Grid Rams edge Woodlands 38-32 in away game with points after 5 touchdowns the deciding factor
October 9, 2024 at 11:34 p.m.
In a forest primeval setting more conducive to meditation than football, the endgame final results of last Saturday's Rams away game (10/5) against Woodlands gave gridiron risk-takers a lot to think about. Both host Woodlands and visiting Port Chester scored five touchdowns, so the final score came down to PAT (point after touchdown) conversions. The Rams were a perfect five for five while the Falcons scored just once in the game's dying moments, a last gasp deuce that made the final score Port Chester 38, Woodlands 32.
Rams quarterback Alexis (Ace) Morel scored three touchdowns, senior fullback John Pauletti scored twice despite missing nearly half the game due to an early injury, both scored on two extra point conversions after touchdowns. And lineman Luis Granados kicked a perfect two for two on single PATs while the Rams grounded the Falcons on four of their five PAT attempts.
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And that was that.
Except it wasn't.
Because the high-flying Falcons converted on five straight passes to score their final TD and 2-point conversion with the clock running down in the fourth quarter. And they were just an onside kick away from a final, improbable last second TD drive. But the Rams recovered the last-ditch kickoff, held onto the bouncing ball, and ran out the clock with the accent on recovered.
Because, despite the tranquil rural backdrop, as serene and woodsy a historic Hartsdale landscape as one is ever likely to find in an urban yet suburban slice of Westchester right out of Longfellow and Thoreau, the game evolved into a hard-hitting slugfest between two contrasting styles of play Both 1-3 independent league teams played a lot better than their records, looking more like a Double or Triple A team than an indy contender.
Passing vs run game
The Falcons took to the air, their passing game mixed with the occasional razzle-dazzle reverse run that kept the Rams off balance.
The Rams counter punched and kept grinding it out with mostly power runs, sticking to their ground game, even when their best player, Pauletti, the battering Ram, wound up running with the equivalent of one leg tied behind his back after sitting out close to a half with a leg injury after a brilliant start that led to a gutsy finish.
So the next-man-up scenario came into play almost from the get-go with Pauletti playing hurt, running back threat Billy Villanova missing in action because he was away on a U.S. Coast Guard Academy recruiting trip, and prime receiver Scott Sullivan was ineligible because he had yet to heal from the 14 stitches he needed to close the gash in his arm incurred late in the loss to Peekskill last week, so the medical staff didn't clear him to play.
But none of that really mattered in the way things turned out.
Key Rams step up
Bottom line: Morel stepped up and lifted the Rams when they were down, Marc Dorsainvil played his best game of the season at running back and the unsung Port Chester line did the heavy lifting with Granados, Alber Poroj, Jeremy Noel and Xavier Tapia bailing out the porous Rams pass defense. And Manny Diaz made the key interception that helped the Rams hang on to a W that was threatening to slip away.
But that's getting ahead of the story.
Let's go back to the beginning to put it all in perspective.
The Rams took the opening kickoff and marched down the field, Pauletti doing most of the marching. Pauletti kept going up the middle except for an occasional Morel quarterback keep with Pauletti finally scoring on a 12-yard power run, shedding Woodlands tacklers like falling leaves. Granados kicked the extra point. And the Rams were up 7-0 at the 5:43 mark of the first quarter.
But the Falcons came right back with a 23-yard reverse, a 19-yard pass completion and a quick score at the 3:43 mark. The Rams stopped the two-point conversion attempt. And the scoreboard read 7-6 Port Chester. And the tone was set. Shot for shot. Score for score. Port Chester running. Woodlands passing. Morel and Pauletti the one-two punch. Pauletti scoring and then setting up the Rams second TD on a Morel QB keep. Port Chester was up 14-6 at the half. But something, or more accurately, someone was missing. Because Pauletti was out of the game for the second quarter, sitting on the bench, his right leg stretched out, the trainer working on his ankle and thigh, quads, shins and hamstring.
Impromptu game analysis
That prompted an instant game analysis from a skilled Port Chester football aficionado, a former corner back standing on the sidelines who succinctly said: "No Pauletti, no chance for Port Chester. Not with the way the Rams’ pass defense is playing. They keep their eye on the ball, they focus on what the quarterback is doing all right, but they don't focus on their man and let the pass receivers go right by them or run crossing patterns all day long. Woodlands has a QB who can throw, receivers who can catch, and a RB who can run rings around the Rams on a reverse. And that's not good. And Port Chester can't keep running Pauletti up the middle time after time, like what, 15 straight times, without risking him getting hurt when we can't afford to lose him."
"Actually, it was something more like five out of the first seven plays, but your point is well taken," somebody else said.
Regardless of the verbal points scored on the sideline, things looked bad for Port Chester when Pauletti's sub fumbled away the ball on his first carry, Woodlands recovered, eventually scored and almost before you knew it, the Falcons were up 18-14 and the Rams were hurting.
The "Ace" delivers
Until, that is, Ace Morel started living up to his nickname. His cuts seemed sharper, his runs a step faster, his fakes fakier, his jukes jivier, and he was off to the races. Dorsainvil racked up key first downs. Diaz made that important interception. The O-and-D lines refused to back down. And Pauletti came back into the game and restored the balance of power in the Rams’ running game. And Port Chester never quit on themselves.
All of that added up to the fact that the Rams team showed a lot of heart in woodsy Hartsdale, a historic hamlet 20 miles north of New York City, just off busy 287W, exit 4, about 40 minutes from Port Chester, yet a world apart once you drive around eight miles down 100A South and turn left into the appropriately named, tree-filled Woodlands area. It is a wilderness preserve dating back to the days when the elderly founder of the Gillette razor blade company married an ex-nun who left his immense real estate holdings to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York with the Town of Greenburgh eventually taking over the property and keeping it virtually untouched.
Except, of course, for the Woodlands Middle School and High School located there with amenities carved out of the natural setting like the high school football field, the tennis courts, the track, the golf course and more in an area known for its Poets Corner (the turnoff to the high school comes right after Keats Road), cultural benefactors who backed Balanchine's "Serenade" in the early days of the New York City Ballet, and being the home of the world's first Carvel ice cream story as well as America's first canine cemetery.
History and local color
All of which is interesting but seemingly doesn't have much to do with football unless you note that Ram fans made a little bit of history of their own on that sylvan football field. Because there were exactly three Ram aficionados in the stands at the start of the game, but by the time Port Chester ran off its first play the Rams crowd started showing in SUVs packed like circus cars until there were about 30 hard core Ram supporters in the seats, a full-throated group that outcheered the Woodlands audience (of about 40 bystanders including six cheerleaders and an announcer) seated in the stands on the other side of the field.
And in the middle of the local attendees was Ram Booster Club stalwart Gary Sullivan, a virtual one-man cheering squad leading chants of "One, two, three, first down" and the inevitable "Dee-Fence" exhortations. Did it matter? Who knows. But the Rams did seem to play a bit better with that vocal support. And this time, they did head home with a W that made the long bus ride seem shorter.
The road ahead
And now they will have a week to get ready for their next home game against Tappan Zee Oct. 19, a Saturday, at 1:30 p.m. at John Ryan Stadium. The Dutchmen are one of the better indy teams in the league, so the Rams figure to have their hands full as they try to claw their way back to .500. But the time gap also gives Pauletti more time to fully recover and Sullivan and Villanova a chance to get back into uniform.
And, you never know, the experts at Lohud may even have more time to discover how important Pauletti is to the Rams because he was curiously missing from their mid-season list of team MVPs. But then Port Chester never seems to get respect from Lohud. Which is too bad. Because this is a team that deserves respect. But it isn't over yet. And the fall season still has a long way to go.
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