Football Rams end fall season with 1-point win over Panas
October 30, 2024 at 10:25 p.m.
It couldn't have been much closer, but the Port Chester football Rams’ one-two scoring punch of junior quarterback Alexis Morel and senior fullback John Pauletti came through once again by alternating Morel QB sweeps and keeps with unstoppable Pauletti power runs up the middle in the dying minutes of a game rival Walter Panas led by a score of 21-14 but wound up losing by a point because of the late game Morel-Pauletti heroics.
Panas knew what was coming and keyed on the Rams’ dynamic duo. But the Panthers couldn't stop them in crunch time.
The Morel-Pauletti combo relentlessly carried the Rams down the field and added an exclamation point to Port Chester's dramatic 22-21 homecoming win.
The pivotal scoring
The Rams tied and then won the game with slightly more than three minutes to go with Pauletti scoring the tying TD from inside the 5-yard-line and then making the winning two-point conversion while carrying what looked like half the Panas team on his back into the end zone.
Ram senior co-captain and wide receiver Scott Sullivan goes out for a pass against Walter Panas in Port Chester’s home win last Saturday (10/26). He caught the only successful pass the Rams completed during that day's close victory.By Joseph DeCarlo
And that was a fitting way for the regular fall season to end because Pauletti—Port Chester's "Mr. Touchdown," the battering and battered Ram—had almost literally and figuratively carried the Rams on his back all season long with a strong assist from the deceptively fleet-footed Morel, his heir apparent.
But the game was far from over even after the Rams took the lead with 3:47 left to go.
Panas came storming right back with their own one-two-three punch of running backs Jack Doherty, Gianni Generoso and QB Christian Ramos who gave them what the Rams missed, a passing game to augment the running attack.
Up, up and away
Their passing-running game had Panas in the long shadow of the Rams’ goal line on the Port Chester 15-yard-line with 30 seconds to go and a winning TD within reach after a P.C. pass interference call gave them new life.
Panas had scored their first TD and two-point conversion in a similar situation under similar circumstances with 13 seconds to go in the first quarter. And now it looked as though Doherty was going to emulate Pauletti's late score with the snap from center coming to him.
But the ball never got to him.
Because the Panas snaps had been high all game long. Not so high that their Big 3 backs couldn't reach them. But high enough so they had to reach up to catch them. But not this time. Not with the game on the line. Because the snap from center soared way over Doherty's head. The Panas backs desperately retreated in a frantic try to recover the ball. But the Rams got there first and recovered the elusive pigskin, all but burying the errant bouncing ball in a pile on, smothering it so Panas didn't have a prayer of getting another shot at a score.
And then, and only then, could the Rams exhale as Morel took a knee as P.C. ran out the clock on the seesaw game last Saturday (10/26) at John Ryan Stadium.
What a game it was
And what a game it was.
The Rams scored first with 4:37 gone in the first quarter. The Morel-Pauletti combo reeled off five straight first downs. Morel scored the TD with Pauletti notching the two-point conversion. Panas came right back with their own five straight first downs, but they mixed passes in with their runs and were aided and abetted by a pass interference call. They also made their two-point conversion. And the first quarter ended tied at 8-8.
Senior Brian Escobar gives his mother a kiss during the rose ceremony honoring all the seniors on the football team as well as the senior cheerleaders prior to Port Chester’s homecoming game last Saturday (10/26).By Joseph DeCarlo
Both teams went back and forth in the second quarter until Morel scored on a 20-yard QB keep with 2:48 left only to have Panas come back to score on a 20-yard pass completion with three seconds left in the quarter. Both teams missed on their two-point conversions. So they went into halftime tied 14-14. And it was shaping up into a familiar scenario—Port Chester's ground-and-pound game versus a rival with a passing threat as well as a running game. And it looked as though Panas had the edge when they ran the opening kickoff back to midfield to start the third quarter, Ramos hit a pass that moved them inside the five and they scored on a run up the middle at the 7:05 mark. They kicked the extra point and were up 21-14.
Added drama
That's where it stood going late into the fourth quarter, albeit with the Rams adding some extra drama by having a punt blocked and Morel coming out of the game briefly while favoring his leg, necessitating a quick QB change with sophomore sub Jefferson Castaneda calling a few plays before Morel came back in.
That's when Morel and Pauletti dug deep inside of themselves, calling on that extra effort from within, call it Ram pride, and went to work. Sweep, keep, plow straight ahead, repeat, Morel finally breaking one for 20 orso yards so the Rams were inside the 10, and then Pauletti stayed low, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead, and scored the pivotal points that won the game with the unsung heroes upfront—Alber Poroj, Xavier Tapia, Manny Diaz, Scott Sullivan, more—clearing enough daylight to make it happen. And then key tackles coming from Marc Dorsainvil and Tapia to help defuse the late Panas comeback bid.
It was a great way to end the regular fall football season.
And while the main Westchester focus was on "THE GAME" nearby with Rye winning the almost century old rivalry against Harrison, Port Chester, all but ignored by local media like Lohud (except Lohud picked Panas to beat P.C.), showed Ram pride was second to none by putting on a memorable homecoming game show.
The showtime extravaganza
Showtime started with a stirring pep rally at the high school on the Friday night before the game (10/25). It carried over to the pre-game ceremony honoring the Ram football seniors and P.C. cheerleaders and their parents with the traditional rose ceremony. And it extended to the halftime performance by Port Chester's famed marching band, one of the best in the nation. And it ended with the kind of game everyone who played in it will remember for the rest of their lives.
Senior Julian Estevez blocks a Panas player during Port Chester’s exciting homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 26 which the Rams won 22-21 in the last minutes of play.By Joseph DeCarlo
While Westmore News can't mention everyone on the Rams varsity, here's a parting thanks for the memories salute to the seniors for their hard work in making Port Chester football possible starting with—who else?—John Pauletti and extending up and down the roster to Sullivan, Dorsainvil, Kevin Perez, Julian Estevez, Juan Hernandez, Bryan Rivera, Billy Villanova, David Escobar, John Borzoni, Brian Escobar and Luis Granados, who broke his leg early in the next to last home game against Tappan Zee, was ambulanced to the hospital, had his leg set in a cast, and insisted on returning to the high school on crutches for the post mortem with his team after the loss to Zee and stood on the sideline with crutches to root them home during their win over Panas in the finale.
That says a lot about Ram pride. And a team that was a lot better than their 4-4 record.
So does this: The Rams voted as a team to end the fall season on a high note with their homecoming win rather than play a meaningless postseason away game against Hendrick Hudson that had been scheduled for Wednesday (10/30) at 6 p.m. So now they will always have Panas, their crunch time comeback and their gallant last stand that made their exclamation point win say it all for them. As exits go, that's hard to beat.
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