Rams Host Barnburner Versus Plattsburg

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By Sara Smith 

On Friday, September 13, 2024, the Plattsburg Tigers came to Queen City to line up across from the Rams. Someone has to be the winner and someone has to be the loser, no doubt one of these teams was going to feel pretty unlucky by the end of this Friday the 13th. 

The Rams were coming off of their loss to the Bishop LeBlond Golden Eagles the previous week. The Golden Eagles are the real deal and moved up to #6 in the Missouri 8-man rankings after that win. The Plattsburg Tigers had a bye in the second week of the season but beat Knox County 68-32 in the first week of play. 

This is the Tigers’ second year playing 8-man football and the second time these teams have faced each other. During last year’s contest, both teams aired out the ball. The Rams had 289 passing yards. Elliott Sevits also had a tremendous game last with 209 rushing yards. Despite that, the Tigers came away with the 92-68 win. However, both teams have different starters this year, which is the nature of high school football. As a side note, the Plattsburg coach, Brandon Boswell mentioned that the Tigers will be returning to 11-man football next season. Their 37-man roster, including eight seniors and eight juniors, was evidence that this move to 8-man football would indeed be short-term. 

The Rams kicked off to start the game. The Tigers put together a nine-play drive with a mix of runs and passes that made it to the Ram 4-yard line. In the red zone, Gus Williams put pressure on the Tigers’ quarterback, junior Tyler Ariano. Williams followed this up a couple of plays later with a tackle for a loss and a fumble recovery. 

The Rams took over on their own 13-yard line. With a heavy dose of the Ram rush up the middle the Rams capped off the 12-play drive with an eight-yard rush by Sevits for a touchdown. The swinging gate, swung open for a quarterback rush by Brody Weaver to add the 2-point conversion. The Rams scored first and took the lead, 8-0 with 1:51 minutes left to play in the first quarter. 

The Rams’ defense went to work, and when the second quarter got underway, the Tigers found themselves at 4th down with 19 yards to go. This unenviable field position came courtesy of a sack by Williams, followed by another sack by Williams and Brody Bragg. However, the Tigers called in a pass play to senior Gavin Boyle that ended up in a touchdown. They were able to convert the 2-point attempt and the game was tied at 8 all with 11:47 remaining in the 2nd quarter. At the end of the touchdown play the Tigers were flagged with an excessive celebration penalty and the Rams chose to asses the penalty yards on the kick-off instead of the conversion attempt. 

The Tigers’ kickoff took a bounce in their favor and the Rams started their drive at their own 8-yard line. Even though the Tigers were stacking the box, with 5-6 players within 3 yards of the ball, the Rams once again put together a punishing drive with a steady diet of handoffs to Sevits. The drive almost stalled out when an incomplete pass followed by a holding penalty had the offense backed up on 3rd down with 15 yards to gain. A quarterback sweep by Brody Weaver picked up 12 of those yards. On 4th and 3, the Rams found themselves in a make-or-break situation, a pass play to tight end Isaiah Arnold was dialed up. In this defining play, Weaver completed a 15-yard pass to Arnold and a first down. Two plays later, Mason Windy rushed for 13 yards and then was pushed in by his teammates for the final four yards to score a touchdown. The 2-point conversion failed, but the Rams regained the lead, 14-8 with 6:05 in the half. 

Unfortunately for the Rams, the Tigers were able to answer with just one play, a fly route for a touchdown. Their conversion was good and they retook the lead, 14-16 with 4:54 left in the first half. To add insult to injury, the Tigers attempted an onside kick and recovered the ball after a fumble by the Rams. The Tigers struck again, this time in four plays. On 4th and eight, Ariano completed a 37-yard touchdown pass to Boyle, the conversion was good and the score had taken a 10-point swing in favor of the Tigers, 14-24 with 3:57 remaining in the half. 

The Rams would get the ball back at the beginning of the second half so a score before the end of the first half would have gone a long way toward making up the 10-point deficit. The Rams looked like they were going to be able to continue the rush up the middle and got a first down in just two plays. However, a holding penalty followed by a sack put the Rams in 4th and 15 with 20 seconds left. They opted to punt. On the Tigers’ return the Rams were called for a late hit (we won’t mention the missed block in the back by the Tigers) and the Tigers were in scoring position, on the Ram 13-yard line with 9 second to play. The Ram defense held, forcing an incompletion, then on the next play, ending the half with an interception in the endzone by Bragg. 

At halftime, the score was 14-24, Tigers. The Rams had some costly penalties but were still moving the ball. The Rams seemed to be the more physical team, but the Tigers had speed and were able to score faster. 

The third quarter started with a bang, a kick return by Colin Oliver for a touchdown. However, in a continuation of the penalty trend in the first half, the return was negated by a block in the back penalty by the Rams. So, instead of the quick strike, the Rams launch a seven-play touchdown drive spearheaded by Sevits. The swinging gate conversion attempt was unsuccessful, but the Rams got to within four, 20-24 with 8:05 left in the third quarter. 

Not to be outdone, the Tigers switched up their game offensively and went from a healthy dose of passes to a series of handoffs. This time, it took the Tigers seven plays to score on a rush by senior Donte Bingham. The 2-point attempt failed, but the Tigers’ lead extended to 10 once again, 20-30 with 6:42 remaining in the third. 

On the sixth play of that drive a dog-pile tackle occurred on the Ram 4-yard line. Sophomore Casey Starrett for the Rams didn’t get up from the pile. The trainer and ambulance crew were able to see to him, but he left that game in the back of the ambulance. It was later reported that his knee was dislocated, and while he was, and is, in a fair amount of pain, the full extent of his injury has not fully been assessed yet. He, his family, and his team, are hopeful that he can make it back before the end of the season. 

The Tigers kicked the ball off to Oliver, who was waiting at the 5-yard line, he returned it for 15 yards and the Rams were in decent field position, at their own 20. Once again, the Ram offensive line had their way with the Tiger defense and Sevits, Windy, and Weaver were able to rush their way to another Schuyler touchdown. The Windy touchdown on a wingback reverse was followed by a 2-point attempt. The swinging gate formation was abandoned in favor of their regular offensive formation on the conversion and it worked, the Rams pulled to within two points 28-30 with 3:40 left in the third. 

With the Rams a little too close for comfort, the Tigers went back to their bread and butter and started passing again. They were able to get a first down, but a personal foul by the Tigers put them in a long passing situation (2nd down and 25). This time the Ram defense was ready and Windy jumped the route for an interception. He returned the interception 10 yards. 

Just like that, the Rams were in scoring position on the Tiger 24-yard line with 1:44 left in the third. Once again, Windy capped off the six-play drive, and started the fourth quarter, with and end around rush to score a touchdown. The 2-point conversion failed, but the Rams took the lead, 34-30 with 11:18 left in the game. 

The Ram kickoff took an unfortunate bounce and went out of bounds at the Tiger 10-yard line. The ensuing penalty set the Tigers up nicely at the 25-yard line, and off they went. This time they were once again trying to eat clock but maintained a mix of the rush and the pass. Penalties by the Rams helped keep their drive alive, offsides and a face mask penalty kept the chains moving. Despite that, the Ram defense had the Tigers’ backs against the wall after a tackle behind the line of scrimmage by Ace Akers. At third and 15 the Tigers needed to make something happen. Once again they went to Ariano’s arm, he completed a pass to senior Rylan Langton for a touchdown and the score swung in favor of the Tigers. The 2-point conversion was good, 34-38 with 7:10 remaining in the game. 

With plenty of time on the clock, the Rams put together their fastest strike yet. A handoff and a pitch to Sevits was followed by an I-back formation rush by Windy that gained a staggering 53 yards. Sevits finished off the drive on the next play from four yards out for a touchdown. Somehow, on the 2-point try, the Rams managed to block in the back and they had to retry the 2-point attempt, this time from the 15. Weaver made a pass to Windy in the corner of the endzone and the Rams went up by four points, 42-38 with 5:33 left. 

The Tigers’ game plan was to rush, run out the clock, and score at the last second. The Ram defense foiled part of that plan when they kept the rush to short gains. The defense forced a measurement on third and two, but the Tigers gained just enough and kept the drive alive. Now on the Ram 7-yard line, the defense pushed them back two yards, then the Tigers gained one yard on a pass to the flat. On third down and goal from the eight, Ariano threw a low pass, and Langton made a tremendous diving catch. The coverage was there, but some passes are almost impossible to defend. The 2-point conversion was good on a quarterback keeper and the Tigers went up by four, 42-46 with only 1:10 remaining in regulation. 

It seems impossible, given the pace of the game up to that point, but there were three more possessions during those 70 seconds. On the Rams’ answering drive the Tigers intercepted a pass from Weaver. Just two plays later the Rams recovered a fumble and got a second chance to make a comeback. The Rams had 41 seconds to drive 75 yards, they made a valiant effort, including a play with four lateral passes, but to no avail. The final play of the game was intercepted and the game came to a heartbreaking end. 

This game was a back-and-forth pitched battle, unfortunately for the Rams, they came up just short. Coach Ockenfels said after the game, “Our team played extremely hard, they played all the way to the end, I’m so proud of every one of them, and we are going to learn from this and we are going to be better because of this game.” Coach O saw plenty of positives from the game, they didn’t give up, they executed their blocks, and ran the ball really well. The O-line (Ace Akers, Caden Veatch, and Deacon Schoonover) was smart up front and made adjustments to different defensive looks. He also noted the need to play fundamentally sound football and clean up some penalties, but ultimately he had to give a tip of the cap to the Tigers, they “made more plays than we did.” 

In an effort that fell just short of a W, Sevits proved to be the workhorse for the Rams with 31 punishing carries for 189 yards and three touchdowns, he also had 10 receiving yards. Windy had 11 carries for 156 yards, including that 53-yard rush in the fourth quarter, he also had 10 yards on an interception return. Like most 8-man teams, the Rams play ironman football, so some of the offensive players are also defensive playmakers. Sevits led the team in tackles with 15, Windy followed with 10 and an interception. Williams had 10 tackles, 3.5 for a loss, 2.5 of which were sacks. Bragg had eight tackles, half a sack, and an interception. Akers had five tackles, one for a loss. 

The Rams played a physical game and when Plattsburg walked off the field they might have walked off with a win, but they had to earn it, and no doubt they felt it. The Rams can hold their heads up high as they make their way to Keystville on Friday, September 20, 2024.