Rams Win in Week One
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By Sara Smith
The Friday night lights were shining down in Queen City for the first time in 2024 when the Rams hosted the Seymour, Iowa Warriors. The varsity basketball teams visited Seymour last year, but other than that, these teams have never played. In his preseason interview, the new head coach, Coach O, alluded to the fact that we don’t know much about them.
Devin Sebold from Missouri 8-Man Football gave us our only hint before game time. In his Week 1 Preview livestream he said, “Seymour was pretty solid last year. Schuyler lost their quarterback, lost their receiver, Humphrey, who was pound-for-pound the best receiver in the state last year. They still have Sevits coming back in the backfield, Ace Akers up front. I saw them at the Missouri Western Team Camp, they are going to be super physical. It’s just can they have that explosive piece on the outside to counteract the running game there with it? I don’t have a good feel for Seymour Iowa, but those Iowa teams are all usually pretty good so it wouldn’t surprise me if Schuyler loses that game.”
All of that seemed reasonable until the Warriors got off the bus. #1 they are young. There are no seniors on their roster and only two juniors. #2 they are small. None of them could match up to the physical stature of our starters, especially the boys on the line.
It was evident that we had a mismatch on our hands from the very first play from scrimmage when Elliott Sevits ran for a 39- yard touchdown. The good news is that the players and the coaches stayed focused and kept working on their skills.
The Rams were able to build a comfortable lead early, the starters got to rest and some of the second and third-string players got quality, game-time reps.
The final score was 52-16 in favor of the Rams, although it should be noted that the Warriors did not score until the fourth quarter. They clearly have some things to work on as well.
The Rams collected 330 rushing yards, Elliott Sevits was responsible for 197 of those yards. He was able to amass these yards, along with four touchdowns in just over one quarter of play. It is safe to say that he is literally off and running, and looks to play a big role for the Rams this year.
After the game Coach O recognized that the Rams were “dominant in the run game,” but still have some things to work on when it comes to the passing game. The fact that it is still a “work in progress” is evidenced by the 8 passing/ receiving yards for the game.
Defensively the top two tacklers for the game were freshman Noah Scott with 13, and sophomore Casey Starrett with 8. These two players were able to take advantage of the Rams’ lead and get in a lot of playing time. However, starters Isaiah Cullers-Arnold and Gus Williams were still able to ring up 6 tackles apiece, even with their limited playing time. Isaac Arnold, Gage Pauley, and Williams each tallied a sack during the game and Cullers- Arnold and Starrett were each able to pull in an interception as well.
Another freshman to make a splash thanks to the extra playing time was Mason Oliver. He showed off his high-knee track skills with 25 rushing yards and a touchdown.
-In Week Two of high school football the Rams will head to St. Joseph to face the Bishop-LeBlond Eagles. Both teams will enter the game with a record of 1-0. Bishop-LeBlond defeated the North Shelby Raiders last week by a score of 56-30. The Raiders are one of the Ram’s district rivals, so the match-up versus Bishop-LeBlond might be a good litmus test for how the Rams will stack up in the district.
