The Pilgrim football team traveled to Ponaganset and topped the Chieftains 29-12 to remain unbeaten this season.

Both teams were rolling heading into the Friday afternoon tilt, with Ponaganset winning its first two games by a combined score of 98-14 and Pilgrim 99-20.

Despite surrendering a touchdown on the opening drive to fall behind 6-0, the Pats would go on to score 22 unanswered points and grind out the win.

The Pilgrim running attack was potent once again, getting rushing touchdowns from Demitri Ayres, quarterback Mike Borges, and Danny Halliwell. The Pats also dove deep into their playbook, pulling off trick plays including a key slip screen in the third quarter to extend a drive, as well as reverses and numerous options throughout the contest. Borges also connected with Connor Fallon through the air for a score.

“(The offensive play calls) were based on what we saw from (Ponaganset), we thought that we would be able to catch them sleeping. We stuck to the run game and worked with Demitri, Danny and Caesar (Pascual). When Mike runs the ball too, he’s hard to tackle. The run game was great today and really helped us move the chains,” said Pilgrim head coach Blake Simpson after the win. “Toward the end of last season and throughout the playoff run we began to install some trick plays. The returners are familiar with the plays so we have used them early. Being able to keep other teams on their toes will help us out in the long run.”

Borges was also thankful to be part of such a diverse offense.

“We watch the team, find the plays that will work against them, and we play together to get it done. Our line played really well, I could have done better but was able to make some plays, (the running backs) really take the pressure off of me and we can spread the ball evenly which is big,” said Borges.

The Ponaganset defensive front is one of the top units in the division this year. Considering the Chieftains size, strength and tenacity in the trenches, Simpson and his staff focused on conditioning at practice and being prepared for a physical battle.

“I told them that this would be their first four-quarter game that they played in this year since we had two lopsided wins early. We knew that they were big up front, so the biggest thing this week was conditioning so that we could play for all four quarters, I think we did a pretty good job up front,” said Simpson.

The Pats improved to 3-0 on the season and will face Central Falls at this Friday’s home opener. Their focus will remain on the task at hand, and not losing site in the midst of one of the best starts in program history.

“It’s good (to be tested) because at some point, if we kept having blowout wins, we would have ended up getting a wake-up call. This was a good test for us and this was a testament to the hard work that they put in,” said Simpson.

“This is just another win for us, now we have to focus on Central Falls,” added Borges. “We need to take it one game at a time.”