymore to hope for a win on a Friday night. And that makes teams practice harder, try harder and want to compete harder. It’s not all for naught.

“I think it’s a good spot,” Kelly said of Division III. “Everyone is way more into it this year. I think it’s going to be a good year, for everybody.”

The way it looks right now, there’s no reason that either Pilgrim or Toll Gate – or both – can’t make some noise. Last year’s Division III champion Mt. Pleasant is up in D-II, as is last year’s D-III runner-up, Moses Brown.

Two others, Tiverton and Burrillville, dropped down to Division IV. The only other addition to D-III besides the two Warwick schools is Hope, which moved up from D-IV – oddly – after going 3-4 last year.

The other teams in the division are East Greenwich, Lincoln, Middletown, Narragansett and Ponaganset. Not a cakewalk, but also not exactly a murderer’s row.

Pilgrim and Toll Gate, for the time being, are embracing their new home.

They’ll each open up with a non-league game this week to get their feet wet. Then, Toll Gate will play Warwick’s first Division III game in a long time on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Narragansett. Pilgrim has a bye in week one, and will open its slate at Lincoln on Friday, Sept. 26.

They can’t wait to get going.

Pilgrim hasn’t won a league game in three of the last four years. Toll Gate has gone three straight seasons without a win, meaning its current senior class has never had a taste of a league victory.

After the Titans beat Vets in the Injury Fund, the entire team got together for a loud “Toll Gate” chant that continued on multiple times. One of the assistant coaches leaned in to the group and said “You know the way you’re feeling right now? Remember this feeling. This is just the beginning.”

In 2014, in Division III, he might be right. The Titans – and Pats – will have a chance at the feeling almost every week.

Kevin Pomeroy is the assistant sports editor at the Warwick Beacon. He can be reached at 732-3100 and kevinp@rhodybeat.com.

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