“It was worst practice of the season,” Graham said. “So Wednesday we had to go full pads because we had to understand where we need to go. And then they came out flat, and I think that was because of the way we practiced.”
The effects, however, lasted only for a half. The Rams rallied from a 10-point deficit to a 35-27 victory at Doug Adams Stadium but not without some anxious moments in the final minutes.
“I’m just looking for effort and for them to be able to go out and just want it so badly just because of the success they had going into it,” Graham said.
Alter (2-2) rushed for 126 yards in the first half and took a 17-7 lead on Noah Jones’ 21-yard touchdown run, Gavin Connor’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Joe Doorley and Tony Arcuri’s 21-yard field goal. But the Knights could not sustain the momentum in the second half.
”We did good things in the first half,” Alter coach Ed Domsitz said. “I thought we had some problems the second half tackling. The fact of the matter is we didn’t block as well. We gave them a leg up.”
The Rams (3-1) sprinted to a 21-17 lead less than four minutes into the second half. Mike Smith ran 69 yards for a touchdown on the third play of the half, and Armani Rodgers caught a pass from Timothy Carpenter along the sideline and broke a tackle for a 21-yard touchdown.
The Rams’ speed continued to be a factor as the lead grew to 35-20 with 11:52 left in the game. Carpenter’s 56-yard touchdown pass to Rodgers came against single coverage down the right sideline. Smith scored his third touchdown on a 15-yard run.
“That’s an obstacle that you’ve got to be able to overcome,” Domsitz said of the Rams’ speed. “Now first half we did. Second half we let it burn us at least three times The speed just got by us.”
Smith finished with 175 yards on 15 carries, Rodgers caught 10 passes for 152 yards and Carpenter was 10 of 19 for 152 yards and rushed for 34 yards. Smith and Rodgers accounted for 327 of the Rams’ 372 yards.
“Everybody will start to see that,” Graham said of his star players. “Then what else do we have? We need to have multiple players on offense making plays.”
Graham also said he will have to work harder on the special teams areas he coaches. Rodgers muffed a punt in the third quarter that set up Arcuri’s 33-yard field goal that cut the Rams’ lead to 21-20.
Then with the game seemingly over, Smith muffed another punt. Alter scored on the next play on an option pitch from Connor to Noah Jones that covered 17 yards. Graham, who played quarterback running the wishbone for Domsitz at Alter before going onto a college and pro career as a wide receiver, knew the exact play Domsitz called and why he called it at that moment.
“It was a great play call,” Graham said. “He’s going to do that when he has the right chance.”
The Knights held the Rams one more time and moved down the field behind some good throws by Connor (11 of 28 for 128 yards) in the final 1:42. But out of timeouts the Knights had to rush a fourth-down play and the pass was incomplete, turning the ball over to the Rams at their 22 with eight seconds left.
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