Football Rams lose to Tappan Zee under the lights but look for playoff berth in homecoming game
October 18, 2023 at 9:37 p.m.
Into almost every football season comes a game best remembered as forgotten. The Port Chester Rams played that kind of game against Tappan Zee last Friday, a horrifically unlucky Friday the 13th for Port Chester because it was a Friday night lights game away in which the hometown Dutchmen played lights out from the get- go and the Rams looked lost. The game kept going, going, gone from bad to worse to the worst.
The Rams lost 40-0 despite having a few good moments, albeit not nearly enough of them to really count except for the fact that every time they got knocked down, the Rams kept getting up and coming back, or trying hard to, even though there was never really any coming back from how down they were.
But that was then. Against Zee. And now with the regular season coming to an end, the Rams still have a shot at making the playoffs depending on how they do in their homecoming game finale Saturday (10/21) against Poughkeepsie at 1:30 p.m. Win and they are possibly in despite their losing record. Lose and it is wait until next year with plenty of time to think about what went wrong against Tappan Zee with all the stops between a and z.
'Outplayed and out coached'
"We got outplayed and out coached," Rams head coach Chris Halstead said after the Tappan Zee game. "What is there good to say when you lose by 40...My kids practice hard every week. There is not one day that they do not come out and compete."
Senior two-way Rams back Jonathan (Johnny D) Delcid, one of the team captains, summed up his feelings with sentiments filled with Ram and Port Chester pride:
"Football is a sport that has taught me to face adversity, and it is what you do when things go bad that defines you as a football player—you keep getting up, you keep playing, you keep trying because you are part of a team, a brotherhood, and you are playing for your school, your community, your town, your brothers, your identity, so you keep trying no matter what happens."
And a lot did happen from the opening kickoff when the ball kept bouncing away from Delcid like it was possessed so there was no chance at any kind of return and all he could do was make a diving play to recover it while being buried under six Dutchmen on top of him and the homecoming crowd roaring. The Rams went a quick three and out, punted to midfield and the Flying Dutchmen were off and flying with the quarterback running a quick draw that led straight to the end zone, a touchdown, the extra point was good, and Zee led 7-0 almost before the Rams knew what hit them.
Kept coming back
The Rams were staggered. But they kept trying to come back. That's where the good moments came in only to turn not-so-good in the long run.
Because with Zee keying on Rams high-scoring junior power back John Pauletti, Port Chester had to look elsewhere for their offense and got it from sophomore quarterback Alexis Morel who ran for three consecutive first downs on quarterback keepers. Morel then hit Delcid with a 30-yard pass that positioned Port Chester in Zee territory. Junior Jayden Arbusto took a toss outside for a five-yard gain until he was gang tackled by a horde of Dutchmen. Zee recovered the fumble, scooped the ball up on a bounce and ran it all the way back to the Port Chester two-yard line where Pauletti, playing defensive end, ran the length of the field to tackle the runner from behind to save the TD. But not for long. Because Zee scored two plays later, missed the extra point and was up 13-0 before the end of the first quarter.
That set the tone. And the Rams kept trying new ways to come back. Senior quarterback Nate Provencher and sophomore speed back Marc Dorsainvil gave the Rams backfield a new look and came up with first downs that took Port Chester into Zee territory. But they couldn't score. And TZ could. Again and again and, well, you get the picture, but the Rams kept trying.
End zone in sight
Just before half time, for example, Scott Sullivan intercepted a pass, and the Rams got to the Zee 40-yard-line only to turn the ball over when they barely missed converting on a fourth down. But they weren't done. Pauletti playing hard on defense recovered a Zee fumble. The Rams moved to the TZ 12-yard line with 18 seconds left and a possible TD in the offing.
That's when and where Rams football booster extraordinaire Gary Sullivan heard a fellow Port Chester enthusiast say: "Best case scenario we score. Worst case we give up a TD."
The worst case won out. The Rams didn't score. Zee did. And instead of the score being 20-7 at halftime, it was 26-0. And that, basically, was that. In operatic terms, it ain't over until the fat lady sings, but if she wasn't singing the ending yet, she was certainly warming up and the Zee crowd was certainly enjoying the high notes. Because Zee kept rolling during the second half. And the Rams kept rolling with the punches but couldn't connect.
Seeing the light
But all is not lost. Port Chester still has a pulse. Barely. Because the Rams still have another shot at picking themselves up off the canvas with a possible playoff spot on the line Saturday (10/21) during their regular season homecoming game against Poughkeepsie at 1:30 p.m. Win and they are possibly in the playoffs. Lose and it is wait until next year.
Whatever happens, there could be some lights out/lights on news in the works for the Rams.
The local Board of Education is reviewing ways to install lights at the Rams home field at Ryan Stadium next year so Port Chester won't have to hit the road to play Friday night lights games as they did against Tappan Zee or rent them—the lights, that is—like they did in their early season win against last year's league champion Walter Panas. So all things are still possible for the 2-4 Rams. Even the playoffs. Maybe even the lights.
Comments:
You must login to comment.