After dropping a tough, one-score game at home against Classical last week, the Pilgrim football team bounced back in a big way on Saturday morning at Ponaganset with a 50-13 win over the winless Chieftains.

Behind standout running back Owen Kelly, the Pats propelled themselves past .500 in Division III, improving to 2-1.

Kelly gashed the Chieftains’ defense on the ground, finding his way into the end zone three times. Kelly’s longest score went for 91 yards, as the senior rushed 23 times for 278 yards.

Although the end result was lopsided, Ponaganset kept the game close for the first 24 minutes, as Pilgrim took a 20-13 lead into the half.

Pilgrim jumped out to an early lead when Darren Grant scooped up a Ponaganset fumble and took it to the end zone. Quarterback David McMullen would notch the 2-point conversion on a keeper.

Kelly scored his first of three touchdowns later in the first quarter on an 18-yard run. Although the 2-point try failed, the Pats still held a 14-6 lead following one quarter of play.

The two teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter, with Pilgrim’s coming on a 27-yard pass from McMullen to Grant. The 2-point try again failed, but the Pats took a 20-13 lead into the break.

But in the second half, it was all Pilgrim.

The Pats outscored Ponaganset 16-0 in the third quarter to break the game open behind a 10-yard touchdown run from Kelly and an 8-yard rush from McMullen into the end zone. Kelly would run for the 2-point conversion following his touchdown. McMullen would hit Sean Cooney with a pass for the other successful 2-point conversion.

Pilgrim scored two more insurance touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Kelly put the pats up 44-13 with a 91-yard sprint to pay dirt in the final frame. Cooney rushed into the end zone for the 2-point conversion.

McMullen’s second touchdown pass of the game would close the scoring.

This time, it was Ty Weldon-Martin on the receiving end of McMullen’s pass, as the junior receiver hauled in the 14-yard touchdown. Weldon-Martin’s score would give the Pats a 50-13 lead after the 2-point try failed.

The Pats will look to ride their momentum into a favorable schedule for the next three weeks.

Pilgrim will travel to Narragansett on Friday for a 7 p.m. game, before playing Hope and Middletown in its next two games – three teams who have just one win apiece with negative point differentials.

Pilgrim is searching for its first winning season since 2004 when it registered a 6-3 record in Division II.