Show biz 'break a leg' idiom for good luck means ‘Ram tough' despite 34-6 grid loss to Tappan Zee
October 23, 2024 at 9:46 p.m.
"Break a leg" is an idiom used in the theater or other performing arts to wish a performer good luck, now go out there on stage and knock the audience dead with an awesome show of talent.
But "break a leg" took on new meaning boiled down to just two words—Ram tough—after Port Chester's upset-minded 34-6 home loss to Tappan Zee last Saturday (10/19) with the adrenaline-fueled Rams deadlocked in a 6-6 tie at halftime while trading shot for shot with one of the best teams in the independent football league.
The brutal second half
But Zee scored four unanswered touchdowns in a brutal second half where the locals continued to play seemingly inspired ball, but their adrenaline could only take the 2-4 Rams so far against the 6-1 Rockland County powerhouse.
The game came down to a before and after scenario that played out in the opening sequence of downs for both teams.
The Dutchmen wasted no time showing how good they were, scoring on the second play of the game with a 35-yard touchdown pass. The TD came at the 10:57 mark, just slightly more than a minute into the game.
"It's OK, it's just one play, we've got plenty of time, and we're going to be all right," Rams junior quarterback Alexis Morel said to his teammates after they stopped the extra point conversion.
And he was half right.
The game-changing play
That’s because he ran right at Zee as did fullback Marc Dorsainvil and the Rams had a first down on their first three plays.
And then came the game changer. Because when the dust settled, one of the Ram mainstays, kicker/lineman/co-captain Luis Granados didn't get up. He was hurt. And hurt badly.
Rams junior quarterback Alexis Morel emerged as Port Chester’s leading ground-gainer during their 34-6 home loss to Tappan Zee on Saturday, Oct. 19.By Joseph DeCarlo
The clock froze at 10:45 for several minutes that seemed like an eternity, the crowd in stunned silence as Granados's moans filled the air. First the trainer worked over him, then two emergency medical technicians hovered over him, as did his mother, father and kid brother who came out of the stands to be with him. And then finally, mercifully, the wail of the approaching ambulance siren filled the air. And Granados, the downed Ram, was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to White Plains Hospital.
While all this was going on, the Rams retreated to the far side of the stadium and Zee stood quietly on the sidelines.
And the difference between the two teams became readily apparent. The Rams were outmanned, outsized, outgunned but not out-hearted. Once the game restarted, Port Chester went head-to-head, toe-to-toe with Zee, Morel on QB keeps and sweeps, Morel up the middle, the Rams putting the suddenly tamed Dutchmen back on their heels.
Rams fighting spirit
The Rams showed plenty of fight and kept driving during the second quarter only to fumble the ball away on the Zee 10-yard line on their way to a score. But Zee fumbled the ball right back to them a few plays later. And then with Zee keying on Morel, the QB flipped the ball to sophomore running back Chris Martin who ran the ball in from the five-yard line for the TD with 5:47 left to play in the half. The Rams missed the extra point. But against all odds, the game was improbably tied.
And P.C. went into halftime with the score knotted at 6-6.
But then it was like two different teams came out to play the second half.
The Zee coach sent his team onto the field with simple instructions: "O-line forget what happened, get back to work. O-backs get going. Your job's not done."
And oh did those O-for-offense Zee teams listen. As did their D for defense. They started manhandling the Rams on both sides of the ball. It was like the adrenaline that had fueled the Rams for the first half had drained away. And Zee's ground-and-pass game started paying off with TDs at the 6:24 and 2:05 mark of the third quarter, including a two-point conversion. And then another pass completion made it 27-6.
TD off blocked kick
And just when you wondered how they would score next, Zee recovered a Ram fumble inside Port Chester's own five-yard line and ran the ball in for a TD only to have it called back because of an offside. But it was only a temporary reprieve. Because Zee blocked the Ram kick from behind the goal line and scored a TD that way anyway.
Rams senior standout John Pauletti went both ways on offense and defense, more than holding his own in Port Chester’s Oct. 19 loss to the powerhouse Flying Dutchmen.By Joseph DeCarlo
At that point, there was 5:14 left to play in the fourth quarter and the game was essentially over.
But it had already been over for most of the second half. But the Rams refused to concede even when the tide kept turning against them.
Marc Dorsainvil got off some power runs. Manny Diaz broke up some Zee pass plays. Xavier Tapia made some key stops. John Pauletti went both ways on offense and defense and never let up, shedding Zee tacklers for three consecutive first downs with time running out. Morel took over the kicking duties and got off some booming kicks even as the Rams’ passing game never clicked. And co-captains Scott Sullivan and Alber Poroj never backed down. Even as injured Rams kept getting carted off the field.
Which brings us finally back to "break a leg" meaning Ram tough.
Because the Rams never quit. And their resilience was underlined in an unforgettable Ram tough break-a-leg moment. Granados, who had been ambulanced off to the hospital with a broken leg early in the first quarter, insisted on returning to the field to be there for his team, leaving the hospital emergency room and arriving back at the high school shortly after the game ended, on crutches, his leg in a cast, because he wanted to be there to share the post-mortems with his teammates. And he wanted to help motivate them for their upcoming season finale Saturday (10/26) at home against Walter Panas at 3 p.m. at John Ryan Stadium. And remind them of how well they had played against a tough opponent like Zee.
So, win or lose, you gotta believe that whatever happens, these Rams will never quit. Because they never do. They personify Ram pride. And always give it their all. So may they go out there and break a leg against Panas in the best show biz sense of the words, not literally.
And may there be a post-season playoffs league game in their future. Because they have worked so hard for so long to get there whether their record shows it or not. And there is more to this team than meets the eye. Yet what they do has to be seen to be believed. Like a player who breaks a leg early in the game and is ambulanced to the hospital insisting on rushing back from the emergency room on crutches with his leg in a cast so he can be on the field with his teammates after the game, W or L.
No matter how you spell it or say it, that means a great deal. And says a lot about Port Chester football.
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