I thought last week's game vs CN was ugly for St. Mary's. This one was worse. It all started with a fumble on the initial kickoff return inside their 20, which led to the Raiders first TD. Felt like deja vu from a few years ago at Central Catholic, and ended as such. Credit the Rams defense for not allowing the game to get to out of hand, but the Rams dedense was on the field too long and there just wasn't enough offense from the Rams. Penalties and turnovers against a solid team like the Raiders were too costly. Dropped passes and the first interception appeared to take away any confidence passing the ball in the first half. It was just ugly for the Rams.
The second half, down 0-14, it looked like the Rams made the adjustments on defense to stop the Raiders on downs and they finally completed a pass over the middle to Fontes, before a swing pass to speedy Marshall led to the Rams first TD to close within 7, at 7-14. But, once again the wheels came off the bus with the muffed punt and the momentum swung back to the Raiders who made some big plays by Booker and their QB when it appeared the Rams had them stopped. These big plays were back breakers that put the game away, leading to their final TD. Central Catholic controlled the clock and time of possession with their ground game and successfully left the Rams offense standing on the sidelines waiting. Wait they did. But, time ran out and desperation passes fell incomplete until the final interception sealed it with CC going to the V formation. Earlier the Rams had a really good chance to tie when a wide open pass was juggled and fell into the hands of the CC DB. Had he caught it he was gone and the game would have been tied.
Credit CC's defense, but more so their offense, led by Booker, that won this game, and the Holy Bowl trophy.
The Rams still have lots of games remaining to adjust to Aponte at QB and find balance in their offense. But, they definitely need to clean up the penalties and the turnovers if they are going to have any chance in the playoffs. This was totally a nightmare for the Rams. Hopefully, they will wake up soon.
The second half, down 0-14, it looked like the Rams made the adjustments on defense to stop the Raiders on downs and they finally completed a pass over the middle to Fontes, before a swing pass to speedy Marshall led to the Rams first TD to close within 7, at 7-14. But, once again the wheels came off the bus with the muffed punt and the momentum swung back to the Raiders who made some big plays by Booker and their QB when it appeared the Rams had them stopped. These big plays were back breakers that put the game away, leading to their final TD. Central Catholic controlled the clock and time of possession with their ground game and successfully left the Rams offense standing on the sidelines waiting. Wait they did. But, time ran out and desperation passes fell incomplete until the final interception sealed it with CC going to the V formation. Earlier the Rams had a really good chance to tie when a wide open pass was juggled and fell into the hands of the CC DB. Had he caught it he was gone and the game would have been tied.
Credit CC's defense, but more so their offense, led by Booker, that won this game, and the Holy Bowl trophy.
The Rams still have lots of games remaining to adjust to Aponte at QB and find balance in their offense. But, they definitely need to clean up the penalties and the turnovers if they are going to have any chance in the playoffs. This was totally a nightmare for the Rams. Hopefully, they will wake up soon.