The Toll Gate football team isn’t about to be pushed around in Division III.

The Titans started their league season in impressive fashion after leading Narragansett from start to finish, 33-16, at home on Saturday morning.

Sophomore quarterback Anthony Vann led the way for Toll Gate, rushing for two touchdowns and throwing for another.

“Anthony is the future of this program as a quarterback,” Toll Gate head coach Jim Stringfellow said. “We knew that from last year [when he was] a freshman, and he’s stepping up every game. Every year he’s getting better, every game he’s getting better.”

Running backs Sean Devlin and Alex Mowry also notched scores on the ground. Toll Gate implemented some trickery, too, attempting and recovering two onside kicks during the first half to give the Titans a major edge in time of possession.

It was the Titans’ defense, though, that helped its offense grab some momentum from the opening drive. On second-and-22, Toll Gate’s defense forced a fumble and Devlin came through with the recovery at Narragansett’s 31-yard line.

“We have a great defense,” Stringfellow said. “Jake Stachurski, our middle linebacker, Austin Giard, another senior, stepped up to the plate today and made three great plays. [We’ve got] sophomore linebackers, they’re young. We’re young, we’re up-and-coming.”

The Toll Gate running game did the rest. Devlin, Mowry and freshman Michael Negri all had carries on the seven-play drive, setting up Toll Gate at the 1-yard line. Vann kept the ball and dashed left for the only touchdown of the first quarter. Datyn Deasley’s extra point made it 7-0.

Narragansett was once again stymied on offense during its next drive. The Mariners gained a quick first down on a 14-yard pass to Kyle Gannon up to their own 41, but couldn’t go any farther. An illegal shift penalty and broken play pushed the Mariners back 10 yards, leading to a punt on fourth-and-20.

The grounds crew went back to work for Toll Gate. Negri opened the march with a 16-yard rush to about midfield, which Devlin followed with a 14-yard carry of his own. The Titans eventually found themselves facing a fourth-and-3 at the Narragansett 16-yard line. The drive ended with a Vann incompletion to the end zone, but Toll Gate pinned Narragansett deep in its own territory.

Toll Gate’s defense made the stop again, not allowing the Mariners past midfield. The Titans set up at their own 39-yard line after the punt and went to work. Mowry found a seam on second-and-10 on the left side and blazed down the left sideline to Narragansett’s 20-yard line.

Once again, Mowry, Negri and Devlin split carries and set the Titans up with a third-and-goal. Vann looked to throw on third down, but instead went through a hold on the left for an eight-yard rushing score. The extra point was faked and taken in for a two-point conversion to put the Titans on top 15-0.

Deasley and the kicking team lined up for the usual kickoff, but instead booted it slowly to the right for an onside kick. Sophomore Max Laiter was there for the Titans, who recovered it at the Mariners’ 43-yard line with less than four minutes to go in the half.

It took the Titans just one play to add to their lead. Vann dropped back and floated a pass deep down field to senior wide receiver James Gasbarro, who ran past his defender into the end zone. The extra point was botched, but Toll Gate had a comfortable 21-0 advantage.

Then, Toll Gate went back to the well.

Deasley again lined up for the onside kick and sent it bouncing toward the right sideline. Laiter was there for the recovery again, this time with an impressive toe-tap on the grass as momentum took him out of bounds. The Mariners argued for an offsides penalty, but one wasn’t called and Toll Gate’s offense took the field again.

“I didn’t like the way they [the Mariners] were treating our guys,” Stringfellow said. “So that’s what we went to. Deasley did an outstanding job on the onside kicks. Max Laiter recovered both of them, fantastic [recovery] on the second one. The ball was going out-of-bounds and he caught it out-of-bounds and kept his feet in, it was fantastic.”

The Titans fell victim to some miscommunication during the half’s final drive. With about 15 seconds left on the clock and no timeouts at the Narragansett 28-yard line, the offense failed to get a play off before time expired. Despite the disappointing result, Toll Gate was still able to keep the ball out of Narragansett’s hands and take its shutout into halftime.

Toll Gate’s defense handled the Mariners throughout the third quarter, allowing the offense to add to the lead late. After wasting more than five minutes on their drive, which included a Toll Gate unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a Narragansett facemask, the Titans struck again. Vann kept the ball and charged forward into the end zone for a 1-yard score. The two-point conversion was no good, but the Titans had a commanding 27-0 advantage.

Narragansett was driving down four scores, but the Toll Gate secondary came through in the clutch. Giard jumped high to knock away a pass attempt across the middle, while constant pressure from the cornerbacks and safeties forced a couple of Narragansett drops. A Mariners’ turnover-on-downs ended the third quarter.

Devlin had a chance to put his team up by even more in the fourth, but ball-handling became an issue. Near the Narragansett goal line, Devlin was stripped and the ball was taken up to the Narragansett 31-yard line by sophomore defensive back Thomaz Whitford.

Whitford would continue to plague Toll Gate late in the game. On Narragansett’s next drive, quarterback Kyle Pereira connected with Whitford on a 51-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 27-8 after the two-point conversion.

The Titans answered right back and shut down the comeback for good. Negri recovered the Narragansett onside kick attempt near midfield, and Toll Gate started to matriculate from there.

Again in the Mariners’ red zone, it was Mowry this time who answered the call. The senior tailback scored from 13 yards out after falling on his own fumble in the end zone. Toll Gate was ahead 33-8 after the blocked extra point with just 1:47 to go.

Pereira hit Whitford again for another 52-yard touchdown with a successful two-point conversion, but the ensuing onside kick went out of bounds. The Titans soon took the victory formation and officially matched their league-win total from 2014. Unfortunately for the Titans, their next game could be their most difficult test of the season. Toll Gate will host reigning Division III runner-up East Greenwich and star quarterback Nick Andreozzi this Saturday. The Avengers are fresh off avenging their title game loss to Middletown with a 50-6 drubbing of the Islanders.

A tilt with what appears to be D-III’s best team can be a solid measuring stick for the Titans’ toughness and resilience this year.

“We’re up for the test,” Stringfellow said. “Whether they’re coming at us or we’re going to them, they’re gonna know they played us. It’s gonna be a great game and hopefully we come out on top. They’re very talented. Great coaching, great team, they’ve got great seniors this year with their quarterback and [Egan] Reale at receiver. We got our work cut out for us this week.”