The Rams beat the Morristown Colonials 23-22 in an exciting overtime victory in the season opener on Friday night, Sept. 6, which was also Senior Night.
“The point of emphasis going into the game was to play with emotion,” junior Jayden Morreale said. “Coach Albano is big on playing with emotion.”
Prior to the Rams’ nail-biting victory, the team honored the graduating football players, cheerleaders, and band members in a Senior Night ceremony.
The game started with the Rams opening up their first drive of the game with an early punt by junior Logan Hankin. The Colonials capitalized off of the Ram’s unsuccessful drive and were moving the ball down the field across Ram territory, when that drive was put to sleep by sophomore Zayne Carswell’s interception.
The Jackson Magley-led offense took the momentum from this turnover and marched down the field with runs from the one-two punch in the backfield from senior Gideon Ochieng and sophomore Jayden Aguilar, running behind the Randolph offensive line.
After a big third down conversion in the red zone from Magley, Ochieng ran behind junior Ben Quinn to put the Rams up in the second quarter 7-0 after a kick from junior Andrew Ziedman
Morristown put together a good drive, moving down the field efficiently, and capping off their drive with a trick play touchdown to tie the game going into halftime 7-7.
“On offense and defense there weren’t many changes,” stated Quinn out of halftime. “We knew our mistakes and knew we could beat them; we just needed to go out and play our brand of football and we would get the job done.”
The Ram’s defense was dominant coming out of the locker room with some big tackles for losses from seniors Ryan Collins and Dean Mangiocavallo to force a punt.
The Rams were able to put a solid series together with Magley finding juniors Joey Sommer and Justin Novak and sophomore EJ Febles, but Morristown’s defense held strong forcing the Rams to punt.
Morristown made do of the opportunity, quickly scoring to take the lead halfway through the fourth quarter. In addition, they converted the 2-point conversion, making the score 15-7 with the Colonials leading.
The Ram’s offense started with a bang with Magley rolling right, drawing defenders and connecting with Sommer down the sideline for a 55-yard gain, placing the Rams inside the red zone. Magley later found Sommer again on a screen, running behind Mangiocavallo’s block, allowing Sommer to reach the end zone and set up a chance to tie the game.
To tie the game, the Rams selected to also go for their 2-point conversion where Magley found junior Mason Wilson back across the field to tie it up, 15-15 late in the fourth.
On Morristown’s final drive of regulation, the Rams’ defense came up big with Ochieng getting home to the quarterback, forcing an intentional grounding to get the ball back to the Rams, with under two minutes to go in the fourth.
The Rams ran out the clock and prepared for the overtime period.
Morristown was able to score with big runs to the outside, giving Morristown a 22-15 lead, putting the pressure on the Rams to score.
The Rams were rolling to start overtime, Magley delivered a ball to Sommer on a hitch, moving the chains to the Colonials’ 15-yard line.
After crucial stops for Morristown’s defense, the Rams were set to face a fourth down and 3. In the clutch, Magley connected with Sommer near the pylon to give the Rams a first and goal.
Yet again the Rams faced another fourth and goal. The Morristown band and student section were loud, The Rams were able to persevere with Magley finding a window and hitting Sommer who battled three Colonials to get in the end zone for the second time that night.
“I knew that play was a deciding factor for the game,” said Sommer on what was going through his mind during the crucial play. “I had trust in my team that we would all do our jobs and that’s what happened. Very grateful I was able to help the team win.”
The new head coach, Dave Albano, was faced with the task of going for the 2-point conversion to win the game or to attempt to tie it send it to another overtime. Coach Albano called the game.
With everyone on their feet, Magley scrambled out of the pocket, evading Colonials while keeping his eyes in the end zone, hitting Wilson for the win.
“The offensive line did a great job all game protecting the pass and opening holes in the run game,” said Magley on the team’s dynamic throughout the game. “The receivers also did a great job finding a way to get open and create separation. The guys made my job easy.”
The Rams beat Morristown 23-22 and look to carry this win into their game against Mount Olive next week, one of their toughest opponents.
