Port Chester Rams and Lady Rams show upside as 7 varsity teams continue as works in progress

It was the kind of week that left New York State sports teams in various states of euphoria. 1) The football Jets won by one point 31-30 scoring two TDs in the final 90 seconds; 2) Aaron Judge hit two home runs (numbers 58 and 59) in the Yankees’ win over the Brewers, bringing him closer to tying or breaking Roger Maris' record 61 in 1961; 3) The Giants beat the Browns by three points 19-16 with Graham Gano kicking four field goals, the last a 56-yarder with 3:14 to go against his former team; and 4) The Mets beat the Pirates 7-3 to hold onto their one-game lead over the Braves.

If you are keeping track of those four scores on past Super Sundays, that's the first time the Jets, Yankees, Giants and Mets all won on the same day since Sept. 27, 2009.

While the results weren't quite as euphoric during the past high school sports week in Port Chester, there were definite signs that the overall work in progress was showing encouraging signs because the Big 3 did well with the Rams and Lady Rams soccer teams breaking into the win column and the football Rams scoring their first touchdown of the new fall season after two shutout losses before losing their third straight game. While they didn't win, Lady Rams tennis and volleyball looked good in losses to Valhalla and New Rochelle and the cross-country team looked promising in a friendly race against crosstown rival Blind Brook over an unfamiliar Trojans course filled with detours because of the construction work going on over the regular course at Crawford Park.

If that race sounds complicated, that's nothing compared to what happened to the up-and-coming Lady Rams swim team that didn't let a little thing like not having a pool to swim in derail their season.

Let's start the countdown with the Port Chester Big 3.

Football

It was good while it lasted, but it didn't last long. The Rams scored quickly, crisply and efficiently with quarterback Colin Taylor reeling off a string of first downs on keeps, plowing over the goal line for a touchdown against Horace Greeley almost before the sparse home crowd of 100 or so spectators settled into their seats at John Ryan Stadium last Saturday (9/17) afternoon. It was the Rams’ first touchdown of the season after consecutive shutout losses to Bronxville and Spring Valley. It was their first lead of the season as well. It came after just 2:42 minutes of play. The Rams missed the extra point. But still it was 6-0. The lead lasted for all of 2:06 minutes. That's how long it took for Greeley to score on a long pass play and kick the extra point. And after that it was all she wrote for the Rams, almost like "wink," blink and nod had settled in.

In the time it took to blink and nod, it was as though "Wink" had taken over the Greeley team, "Wink" here meaning the ghost of Wink Martingale, the defensive coordinator who has changed the NY football Giants into a mean tackling machine of defensive cogs who could really bring it, put hats on bodies in football parlance, laying on the muscular hits. Greeley dominated the line of scrimmage from that moment on, on both sides of the ball, so the Ram gains were few and far between while Greeley riddled Port Chester with its passing game so the score kept mounting to its 34-6 conclusion, a receiver faking out the Ram defense with a move that opened up a 51-yard scoring lane for their second TD at the 9:31 mark to make it 14-6. That set the stage for another long pass a few minutes later so the score at halftime was 21-6 in favor of Greeley. Any chance of a Ram comeback faded with a fumble to start the third quarter that resulted in another Greeley TD with less than two minutes gone making it 28-6. Greeley started the fourth quarter with another TD pass. And that was that.

Greeley won their small school independent league championship last year. And has the passing and kicking game to contend again this year. Port Chester, undermanned, undersized and outgunned, is trying to just be competitive while struggling to rebuild a losing culture under head coach Chris Halstead who has an uphill climb ahead because of a disappointing number of players on the roster.

"We just don't know how to play winning football yet," Halstead said after the game. "We make too many mistakes. And our lack of physicality is an issue."

There are other issues as well. Because Halstead had to hear the cries from the stands, one in particular that said: "The playbook isn't working. Change the plays. Change the playbook."

But in fairness to the plays, players and coaches, the playbook X's and O's don't work no matter how good they look on paper without the blocks and tackles. Because Taylor can't pass from flat on his back or race up the middle without a hole to run through, Sean Barbour can make only so many tackles, George Velasquez can't heal from an injury suffered eight plays into the second game until nature runs its course and a Rams team without the horses can only gallop so far on heart and fumes. Especially with its core hurting.

So, for now, Ram football fans will have to focus on the good moments in games. Like those early Taylor runs and his getting off a 48-yard-punt against Greeley, or trying to see which one of the Barbour twins got the strong hits, Sean, number 54, or Jayden, 55, ditto the Flores twins, both offensive linemen and defensive linebackers with Gabriel number 64 and José 65, or trying to figure out which Anthony hits harder, Escobibo or Espinosa , or how to tell the Escobars—Brian, David and Edgar—apart without a scorecard. The same goes for the Cabreras--Ethan, Julian and Franklin. No doubt about it, the Rams have some good football players, including John DelCid, Erik Coria, Dan Argudo, Mike DeCrescenzo, more, and hopefully they will do themselves, the school and the community proud in their next away game against an improving Poughkeepsie team Saturday (9/24) at 1:30 p.m. But the odds are against them.

Soccer

The number two came heavily into play for both the Rams and Lady Rams during the past week. Head coach John Cafaldo's Rams won their first two games by identical 2-1 scores over Ossining and Fox Lane, shaking off the doldrums of losing their season's first five games in a row. Christian Artunez and Axel Villeda scored the goals against Ossining with Nick Tellez and Ty Oshiro racking up the assists and Tommy Borzoni getting six saves in goal. Tellez scored both goals unassisted in the wins over the Foxes with Borzoni and Jonathan Bautista chalking up three saves.

Head coach Danny Alvarado's Lady Rams came out on both the right and wrong sides of 2-score games: They beat East Ramapo 2-0 with Gioiella Pastena scoring both goals, one off an assist by Diana Alvarez and the other off a corner deflection. But then they lost to Clarkstown South 2-0.

Both veteran coaches had their own takes on what's going on. "We have a lot of moving parts, and we're still getting used to playing as a team," said Cafaldo. But he had 90 candidates out for his team. And he sees a lot of potential talent there.

Alvarado is dealing with lesser numbers (around 30), is rebuilding around a young team and is trying to overcome injuries to his seasoned players.

"We're just learning and rolling with the punches," Alvarado said. "It's going to get uglier before it gets better. But we're a work in progress. And it's a phase we have to get through as a young, rebuilding team."

But Alvarado, a skilled ballroom dancer who specializes in the tango with lessons from Port Chester's Jeté Dance Studio, knows it takes two to tango and a lot more to make his Lady Rams go. So he is looking forward to the return of All-League senior co-captain Ariana Da Silva from a hamstring injury with goalie Sam Munoz expected to have her cast removed by next week so she can return to action. Until then, Yelanni Diaz, the team's All-League defensive ace and co-captain, has been providing senior leadership and seems completely recovered from two separate knee surgeries during the off-season.

"The team is starting to play together and build chemistry," Alvarado said. The chemistry will hopefully continue to jell in the Lady Rams’ next game away Friday (9/23) against Ossining at 4:30 p.m.

The soccer Rams figure to get a strong test in their next scheduled home game against White Plains Saturday (9/24) at 11 a.m.

Tennis

Head coach Manny Martinez's ever-improving Lady Rams keeps stepping up their game despite two losses to a more experienced Valhalla team which has its returning top singles player leading a solid veteran squad. But Port Chester's first double team of Natalie Barreto and Fatima Coyt gave the Vikings all they could handle in their away match, losing a close match 6-3, 6-4, "But the score was not indicative of just how close the match was because Coyt and Barreto worked well together and strung together a host of winning shots as they looked to upset their more experienced opponents," said Martinez. In fact, Coyt played so well she was promoted to play third singles in the return home match against Valhalla and nearly came away with an upset, the sophomore losing 6-3, 4-6 and 11-13 in a grueling tie breaker. That return match also included strong doubles play from Shane Cherlyan and Ella Mateus and Melany Monroe and Kayley Martinez who won their respective exhibition matches by scores of 6-1 and 6-2, both showing strongly improved games over their initial foray against the Vikings. Martinez thinks the team surge will continue in the Lady Rams’ next home match Friday (9/23) against East Ramapo at 4:30 p.m.

Volleyball and cross country

The Lady Rams Vballers lost a close match to New Rochelle in three sets, the last one going down to a 25-23 score indicative of how much the VBers are improving, especially now with Madison (Madi) Ostrowski having graduated to play scholarship softball at Villanova and junior wunderkind Kayleigh Heckel transferring to play scholarship basketball for Long Island Lutheran. That means the Provenzano sisters, Karah and Jenna, are going to have to step up to carry the basketball team the way they are trying to help the Vballers get through the ups and downs of the current season. They are looking for their next win at home Friday (9/23) against East Ramapo at 4:30 p.m.

Speaking of ups and downs, head coach Cindy Reyes Martinez and her cross country team had more than their share during a friendly competition against Blind Brook last Thursday (9/15). The race was supposed to take place at Crawford Park but had to be moved to the Blind Brook campus due to construction at the park. The result was an improvised course with many confusing turns and repeated loops, a kind of loop-de-loop du jour that made for an unclear 5K race course that nonetheless provided a good workout.

Alejandro Salinas and Santiago Marquez were the top Ram finishers with times of 18:55 and 18:57 respectively. Andree Palacios and Orhan Eski finished together in 21:57. And Martinez challenged two of her more promising freshmen to up their distance from their regular 1.1-mile races to 3.1 and Alexa Aguiriano and Abigail Pesantez responded to the 5K distance with impressive first time runs of 22:30 and 23:57, Alexa taking a little longer because she made a wrong turn that added onto her distance. Martinez also had extra words of praise for the hard-working junior Dylan Basurto, who ran the distance in under 25 minutes, a more than two-minute improvement over the 27:37 he ran just a few weeks ago at Croton Point. Martinez is looking for still faster times in their next meet Saturday (9/24) at White Plains at 11 a.m.

Swimming

The Lady Rams weren't just looking for faster times, they were also looking for a pool to swim in because their Carver Center home pool has been undergoing repairs. After mostly dry land practices in the high school gym, they found both, a pool and faster times, that is, in winning their season's opening meet against Woodlands 57-38 at the Theodore Young Center in Greenburgh. And they did it with flair and style, a couple of sister acts making a big splash as the team raced to numerous first and second place finishes. In the 200-yard free, for example, Chenoa Marquez won going away as did her sister Chantel in the 200-yard individual medley. Chenoa came back to win the 500-yard free with Madeline Saunders finishing second and then Madeline's sister Morgan came in second behind Brenda Cordova in the 50-yard freestyle. Madeline returned to win the 100-yard-breaststroke while Jaina Gonzalez and Shirley Guzman finished first and second in the 100-yard-backstroke.

The Lady Rams picked up the pace in the relays taking first and second in the 200-free with the win and place teams racing with Sophia Ortiz-Heaney, Brenda Cordova, Morgan Saunders and Chantal Marquez. The runner ups included Nicole Ortega, Mariangel Osorio, Kim Rivera and Juliana Lopez.

Enthusiastic head coach Colleen Cahill was ecstatic after the meet. "We are looking strong and better than ever this year," she said. "I am very optimistic."

But Cahill and her Lady Rams will have plenty of time to cool their heels, dry off and get back into the Carver Center pool for workouts because their next two meets against East Ramapo and Albertus Magnus have been cancelled because both schools dropped the sport at the last minute due to lack of participation. So the Lady Rams will have to wait to make their next splash against Brewster away on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 5:30 p.m. But for right now, they are euphoric, just the way the Yankees, Mets, Giants and Jets were on Super Sunday.