Football Rams lose opener to Tuckahoe Tigers in a fumble-marred 41-8 game that ended twice
September 6, 2023 at 11:42 p.m.
Last Saturday’s (9/2) opening Port Chester High School football contest was a game that was over twice.
Once would have been enough.
The end of the first quarter would really have been enough.
Or the half. Or the three quarters mark. Or the way the game ended the first time.
Because at the end of each of those intervals the Port Chester football Rams trailed Tuckahoe 13-0, 27-0, 34-0 and 41-0.
No grid 'Mercy Rule'
If it were a Little League baseball game, it would have been ended by the "Mercy Rule" with a team down by 10 and no reasonable chance of winning.
In a way, the score wasn't surprising.
Tuckahoe, a Class D small school division team, is a perennial football league, sectional and state championship contender, and played like one.
Port Chester, once a Class AA ultra-competitive large school power, now plays in a developmental league for struggling programs, and played like one.
Fumbles lead to TDs
It was fumble, fumble, fumble, fumble for the Rams who kept losing the ball in key offensive moments that led to Tuckahoe recoveries which, in turn, led to touchdowns.
But it wasn't careless play or slipshod running or slippery butterfingers that cost the Rams those fumbles. They were getting hit and hit hard by bigger, taller, heavier and faster Tuckahoe players who lived up to their reputation and Tigers nickname. They cashed in on the Ram mistakes with fumble recoveries that put the football in the capable hands of a rival quarterback who couldn't miss his lanky glue-fingered receivers who soared over the smaller defensive Ram backs. And when the Tigers weren't passing up a storm, they were running like there was almost no stopping them.
It was not the way the Rams wanted to start the season.
No quit in dual ending
But it was the way the game went. Until the end finally came. Twice.
Port Chester varsity cheer performs a halftime show featuring seniors, from left, Allegra Burke, Olivia Tejeda, Mayelin Gonzalez, Adrian Osorio, Angela Esquivel, Mariana Gamez and Allison Recinos.By Lennon Anderson
Yet the overmatched Rams never quit.
Running backs John Pauletti, John Delcid and Marc Dorsainvil kept running for mostly short yardage and paid with their bodies for every inch by uncomplainingly, painfully, almost resignedly, taking the mauling Tiger hits. Quarterback Nate Provencher was constantly surrounded by charging Tigers almost before he had time to take the snap. And gritty Ram linemen like Jaden Barbour and Alejandro Velasquez kept digging in the trenches against a seemingly relentless Tiger onslaught.
So the overmatched, undermanned but never-say-die Rams showed lots of heart with solid hits coming from Jayden Arbusto, Scott Sullivan, Brian Aguilera, Anthony Escobedo, Alex Morel and more.
The pros and cons
The good mixed with the bad.
At one point, Barbour twice crashed through and made two stops behind the line of scrimmage late in the game. But at another, Provencher had the ball taken right out his hands by a rampaging Tiger just as he was pivoting for a handoff. And Dorsainvil raced backwards—a no-no—on a punt return mistakenly thinking his speed would enable him to outrun the swarming Tuckahoe tacklers who caught him in a pincer-like movement that dropped him on his own two-yard line.
But good, bad or in between, the Rams kept coming up until the bitter end. And beyond.
End zone in sight
With the clock ticking down to the game's final seconds and the Rams trailing 41-0, Delcid looked as though he was going to run a kickoff back for a touchdown only to be tackled from behind at the Tuckahoe 20-yard line. That's when the Rams came to life. Provencher connected with a quick pass that brought the Rams to the Tigers’ three-yard line. And that was where the Rams stood when the clock ran off the final eight seconds and the refs signaled the game was over.
Only it wasn't.
Even though both teams ran off the field.
But unnoticed by all but one ref was the fact that Rams coach Chris Halstead had called time out.
So the game wasn't over until it was really over.
The ref called both teams back onto the field for the final play.
And the Rams made the most of it.
Rams score twice late
Pauletti ran the ball in for a touchdown and then ran the ball in for the two-point conversion. The shutout was averted. And the final score was 41-8.
Discouraging though that opening loss was, at least Port Chester is playing football while Blind Brook, their crosstown neighbor, isn't. The Trojans’ entire season has been canceled because of a lack of players turning out for the team, only between eight to 12 in all. That has led to plans for a Blind Brook football merger with Hastings that is awaiting approval from Section 1. The next Section 1 Conference meeting is scheduled for Tuesday (Sept. 12) with an Executive Committee session scheduled to follow on Sept. 18. Approval would mean that the Blind Brook players interested in playing football could start practicing and playing with Hastings, a team that is proceeding with its regular schedule no matter what happens.
The wait continues
"No update yet," Blind Brook athletic director Kimberly Saxton told Westmore News when asked about the latest merger status.
So, while Blind Brook is awaiting a Section 1 response regarding the proposed merger, Port Chester and its 32-member varsity–a good turnout for a football team in what is primarily a soccer school due to its high Latino population—proceeds. The Rams are preparing for their first night home game of the season Friday (9/8) against Walter Panas at 6:30 p.m. That game will include a special program in which the Rams Football Booster Club will be honoring local first responders.
Panas, a school that regularly competes with Tuckahoe, lost its opener to Westlake, albeit with its best player lost to injury early in the game. But he is scheduled to be back in time to suit up against the Rams. All of which should make for an interesting game that hopefully won't end twice the way the Rams’ first game did.
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