The Toll Gate football team fell to host Coventry 43-7 last week to fall to 0-2 this season.

Despite a competitive first half, the Oakers would roll in the second to run away with the lopsided win. After falling behind 13-0 in the first quarter, Toll Gate quarterback Jacob Vann would connect on a 78-yard catch and run touchdown with Zach DeCorpo to make it 13-7.

The Titans had another opportunity to put points on the board late in the second quarter when the offense drove to the Coventry 15 yard line, but the Oakers would haul in an interception and return it all the way to the Toll Gate 4 yard line and convert for a touchdown prior to the halftime break.

The Oakers would roll the rest of the way and put up another 24 unanswered points. DeCorpo had a solid outing in all three phases for the Titans and returned a kickoff the distance in the third quarter, however, it would be called back on a penalty.

The Toll Gate defensive line struggled against the run in the final three quarters, even when it changed its formation to beef up the front.

“We knew what they were doing. They have two offenses, they have a spread offense when they pass and a traditional double wing when they run. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, we just got handled. We knew the plays they were running, we made an adjustment and at one point had 10 guys on the line of scrimmage and still could not stop them,” said Toll Gate head coach Jim Miceli.

Miceli felt that the difference in the game ultimately came down to the Titans’ inexperience in the trenches, as they only have one senior starter on the defensive line and no seniors on the offensive side.

“We had that return called back, we probably could have scored 20 points tonight, but they’re a better team than us. I was hoping it would be the way things were in the first half and that we would have kept it competitive. We have so many guys up front that play both ways, so against a bigger line that is more experienced, it’s tough,” said Miceli.

As Toll Gate continues to rebuild its program, Miceli and his staff are preaching patience moving forward.

“It’s going to be a process, it’s not going to happen overnight. There is a culture that we are going to have to bring and a way that we want to do things and that’s a major upheaval,” said Miceli. “Our seniors have been working very hard, but this process goes beyond just this year. This is very much about the future.”