Rams Lose to Themselves

CARMEL—For several years now, area football coaches have been looking for that magic formula. The one that explains how to get their troops motivated during those ‘filling out the schedule’ games that come after they have been eliminated from the playoffs.

Carmel’s Matt Moretti catches touchdown pass from Ryan Shilling as he crosses into end zone during Carmel’s loss to Mount Vernon Saturday. Carmel coach Todd Cayea has been among those searching for answers, and judging by Saturday’s meltdown against Mount Vernon, he’s still looking.

That’s because it was the Knights – who were blown out the week before by New Rochelle – who seemed to gain confidence and momentum as Saturday’s game progressed. Meanwhile, the Rams – who only one week earlier thought they were headed to the semifinals, before squandering a lead over Arlington in the game’s final moments – appeared to be a shaken and vulnerable group.

RJ Krauss of Carmel drags in Saturday’s loss. Krauss finished with 133 yards rushing. That’s what happens when a team gets a case of turnover fever.

After coughing it up five times in a quarterfinal loss to Arlington, Carmel put the ball on the ground four more times Saturday at home in front of a puzzled crowd, and those mistakes loomed large in the Knights rolling out of Carmel with a 32-14 non-playoff victory.

Mount Vernon (5-3) has a quality squad this season, having lost twice to New Rochelle and once to White Plains.

But the Rams had numerous opportunities.

Carmel (4-4) fumbled on its first possession, just after the Knights had opened the game with an 80-yard TD run by Chris Winslow to go up 7-0.

Then, with the Rams (down 13-7) driving in for a potential game-tying score in the second quarter, they fumbled again. Carmel opened the third quarter with another giveaway – this time at the Carmel 25. The Knights turned that gift into seven points moments later.

Kevin Heis (45) scampers for yardage Saturday at Carmel. A fourth-quarter interception all but sealed the deal – even though it appeared to many observers close to the play that Ryan Shilling’s pass hit the ground before being picked off, ending another Carmel scoring chance.

Cayea, and the Rams, were clearly beside themselves with frustration.

“Nine turnovers in the last two weeks,” the Rams veteran coach said. “That’s why we’re in the boat we’re in. The fumble when it was 13-7… that was big. We’re going in to tie it, then in the third we’re trying to take a lead and cough it up on a bad snap. And we had a field goal blocked in the first quarter… just unbelievable.”

In many cases, once the fumble bug hits a team - for whatever reason – it seems to be contagious. And once an opponent sees a player fumble, the defense will then be relentless in trying to strip the ball from that player, time after time.

“Once you fumble, you’d think you’d be more careful with the ball,” Cayea said. “But we didn’t cover the ball… it’s very frustrating, and it’s led to the last two losses. That’s why we were knocked out of the playoffs. And if we do it again this week, we’ll self-destruct again. Mount Vernon came to play, and played a good game. But we didn’t help ourselves.”

Cayea could not discount the possibility that his team was unable to get up off the mat after the stomach-turning loss to Arlington.

“I think it was a letdown,” he said. “Last week’s loss was very difficult. We felt we should be playing in the semifinals… we didn’t have a good week of practice. It’s a problem a lot of schools face. How do you motivate the kids after getting knocked out of the playoffs… But the most important thing is we have one more week, and hopefully we can finish the season with a winning record. The mental aspect plays a huge roll in these games.”

After the Rams fumbled their first possession, the Knights took advantage, with Isaiah Ferguson running for another score, and a 13-0 lead.

The Rams got on the board in the second, with a 16-yard TD pass from Shilling to Joe Verde.

Still in the second, with Carmel poised to tie the game, the Rams fumbled at the Knights 13, killing the drive.

The Rams opened the third at their own 15, then fumbled at their own 25. Moments later it was Lamar Shaw busting off a 23-yard TD scamper, good for a 19-7 lead.

Carmel’s next possession ended with a three-yard TD pass from Shilling to Matt Moretti, who was wide open in the left corner, making it a 19-14 game. The key play in the drive was a beautiful, 57-yard bomb from a scrambling Shilling down the right sideline to Chris Conover that put the ball on the MV 18.

But the Rams, as they did all game, had trouble stopping the Knights’ running game, and MV’s next march ended when Winslow broke loose for a 16- yard TD run 1:00 before the third came to a close, making it 25-14.

A questionable Shilling interception came in the first minute of the fourth, killing another Carmel opportunity. The Rams has the ball again with 5:50 remaining, but the drive stalled, and Shaw put the game out of reach when he busted off a 36-yard TD run with 3:53 left.

Shilling finished the day 9-of-14 for 149 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. RJ Krauss ran for 133 yards on 21 carries, but did not find the end zone, and Conover pulled in four receptions for 92 yards. Alex Alers and Nick Capone each had one sack for the Rams, who were also playing without the services of starting inside linebackers Keith DiSanto and Mike Marek, a loss that Cayea called “huge.”

Carmel will close out the season today (Thursday) at Suffern at 5pm. The Mounties (4-4) are coming off a loss to John Jay EF.