Titans beat Davies, remain in playoff hunt

By ALEX SPONSELLER

Posted 11/7/19

The Toll Gate football team bounced back from a tough loss to cruise past visiting Davies 44-14 last week at Vets. The two clubs were knotted at 8-8 after the first quarter, but the Titans would begin to feed their running backs Kenny

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Titans beat Davies, remain in playoff hunt

SCRAMBLING: Toll Gate quarterback Joseph Pankowicz rolls out to pick up some yards against Davies Career & Technical School last week at Warwick Vets. The Titans rolled to a victory to remain in the Division IV playoff hunt. Toll Gate will square off against Exeter-West Greenwich this Friday evening, and a win will propel the Titans into the postseason.

(Photo by Alex Sponseller)

GETTING THE WIN: Toll Gate’s Elijah Jhaden Aguilar picks up some yards in the fourth quarter of Toll Gate’s victory over Davies last week at Vets.

(Photo by Alex Sponseller)

Toll Gate quarterback Greyson Pasquina gets set to snap the ball during the third quarter of the Titans’ victory. Toll Gate will next be in action on Friday night when they host Exeter-West Greenwich in a must-win game.

Posted Thursday, November 7, 2019 12:13 pm

By ALEX SPONSELLER

The Toll Gate football team bounced back from a tough loss to cruise past visiting Davies 44-14 last week at Vets.

The two clubs were knotted at 8-8 after the first quarter, but the Titans would begin to feed their running backs Kenny Morel and Ethan Durand and take over from there, outscoring Davies 36-6 in the final three quarters of action.

“We just went back to our running game with Kenny Morel and Ethan Durand, we went back to them and they pounded the ball. They broke off a couple big runs and that sparked things going into the half,” said Toll Gate head coach Jim Stringfellow. “The running game worked, it was a total team effort. We had a shaky first half but they turned it around and did what they needed to do.”

Morel led the way for the Titans with three rushing touchdowns, while Durand rushed for two scores and EJ Aguilar another in the fourth quarter.

The Toll Gate defense also continued to impress, as Christian Rapoza hauled in an interception late in the second quarter to stall the Davies offense prior to the break.

“We’ve been fortunate to have our kids playing well on defense and to be where they are supposed to be in order to make the play. (Defensive coordinator) Nick (Saloise) does a good job of putting them in the right places and they do a good of making plays. It gives us momentum heading into the half and coming out in the second.”

The win keeps the Titans’ playoff hopes alive, as they will now play the deciding game this week against Exeter-West Greenwich. The Titans must win to qualify for the final Division IV playoff spot.

“It’s huge. We have to win out to make the playoffs so this win is huge, for sure. Now we need to get back and work hard at practice and beat Exeter-West Greenwich,” said Stringfellow, who is confident in his team heading into the big week. “They know how important it is and luckily we have a full week of practice, so we are going to get after it right at the rip. We are going to practice tackling, watch film, we are going into it with our normal game plan and will add a few wrinkles. Hopefully we will have what it takes to win.”