Rams Back on Track, Victory Versus Thunder
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By Sara Smith
September 20, 2024, the Rams traveled to Keytesville for their fourth game of the season. Keytesville coops with Brunswick and Northwestern (Mendon) for football, baseball, and softball. Their collective mascot is the Thunder.
The history between the Rams and the Thunder is short but interesting. Their first meeting was in August of 2020. This match-up marked the first game of 8-man football for the Rams, and the first game of football of any kind in decades for the Thunder. It wasn’t a pretty game, but the Rams came away with a victory, 70-22. It turned out to be the only victory the Rams would have that season. The Thunder would remain winless.
During the 2021 season, the teams did not meet. Rumor was that the Thunder coach at the time did not want to travel the hour and forty minutes it took to get to Schuyler, however, this rumor is unconfirmed. The facts are that the Rams and the Thunder did not meet that season and that both teams were winless.
On to the 2022 season, this is the season that the Rams’ 8-man team started to get some traction. They did play the Thunder in September. That game did end up being a victory for the Rams, but the first half was pretty exciting as the Thunder kept it close. In the second half, the Rams pulled away and would go on to a 70-46 win. The Rams would end up with 5 wins that season, including a district victory at Santa Fe. Progress to be certain, as they had not won a game since the first meeting with the Thunder in 2020. The Thunder would remain winless in 2022.
The 2023 season was epic for the Rams, they won the district championship and finished the season 9-3. The varsity squad did not play the Thunder, but the JV did. The JV Thunder traveled to Queen City in August last year and came away with a close win, 32-44. The Thunder did not play a varsity schedule last year, just JV. Their record during that JV season was 7-1.
That brings us to the current 2024 season. This game would mark just the third match-up for these varsity squads, the first two had been “W”s for the Rams. Additionally, the Thunder were still looking for their first victory in a varsity football contest.
Coming into the game versus Schuyler the Thunder had faced Paris and Orrick, both losses for the Thunder, 8-72 and 14-48 respectively.
Schuyler was coming off of the heartbreaking 4-point loss versus Plattsburg the previous Friday.
Both teams had something to prove, and the first quarter looked like it was going to be a game.
The Rams opened the game by receiving the ball, and drove down the field, but then stalled out in the red zone, eventually turning the ball over on downs. The Thunder turned around with a drive of their own and scored a touchdown. The Thunder struck first and had the lead 0-6.
The Rams answered quickly and decisively on a one-play scoring drive powered by Elliott Sevits, the score was now tied. The Thunder responded with a quick pass play for a touchdown and they regained the lead, 6-14.
The Rams would once again answer the call offensively, but more importantly, they would make some adjustments on defense. The Thunder would not score again until the fourth quarter, facing mostly JV players.
The game would end with a 60-28 victory for the Rams. The Thunder are still in search of their first varsity victory.
Sevits continues to be the workhorse for the Rams with 14 carries for 197 yards, his longest run of the evening was 53 yards. He scored four touchdowns. Mason Windy’s roll as wingback is a nice compliment to Sevits. Windy carried the ball 8 times for 89 yards, his longest rush was for 30 yards. Quarterback Brody Weaver used his legs to the team’s advantage with seven rushes for 45 yards, he made those 45 yards count with three rushing touchdowns.
The passing/receiving game was not quite so successful. Weaver did not attempt a pass during the game. The only passing yards came from the JV quarterback, Gage Pauley during the second half of the game. Pauley completed a five-yard pass to Marcus Miller for a touchdown.
With Isaiah Arnold out for the game with an injury, Brody Bragg stepped up on defense to lead the team with nine tackles and a half sack. Daniel Flores was also called upon to pick up some slack for Isaiah, he was the place kicker for the game, even getting a touchback on one of his kicks.
Another defensive success story was Gus Williams with 3 ½ sacks. He has been an absolute menace for quarterbacks so far this season. Isaac Arnold also had a sack during the game.
The victory versus the Thunder evens up the Rams record at 2-2. Up next for the Rams is a three-week home stretch, starting on September 27th versus the 0-3 Knox County Eagles. This game will be the Schuyler County Homecoming contest. The other two home games will be versus Southwest (Livingston), and Braymer.
