The Greene County Rams won their homecoming game Friday, getting their first shut-out of the season and keeping the traditional cowbell in Jefferson.
The game came at the end of a busy day that included a parade around the courthouse square and the crowning of Sunny Mobley and Branden Miller as homecoming queen and king.
It took the Rams just 1:17 and four plays to get on the scoreboard. Chase Stoline returned the kick-off to the Ram 30 yard line. Four plays later Daric Whipple hit Nick Schroeder with a 56 yard pass for the first touchdown of the game. Schroeder’s kick after the touchdown was good and the Rams were up 7-0 with 10:43 to play in the first quarter.
The Blue Jays went out on downs in their first possession and the Rams claimed the ball on their own 25 yard line. The Rams punted to finish that possession and the Blue Jays punted on their possession.
The Rams’ next drive started with a Tyler Beger fair catch on the punt at the Ram 22 yard line. The six-play drive included rushes from Anthony Cunningham of five yards and 20 yards, and ended with a 20-yard dash by Whipple into the end zone. With the PAT the score was 14-0 with 23.5 seconds to play in the first quarter.
The Rams scored again just 13 seconds later. The Blue Jays fumbled the ball on their second play at their own 24 yard line. Ram Matthew Gordon recovered the fumble and with a pass to Beger the Rams scored a touchdown. With the PAT good the Rams were up 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Neither team scored in the second quarter. The Blue Jays punted to end their possessions twice, as did the Rams. Late in the quarter the Rams took possession of the ball on the Blue Jays’ 44 yard line. The Rams made one first down, but with 2:38 to play in the quarter and at fourth and 5 yards on the 27 yard line, the Rams attempted a field goal. Schroeder’s kick was straight enough but not long enough. The Blue Jays didn’t score on their next possession and the score at half time was 21-0.
The Blue Jays had the ball first in the half but ended up punting. Beger returned the punt to the Ram 41 yard line. The Rams had to cover more than the 59 yards as the Rams were penalized twice for holding. Those were the sixth and seventh penalties against the Rams. The Blue Jays were pegged for their first penalty, a pass interference call. After 11 plays Beger made a diving catch of a 10 yard pass in the end zone and the score was 28-0 with 7:51 to play in the third quarter.
The next score was also the Rams’. Perry punted to end their possession but a personal foul call against the Rams after the possession moved the ball all the way back to the Rams’ own 9 yard line. It took 13 plays that ended with a nine yard pass to Calvin Skalla in the corner of the end zone. The PAT was good, and with 41 seconds to play in the third quarter the Rams were up 35-0 and the game went to continuous clock.
Neither team scored in the fourth quarter. Freshman quarterback Clint Dennhardt, who played the entire game last week in Whipple’s absence, played the last 7:40. During that time, the Rams were penalized twice and the Blue Jays were also penalized twice. The Rams had a total of 11 penalties in the game and the Blue Jays were penalized just three times.
The penalties against the Rams were not a factor in the outcome of the game because of mismatched offenses. The Rams had a total of 387 offensive yards, with 200 yards through the air and 187 rushing. Perry had just 103 total yards of offense – 67 passing and 36 rushing.
Perry is 0-7 on the season and has lost 10 consecutive games going back to the 2014 season. The Rams are 1-3 in 3A District 2 and 3-4 overall. The homecoming win ended a four game losing streak for the Rams and put the coveted cowbell in Jefferson for the coming year.
The Rams have their last home game next week against the Boone Toreadors. Going into this week’s play, the Toreadors were 1-5, with their only win against Perry. The regular season will end for the Rams against the Carroll Tigers in Carroll Oct. 23.
