LIMA — Perry’s quarterback Plummie Gardner was crowned homecoming king prior to playing Upper Scioto Valley but it was Rams running back Austin Sloan who ruled the gridiron after leading the Rams to 57-20 a win over the Commodores in a Northwest Central Conference clash Friday night.
The talented senior tailback rushed for 173 yards on 15 carries and scored two touchdowns on the ground. Both of his touchdown runs electrified the crowd as he ran one in from 51 yards and 75 yards, respectively. Sloan also caught a 73 yard screen pass for a touchdown.
Rams head coach Josh Spencer said early in the game Perry was putting the pressure and stacking the line and said if they could get their blocking situated it would spring big plays and that is exactly what happened.
“We were down 14-13 and our kids responded and play really tough and it is a good win for us,” Spencer said.
The Rams defense also made the night rough for Gardner as USV continually put pressure on the senior signal caller and sacked him eight times. The Rams also picked him off three times and forced a fumble out of Gardner that led to scores.
For the game, Gardner was 17 of 37 for 227 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. On the ground he had 27 carries for 45 yards.
“We had of respect for what he could do with his arm and his legs and our defensive line did a really nice job,” Spencer said. “There were plays were it seemed like we were bring a lot of pressure but we were only bringing four guys. Dakota Dunifon was all over the place tonight.”
Dunifon had 3.5 sacks and six tackles for loss.
Perry head coach Herb Lane said the Commodores stopped their own momentum early in the second quarter when they had a 14-13 lead. A controversial call involving too many men on the field resulted in a 15 yard penalty. The reason for the excessive yardage on the play was because the Rams had been warned for a sideline violation and according to the rules it meant 15 yards instead of 5.
“We had a five minute timeout with the rule book and everything and I was really upset with my staff because it took our mojo away,” Lane said. “Outside of that we just got tight and we didn’t have any depth and fatigue set in and we couldn’t overcome it.”
The play stoppage seemed innocuous at the time but it was actually when Upper Scioto Valley took control of this game at the end of the first half when the Rams scored three unanswered touchdowns in the final four minutes of the second quarter.
The first of those three scores came when Moot hit a streaking Rose down the right sideline for 51 yards to finish off a six play drive. After a missed extra point, USV led 19-15 with 4:01 left in the half.
The Rams regained possession of the ball less than 10 seconds later when they intercepted Gardner at their own 41 yard line. One play later, the Rams were celebrating their second touchdown in less than 45 seconds when Sloan juked and jived his way past Commodore defenders for 59 yards for the score. After a second missed extra point, the Rams owned a 26-14 lead with 3:46 left in the half.
The Rams made it a 19-point cushion less than 14 seconds later when USV recovered a fumble at the Perry 28 yard line. It took two runs by quarterback Jason Moot to cover those 28 yards, including a 6 yard run to cap off the quick two-play drive. At halftime, the Rams led 33-14.
Upper Scioto Valley jumped out to a 13-0 lead and Sloan was instrumental in both. Sloan scored the Rams’ first touchdown when he received a screen pass at his own 39 and then weaved his way to the end zone to complete the 73-yard play.
Following the big play, the Rams were more conventional by putting together a nine play, 70 yard drive. Sloan highlighted the drive with back to back 17-yard runs that allowed USV to move into the red zone. Quarterback Moots finished off the drive with a 6-yard run.
But that lead last less than two minutes when the Commodores scored on a big pass play from Gardner to Kobe Glover that went 54 yards to cap off a quick five play, 64 yard drive for Perry’s first touchdown.
On USV’s next possession Moot threw a pass that was intercepted by Gardner at the 27 and he went down to the 25.
One play later, Gardner to Glover worked again as the Commodore signal call found his sure-handed receiver in the right corner of the end zone to complete the 1 play, 25 yard drive. Glover finished the night with four catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
