The Warwick Beacon Bowl is once again for up for grabs.

After winning the first two Thanksgiving games, the Toll Gate Titans look to once again prove that they are the top club in Warwick. However, Pilgrim is coming off of its best season in decades, and is also hungry to earn its first win against its inter-city rival.

The Titans worked past the Pats in a close win last November, and took home a slim 27-22 win in the 2016 showdown. The Titans finished this season with a 3-8 overall record and were eliminated in the first round of the Division IV playoffs. Meanwhile, the Patriots finished 6-5 overall, advancing to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1995 and nearly getting the job done in a 14-10 loss to powerhouse Central Falls.

“It’s big. This is my first rivalry game as a head coach, I was on the staff for the past two years and we lost one by five and one by seven. To be able to win the first Beacon Bowl for our program and to be able to send our seniors off on a high note, it would be a tremendous way to end our season,” said Pilgrim head coach Blake Simpson of this year’s contest.

Pilgrim senior captain Jaron Petrozzi is confident that the Patriots have all the right pieces to turn things around, and the key will be to continue to grind like they have been all season.

“Our mindset is to do better than the last two years. Win, compete, and do what we’ve been doing all year,” said Petrozzi.

Fellow Pilgrim senior captain Mark Brown looks forward to going up against his city rival, and is excited at the different possibilities that once again lie in this historic matchup.

“The past two years have been tough losses, but looking back on film of Toll Gate this year as well as ours, I believe that it’s going to be a great game. It’s a rivalry, anything can happen, records don’t matter. It’s two teams going at it, we’re rivals, upset or no upset, anything can happen,” said Brown.

The Thanksgiving matchup, which was moved to Saturday at noon at Pilgrim due to today’s cold weather, will be the final game for the seniors on each side.

Brown is relishing his final game in high school football, and admits that it has not completely sunk in yet that the end has finally arrived.

“During practice it’s mostly just focusing on practice, what we need to do, but after practice you realize that this is it. Going day by day it hasn’t really hit me yet, but there have been moments that it has, this is my last ride in high school ball,” said Brown.

After two close contests in the first Beacon Bowls, Toll Gate head coach Jim Stringfellow expects it to be no different, and is excited to add another chapter to the Toll Gate-Pilgrim rivalry.

“It’s Thanksgiving so records don’t matter. That’s the thing about Thanksgiving, everyone steps it up a notch. We’ve played two unbelievable games, and it has come down to who has had the ball last. Everybody steps up for Thanksgiving. Everyone is back and healthy, it’s anybody’s game … it’s two good teams that are going at it and it’s a rivalry that’s building,” said Stringfellow.

The red-hot Patriots will also boast their best team since the Beacon Bowl began, but Stringfellow is confident that the Titans will be prepared for their best shot.

“They had an outstanding year this year making it to the Super Bowl, kudos to them. They got a bit of energy with a new coaching staff this year. They’re going to be coming in on a high with a great season … but so will we. I think it will come down to who has the ball last, time of possession, and so on,” said Stringfellow.

Rivalry or no rivalry, Stringfellow and company are excited to once again put on a show for the city of Warwick.

“It’s great. It’s good for the city, a lot of these kids know each other. A lot of these kids played Pop Warner together, a lot of them played other sports together, it’s like Pilgrim and Vets,” said Stringfellow. “We have four people that have played and coached at Pilgrim, I coached there for 13 years. We have a lot of ties to Pilgrim … this is a great thing for the city.”