Pilgrim quarterback James McKay had already won the battle for the starting job over James Baldwin, but his first real-game throw of the season punctuated his victory.

McKay hooked up with wide receiver Ty Weldon-Martin in stride for the only touchdown of the day in Pilgrim’s 8-0, injury fund win over Toll Gate on Saturday. The senior QB then dashed into the right corner of the end zone for the 2-point conversion, showing chemistry with the first-team offense.

“He has total control of what we’re doing,” Pilgrim head coach Rob Pacifico said of McKay. “We’re happy with him, we’re moving forward with that. It’ll be very beneficial because Baldwin will be in our top echelon of receivers, too. So we benefit from finally making the [QB] decision.”

Outside of that quick strike, the Pats struggled to produce much else. Fullback Sean Cooney fumbled on the first play of the next drive, and the offensive line had some blocking and holding issues.

It wouldn’t be a problem, though, since the other side of the ball had little issue holding the Titans down.

Pilgrim’s defense would do the rest of the collective work, stuffing the Toll Gate running game and working the Pats out of some precarious situations. The Titans couldn't muster a first down until their fourth drive, and head coach Jim Stringfellow went with a run-heavy offense for most of the morning.

“We didn’t try a lot of passing because we wanted to build the line’s confidence and the backs’ confidence to let them know they can physically do this,” Stringfellow said. “That was our game plan coming in here, get them as many reps as we can.”

When junior quarterback Anthony Vann did throw early on, he had accuracy issues. He had tight end Rory Dobbins open over the top early in the second quarter, but he overthrew his target.

The Titans’ offensive line held up for the most part in the ground game. It wilted on a couple of occasions, notably late in the second quarter when Vann was brought down for a fourth-down sack, but Toll Gate has reason to be confident in the trenches.

However, for both sides, the most impressive standout was a running back. For the winning side, it was Vets import Nate Ferri.

Ferri ripped off a few long runs and proved elusive for the Toll Gate defense. Late in the game, with Pilgrim driving, he gashed the Titans for 15 yards while spinning out of two consecutive tackles. After graduating 2,000-yard rusher Owen Kelly, Ferri can fill in admirably with returning Cooney.

“Nate’s enjoying running back,” Pacifico said. “He’s played wide receiver at Vets the past couple years. The switch is doing him well I think.”

For Toll Gate, it could have an ace-in-the-hole in sophomore Michael Negri. Negri does it all, shredding through the defensive line for yardage on the ground, while finding weaknesses in the offensive line as a defensive end. He is even a sparkplug in between plays, serving as a hype man to get the most out of his teammates.

“Michael played a fantastic game out here today,” Stringfellow said of Negri, who registered an interception against McKay. “He was good offensively, that’s what we look for. That’s the difference that a year of varsity makes.”

Pilgrim’s defense stood tallest on the last drive of the game. The Titans started at their own 22, with Vann scrambling for 12 yards to get the offense rolling. He then connected with Dobbins for a 20-yard gain into Pilgrim territory with 39.4 seconds left.

Vann hit Negri with a check-down pass, but Pilgrim brought him down in bounds to keep the clock moving. Without any timeouts, Toll Gate attempted to spike the ball for one last play, but time expired just before the snap.

It was a confidence-builder for both sides of the ball. The Pats got some work in the 2-minute drill defensively, while Vann was able to showcase his abilities after a rough start.

“Vann made a nice run, scrambled out of the pocket, completed a great pass to Dobbins and then we just ran out of time,” Stringfellow said.

The Titans will travel to Providence this Friday at 6 p.m. for a non-league game against the Juanita Sanchez/PCD/Wheeler co-op at Conley Stadium. Pilgrim also has a non-league contest scheduled for Friday night, at home against North Providence at 7 p.m.

These will be the final tuneups before each takes the field for its first league game next week.

“We’ve got some things to iron out, but it’s Labor Day weekend, so we’ve still got a lot of football,” Pacifico said. “We’ve still got a lot of things to correct. You don’t want to peak here.”