The Toll Gate football team played a strong second half on Friday night, but it wasn’t enough to compensate for a scoreless first.

The Titans got within one score of North Providence, climbing to within five points with 4:23 to go in the third quarter, but the Cougars’ oversized ground game was too much to stop. Three different North Providence players notched a rushing touchdown en route to a 28-15 win at Warwick Vets.

“It’s tough, we have big kids but we don’t have big bodies like the other schools do,” Toll Gate head coach Jim Stringfellow said. “That’s what it came down to, size. It really was the difference in the game. We just didn’t have the size.”

North Providence took a 6-0 lead into the break, but it quickly added to that margin after the second-half kickoff. It would fumble on its first drive, with Michael Negri jumping on the loose ball at the Cougars’ 45, but that momentum would be short-lived.

Quarterback Anthony Vann flipped the ball to Anthony Calise under pressure, but Calise had it knocked away. Linebacker Christian Diaz hopped on the fumble to set up shop at the Toll Gate 36. Christian Anzeveno ripped off a 27-yard run to get the ball down to the Titans’ 1. He would force his way over the goal line on the next play, upping the lead to 13-0.

It seemed like things wouldn’t get much better for Toll Gate. The Cougars had to reset for the ensuing kickoff twice after it went out of bounds, and the third attempt took a fortuitous bounce. The line drive sharply bounced on the turf and ricocheted off a Toll Gate player, resulting in an easy recovery for the Cougars.

Running back Sammy Sosa slashed his way through the Toll Gate defense for gains of nine and 10 yards inside the Titans’ 40. On second-and-10, though, poor ball security reared its head again. The Cougars put another ball on the grass, giving Toll Gate some life.

The Titans wouldn’t let this fumble go to waste.

They went on a nine-play march down the field, led largely by Vann on the ground and through the air. He converted two third down chances, including a 14-yard keeper on third-and-11. He connected with Pichardo, falling backwards, on second-and-13 to earn a first down at the North Providence 24.

“Anthony’s looking better and better each week,” Stringfellow said. “Hopefully we can get a W for him, for everybody.”

Four plays later, Calise would cut up the gut for a 10-yard score. The Titans faked the extra point, and special teams ace Pichardo dashed to the left pylon to convert.

The defense needed to answer, but, unfortunately for Toll Gate, it came up short. The Cougars returned the kickoff to their own 48 and embarked on a 10-play drive of their own to eat up the rest of the third quarter and then some.

The Cougars had four runs of five yards or longer on that journey down the field, and got some help from the Titans towards the end. A personal foul and an unsportsmanlike conduct brought North Providence to Toll Gate’s 3-yard line, where quarterback David Tacelli found wideout Nevin Gordon wide open for a score.

Toll Gate couldn’t put much together in the fourth quarter, and the Cougars delivered the decisive blow halfway through. On a fourth-and-1 at the Toll Gate 6, Tacelli shed several tackles to find pay dirt on a keeper.

Wyatt Jencks scored from 21 yards out with just under two minutes to go to cut the lead down to 28-15, but North Providence recovered the kickoff the seal the win.

Negri, one of Toll Gate’s top offensive weapons, missed the first half after an absence from practice during the week. He played on defense and handled kicking duties for the opening 24 minutes.

The Titans started their first three drives twice at their own 40 and once at the Cougars’ 40, but weren’t able to generate any points. The drive that started in North Providence territory only got as far as the 23-yard line.

“We don’t have the speed that we did last year,” Stringfellow said. “We’re working on it every week. Every week’s different.”

Toll Gate will look to rebound this Friday against Scituate, and the Titans could have the upper hand. The Spartans have yet to play a league game yet after non-league losses to Ponaganset, 12-0, and Juanita Sanchez/PCD/Wheeler, 36-0.

“Just working on some line stuff, working on defense,” Stringfellow said about preparations for the Scituate game. “See who’s banged up and bruised and get them back out there. Strong week of practice and hopefully what we put in this week determines whether we win or lose on Friday.”