Thanksgiving rivalries in Warwick had become an afterthought for the last several years.

Warwick Vets and Pilgrim, long considered one of the state’s best showdowns every season, had lost its luster. The previous four matchups before Vets was closed as a high school were lopsided one way or another.

Bishop Hendricken and Toll Gate had been that way for decades. The Titans had not pulled down a win in the series since a 17-12 win in 1991, years before any player on their current roster was born.

Now, Vets is a middle school, the Hawks were idle on Thanksgiving and Pilgrim and Toll Gate are in the process of forging a different tradition.

The foundation is already there.

Toll Gate junior quarterback Anthony Vann plunged across the goal line on fourth down at the 1 with 45.1 seconds left to help his side pull off the 27-22 upset over Division II Pilgrim in the inaugural Warwick Beacon Bowl. Vann accounted for all four Titans’ touchdowns, rushing for three and throwing another.

“Most definitely this was the best game of the season,” Vann said. “We were fired up these past two weeks because we had the bye. We came out to win, we weren’t coming out and losing this.”

Pilgrim and Toll Gate pulled out all the stops in their efforts to beat each other. The Titans found themselves down 22-21 with 7:49 left in the game thanks to some Pilgrim trickery.

On the first play of a drive starting at his own 38, Pats quarterback James McKay swung a pass out to running back Nate Ferri. Ferri heaved a throw downfield to a wide-open James Baldwin, who strolled up the sideline for a 62-yard touchdown.

“We didn't quit all year long,” Toll Gate head coach Jim Stringfellow said. “We put points up in the fourth quarter, the third quarter. We didn't quit, they didn’t quit and that’s on them. They could’ve buried their heads after that touchdown as they have in the past, but they didn’t do that at all this year.”

The Titans went to work from their own 20 down a point. The ground game drained the clock as they inched upfield, eventually facing a fourth-and-10 at their own 30 with 3:54 to go. Vann escaped pressure and found senior wide receiver Dan Pratt, who only joined the team midseason, for a 34-yard hookup near the Toll Gate sideline at the Pilgrim 36.

A personal foul against the Pats helped move the ball inside the Pilgrim 10, where Toll Gate set up shop on first-and-goal. The Pats’ defense stuffed Vann once and running back Anthony Calise twice to set up fourth down at the 1-yard line.

Kicker Datyn Deasley was ready for the potential go-ahead, 18-yard field goal, but Stringfellow opted to keep his offense on the field. Vann answered that confidence with his fourth score of the morning, reaching the goal line despite Pilgrim’s best efforts.

The game-winning drive lasted 14 plays and melted more than seven minutes off the clock.

“When [Offensive Coordinator] Jack [Paliotte] and Anthony get on a roll, nobody can stop them,” Stringfellow said. “They’ve been phenomenal. Can’t ask for a better drive, better game. They all as a team said ‘We’re going for it, we’ll get the touchdown.’”

Pilgrim recovered the onside kick at its own 45, but without any timeouts it was forced to pass on every down. With 5.2 seconds left, McKay rolled right and had the ball knocked away just prior to uncorking a deep pass. He fell to the turf, while Toll Gate rose up in celebration after knocking off its crosstown rival.

Both teams had their trials and tribulations this season, but each saved its best for last. Vann was nearly unstoppable, tallying 137 yards on the ground and 103 through the air to pick up his second victory of the campaign.

A hobbled Ferri still managed to total two touchdowns while McKay put forth some of his strongest throws under center. His 40-yard sling to Steven Rosa helped halt Toll Gate’s momentum after it had jumped out to an early 9-0 lead.

However, it meant more to Toll Gate than the usual league win might. It saw the Pilgrim players’ predictions in the Beacon’s Turkey Bowl section, which had four blowouts in favor of the Pats. The Titans felt they were being underestimated, and they made it their mission to stun Pilgrim.

“It clicked when they saw the predictions in the paper,” Stringfellow, who played football during his days at Pilgrim, said. “When they said they were going to get beat 50-0, 60-0, 42-0 and you could tell in practice how it pissed them off. They’re always called ‘The School on the Hill.’ Well, The School on the Hill came in and upset a D-II team that’s supposed to be better than us. They played their hearts out and I can’t ask for anything more.”

The bad news for Pilgrim is that Vann will be back for one more tussle on Thanksgiving next season. The shifty three-year starter will be able to build on this non-league performance in the offseason, hoping for a better season in the new-look Division III than Toll Gate had this time around.

“It gave me a huge confidence boost,” Vann said. “Throwing the ball, because I haven’t really thrown the ball that much this season, gives me huge, huge confidence.”

The playing field is even now on Thanksgiving, and there is no love lost between the two squads. There were trick plays, onside kicks, lengthy scoring drives and a little postgame jawing, and there was a palpable change in atmosphere.

Both sides played as if bragging rights were actually on the line. The remaining two public schools looked to gain the title of top school in the city. That banner will sit on the hill for the next year, and Toll Gate couldn’t be happier.

“I’ve had a lot of wins in my life so far, but this is up there as probably one of the best,” Pratt said. “Coming in, everybody thought we weren’t going to be the winners today. We fired on all cylinders. This is a great group of guys, this is a great team, whether the record shows it or not. I’m really happy I could join this team and that we could get the win today.”

The jubilant players stayed on the field long after the fans and opposing players had exited, hugging and reveling in what Toll Gate had not done in 25 years.

“That is probably one of the best ways to go out,” Pratt said.

“It’s probably one of the greatest moments I’ve had on the field,” Toll Gate senior linebacker Nick Kazandjian said. “I’ve played in some pretty crazy games, but this definitely tops everything I’ve ever done. It’s the best way to go out. I don’t care what the season reflected, this was a great way to go out.”