The Rams get the win over the Indians 27-19

Posted by jack bello on Oct 24, 2011 in Telegram Past News

The Dixon Rams pull off their second win of the year, beating the Marysville Indians 27-19, making the Rams 2-1 in league and 2-6 overall. The Rams played with a lot of confidence coming off their dominant win at homecoming. The Rams are still very much in the GEL title race, especially if the Rams win their final two games. They will have a great shot for a playoff berth.

The Rams came out strong in the first quarter with an early first down, but two straight sacks led the Rams to have to punt the ball to the Indians. The Rams gave a great defensive performance, forcing the Indians to give the ball back close to the Rams goal line after turning it over on downs. Starting at their own 4 yard line, the Rams played into the Indians’ plan because on a Rams run, the ball was fumbled in the end zone, and the Indians picked it up to score a touchdown off of the fumble. This gave the Indians a quick 7-0 lead, making this seem just like another typical start for the Rams.

The Rams got a good return to start close to mid-field in the second quarter, but an interception from the quarterback, Maverick Miller, gave the Indians back the ball. The Indians, starting on their own 30 yard line, used their powerful runner, Cole Hannum, to march down the field for another score to open up their lead to 13-0 after the missed extra point. Just when this game seemed like another loss, the Rams got a 79 yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Marcos Pangelinan to cut the deficit to 7-13. The Rams, being completely determined after the touchdown, they shut down the powerful running game, and forced the Indians to punt to the Rams to give the Rams the ball back before the end of the half. The Rams marched down the field with a big run from Korey Hall and big completions from Maverick Miller. The Rams then had an opening on a slant route, and Maverick Miller threw it to Bryan Hollowell to complete it for a 26 yard touchdown catch to give the Rams the lead 14-13.

The Indians came out of the half ready to get their lead back. They marched 80 yards to get their third touchdown of the game from the running-back getting a 6 yard run for the score. The Rams weren’t intimidated by the impressive drive and came out with their own drive , marching 92 yards after a couple of big plays from Maverick Miller connecting with A.J. Bell for a 44 yard play. Korey Hall got a 45 yard run to put the Rams on the Indians’ 3 yard line. The Rams then punched it in with a Marcos Pangelinan 1 yard run to take back the lead, 20-19 after the missed extra point.

The Rams kept having trouble shutting down the dominant running game from the Indians. However, deep in their own territory, the Rams shut down the Indians forcing the punt. Starting at their own 25 yard line in the fourth quarter, the Rams marched down the field, and, off of an 18 yard pass from Maverick Miller, Anthony Salaber caught it for another Rams touchdown, opening up the Rams lead to 27-19 with 8:40 left in the game. The Rams really had to shut down the Indians, but the Indians continued to run right down the gut of the Rams defense. However the Indians faced a 3^rd down, and a big deflection down field from A.J. Bell kept the Indians from scoring. Finally on 4^th down, the Indians threw it for a first down but couldn’t connect, giving the Rams the win 27-19.

The Rams were very excited with taking the win after getting 259 yards of offense and scoring 4 touchdowns on the night. The Rams might have given up 308 yards to the Indians, but the Rams played a good enough defense to keep the Indians from scoring. The Rams are still in the hunt for the GEL title after this big win and hope to continue this success for the remaining two games in the season. The Rams play next week at home against the Mesa Verde Mavericks. The Mavericks are 3-0 in league so the Rams hope to knock off the Mavericks and take first place from them. This game will be on October 28^th at 7:00p.m.