Rams Facts

The Rams are in the Section V Class B title game for the 2nd straight year.  They will take on Geneva for the 2nd straight year as well.  Last year Geneva came from behind and beat Bath 28 to 21 at Paetec Park.  Coach Wayne Carroll is 7 and 3 in his last ten Sectional Semi final games.  He is 5 and 1 in his last six sectional title games.  Coach Carroll has won four titles at Bath Haverling and 1 title at Romulus.  
Coach Carroll is 2 and 1 at Paetec Park and his teams have two shut outs there.
Jake Kuver the senior QB for the Rams is 22 and 5 as a starter for Coach Carroll.  These Seniors are 4 and 2 in sectional play and 11 and 2 on the road since their sophomore year.  

Both Bath and Geneva are 8 and 1 this year.  Bath's only loss was to the Hornell Red Raiders 14 to 7.  Geneva just beat Hornell at Paetec Park 21 to 12.  That would make Bath around a two touchdown underdog in this game.  
Geneva is 8 and 0 at Paetec.  Their Coach, Dave Whitcomb, in his 11th season, is 65 and 45 in his career at Geneva.  The Panthers are 18 and 6 in Sectional play since 1999.  The Panthers are 3 and 1 in sectional title games.  They are 2 and 1 in the B's and 1 and 0 in Class A.  Geneva is 7 and 0 since 1999 against LCAA teams and 4 and 1 vs. LCAA teams in the post season.  Only team to beat them since 1999 is Hornell in 2004 21 to 20.  
Bobby Martin, Geneva's QB, is 25 and 6 in his career.  He has three losses to Canandagiua: two to Victor and one to Chenango Forks.

The Panthers are 31 and 7 in their last 38 games.  Geneva has won a sectional title in 2005 in Class A and 2006 and 2007 in Class B.  They are going for a three peat this year.  



Coach Carroll is 14 and 4 in his last 18  games against FLAA teams.  He is 2 and 1 against FLAA teams in Final games.  That one loss was against Geneva last year.  These two teams have not crossed paths much since 1999, only last year in the title game, but they have scrimmaged each other a few times over the years.

McCloud got 123 yards on 18 carries and 1TD Sunday night.  The Rams all time leading rusher now has 1241 yards on the season.  He has 18 TD's this year.  He is now at 474 carries in his career for 4119 yards and 67 TD's.  McCloud passed two more running backs on Sunday.  He now sits 7th all time in Section V history with rushing yards.  He now sits behind Wade Rowcliffe from Cal Mum.  Wade has 4262 yards.  Adam Wright from C.G. Finney has 4294.  Those are the next two in his sights.

The winner of this game will be the Section V Class B champ and will play at the University of Buffalo the following Saturday.  
The Rams were the better team on Sunday night as they cruised 42 to 0 over Attica.  They had five fumbles in the first half.  they recovered three of them.  They forced three turnovers from Attica.  They were just too physical for the Blue Devils and had over 250 yards on the ground in the first half.  Other than the two fumbles and the pick by Kuver, it was a good game.  The Rams did cough it up a couple times in the Red Zone and will not be able to do that against better teams.  Kuver had a great game with three first half TD's on the ground and an interception.  It is the Rams' 3rd shut out of the season.  
Will it be the year of the Rams?  We will have to wait and see.

Tomorrow's Big Game...

It's all good in Wayne's World.  Coach Wayne Carroll got his 125^th career victory and he has over 20 post season wins in his career. 

He is now 15 and 4 vs. the FLAA in his last 19 games.  He is 4 and 1 vs. the FLAA at home in the first round.  He moves into the 2^nd round and he is 6 and 2 in his last eight semi-final appearances.  We will talk about the semi-final game this Sunday at 6PM against the upstart and Cinderella story Attica Blue Devils, who are the six seed and upset East Rochester Gananda 18 to 0.  The Rams handled Pal-Mac easily, 39 to 7.  It was crappy weather all day so they moved the game back and as the Rams were on their way to victory the sun even came out to bathe the field in sunshine. 

I think to explain and break down the Pal-Mac game and all the records this team is making on an individual level and making it back to Pae Tech Park for a second straight year we need to go back before we go forward.  I think this all started on Saturday Oct 21^st, 2005.  It was a cold rainy miserable day.  The Bath Haverling Rams who were 2 and 5 were to play the 1 and 6 screaming eagles of Midlakes in pool play.  It was my first season with the Rams.  The Rams were coming off a 0 and 8 season the previous year and had just been hit hard by the Hornell Red Raiders 41 to 0 at Maple City Park .  It was very cold and the field was a mess.  I am not sure the event staff wanted to be there, or the PA guy Jerry, or the concession stand workers or the ticket takers, some of the players and even myself.  However there was one person that wanted to be there and knew that whether the team won or loss that day it was a building block to the future. That person was Coach Wayne Carroll.  He had made it to the Carrier Dome for the State semi's just a few years before.  Being in pool play must have felt a long way away from those teams in 2001 and 2002, yet he knew that every game those Freshman he had brought up that year could play in would make them better in the long run.  They played that game in the rain and slop in front of about 15 fans at Haverling football stadium and the Rams lost 20 to 0.  Since that loss at home that squad is 21 and 5 and have gone 11 and 3 on that field since.

Many have tried to question Coach Wayne Carroll's coaching style and ability and his staff and program.  If you were there on Saturday Oct 21^st 2005 and also had the pleasure of seeing those Freshman who are now Seniors play Saturday Oct 25^th you could not help feeling happy for those kids and how far they had come and you could not deny that the 39 to 7 thumping was the culmination and proof that Coach Wayne Carroll is one of the best Coaches in Section V.  You can not say that those years in 2001 2002 and 2003 were a fluke and that he just had great players.  He took young men with no varsity experience and little to no JV experience and brought them up to varsity.  Brought them along slowly to make sure they would not get hurt and made them into one of the best teams in Class B in all of Section V for the last two to three years. 

People will say well with great players like Andre McCloud, Cody Hutcheson, Jake Kuver, Matt Whedbee, and Same Musso a lot of people cold have one.  That is not so.  We have seen in all sports, and at all levels that just because you have a great player or a few great players  it does not make you a great team.  Coach Carroll has gotten these youngsters to play like a team.  They think like a team and win and lose like a team. 

So while maybe they didn't win that day in the rain against Midlakes maybe those Freshman learned a few things and a good life lesson that they can take with them for life.  Coach Carroll knew that playing in that game was a building block to getting back on top.  Most programs don't even play in pool play.  They hand in their pads and helmets and start shooting hoops.  I think we can all agree now that Coach Wayne Carroll's coaching career, coaching style and love for his football program has been validated with the rebuilding of his program.  This team is not just naturally talented, but well coached also.

 

To the game.  The Rams were victorious 39 to 7 over Pal-Mac.  In his last three games against Pal-Mac Coach Carroll has won 41 to 0, 24 to 0, and 39 to 7.  I think it is fair to say Coach Tom Schmandt of Pal Mac does not look forward to seeing Bath Haverling across the field.  Coach Carroll is 6 and 2 in the first round in his last eight games and 5 and 1 at home.  Andre McCloud had a great game with 168 yards, three TD's on the ground one in the air on a screen and a two point conversion.  Justin Seager certainly had a great game as well.  Cody The Hammer Hutcheson had 105 yards on the graound with a TD and Jake Kuver had 116 yards on the ground.  I think my favorite play was when Jake Kuver went down the sidelines on a run for huge yards and got down to the two or so and his big old hogmollie lineman I think it was Ben Chissom was staying with him stride for stride trying to give him as many down field blocks as possible.  Good job by the big fella on that play.  TC Carroll lead the D as always with 12 tackles.  Justin Seager had 11 tackles and 3 sacks.  Nick Carroll had 10 tackles and Danny Herrick had 7 tackles and 1 sack.  The same for linebacker Sam Musso.

So at the end of the game I can tell you this.  Andre McCloud is now at 3996 yards for his career.  He has gone over the 1000 yard mark for the second season with 132 carries for 1118 yards.  He has 17 TD's this year putting him at 69 in his career.  If you are wondering, McCloud is averaging 8.4 yards a carry this year and 139 yards a game.  He now sits in the top ten all time in Section V in rushing.  He passed Anthony Pollizzi of Hornell and Kyle Miller of LeRoy on Saturday.  McCloud is now 9^th all time.  He is right behind Tremayne Bendross of Churchville-Chili who has 4075 yards.  Then there is Tysean Harris of Clyde-Savannah with 489 yards.  Both those backs played in the 90's.  After that is Wade Rowcliffe of Cal-Mum.  He has 4262.  With a good game McCloud could leap frog two more people. 

TC Carroll is now at 314 tackles putting him just 60 tackles away from the all time tackling record at Bath Haverling. 

 

There is not much history between Bath and Attica .  They have not played in the regular season at least since the 2000 season.  They have faced off twice in Sectionals since 1999.  Bath won the first game in 2001 28 to 15 at Attica .  It was a quarterfinal game and Bath was the six seed and Attica was the three seed.  In 2002 Attica and Bath played in the semi finals at St. John Fisher and Bath won 34 to 8.

 

While the Rams are 16 and 5 on the road since 2005, the Blue Devils are 13 and 9.  Coach Carroll and his team are 1 and 1 at Pae Tech Park playing two games there last year.  Attica has never played at Pae Tech Park .  Since taking over in 2004 at Attica Coach Cusmano has made it to Sectionals two times.  Going 0 and  2 until their third trip to sectionals under him with that win over ERG they go to 1 and 2 in Sectional play.  Coach Cusmano is 2 and 2 against the LCAA DI since he took over.  In 2004 pool play he beat HFL 26 to 14.  Attica finished 5 and 4.  In 2005 Attica went to Livonia in round 1 of sectionals as the 5 seed and lost to Livonia 34 to 8.  They ended their season 5 and 3.  In week 7 of the 2006 season Livonia beat Attica 36 to 22.  Then later that year in pool play Attica beat Way-Co 22 to 16 to finish 4 and 4.  Since the 2004 season Attica is 5 and 4 in non-league games, 2 and 2 vs. LCAA D1 teams, and 3 and 2 vs. FLAA teams.  Since 2004 the program is 25 and 17 with two sectional wins. 

Bath is averaging just over 30 points a game but on the road they average 25 points a game.  If you rake out the Dansville game they scored 7 at Hornell and 21 at Livonia .  On the other side of the ball the Rams' D is only giving up 11.25 points per game.  On the road they are only giving up 9 points a game.  The Rams are 3 and 0 on the road this year. 

The Attica Blue Devils average 32.5 points a game, but only 25.75 on the road and their D gives up 19.25 points a game but 23 points a game on the road.  Attica is 2 and 3 against teams with records of over .500. The win against ERG last week and the other win was against Alexander week 1.  Alexander had a 4 and 4 record and lost to Canisteo Greenwood in Round 1 of Sectionals. 

They are five and three but their opponents' combined record this year is 36 and 28.  They are 3 and 0 against teams with  under .500 records. 

This team is an okay team, but is not a great team.  They have lost to two Class C schools.  Granted, good ones in Pembroke and Oakfield-Alabama but they have also lost to Notre Dame, a Class D school. 

I think the Rams win this one going away.  Just too big.  That game Saturday against Pal-Mac was not won on Saturday at 4PM, that was won at Saturday and Sunday mornings in the weight room.  I think the same will be true on Sunday.

One thing I think you might see if not this week against Attica or next week against Geneva or Hornell is the Wild Ram.  They ran the Wildhog in Arkansas with McFaddin, they now run the wildcat in Miami with the Dolphins with Ronnie Brown.  What about the Wild Ram with McCloud getting the direct snap in the shot gun and having The Hammer Hutch as his lead blocker and going around the end.  You would start out with Kuver in the shot gun with McCloud and Hutch on either side of him.  Then at the last moment Kuver goes in motion up to the line and out as a wide out.  McCloud moves to the QB position gets the snap and runs to the left side behind Hutch and the line.  You run away from the side Kuver ran out to and he immediately goes out of bounds because out at wide out he is free game out there he is not the QB anymore out there so he should get right out of bounds.  The play should be ran not only to the opposite side of the field as where the QB goes out to but it should be ran to the sideline of the opponent so that when Jake goes out of bounds he is going out of bounds on his own sideline, not into enemy territory. 

They might not do it this year with Andre but that might be a play you just might see next year with Nick Carroll. 

I will check in with more later this week.

Sectional Satuday!

Well my friends the Bath Haverling Rams are back in Sectionals.  Tune into V98.3FM WVIN or on line at www.network1sports.com.  It’s Sectional Saturday.  Pre-Game at 1PM and kickoff at 1:30PM.  Join Marty Cranmer, Joel Oriend, and sideline reporter Bill Colmer for the broadcast.  We will have the countdown to kickoff show and the Coaches Corner before kickoff.  These two teams done have a lot of history.  The only two that have history wold be the coaches.  The last time the two teams played was week 1 of the 2002 season and Bath won 41 to 0.  The also hooked up in the Class B semifinals in sectionals in 2001.  Bath was the number 2 seed and Pal Mac was the number 3 seed.  Bath won the game 24 to 0.  Pal Mac ended the season 7 and 2.  Bath made it to the dome that year and the state semi’s finishing the season 9 and 3.

Before we get to this week.  Lets look back at last week.  The Rams won a very good game at home 33 to 24 over Bishop Kearney.  Kearney dropped to 4 and 3.  the Rams improved to 6 and 1.  More importantly they got a fhome game this Saturday and are on the other side of the brackets from the number 1 seed Geneva .  It was senior Saturday at Bath Haverling and the Seniors stepped up.  Jake Kuver, Cody Hutcheson, Andre McCloud, Andrew Nesbit, Sam Musso, Matt Whedbee, and Danny Herrick  had great games. Speaking of Seniors  Before I forget A neat thing at halftime Bath honored the 1948 jug winner team.  They were 4 and 4 on the season and beat Painted Post to win the Jug that year.  The three remaining team members were in attendance.  Jim Drake, Harry Buckley, and Harold French. 

Everybody in attendance was given a show by Andre McCloud.  He had 34 carries for  226 yards.  Mac had one rushing TD, a passing TD, a two point conversion and two sacks.  That is a great day at the office. 

Kuver went 4 for 13 for 25 yards and 8 carries for 15 yards and a TD. 

Cody “The Hammer” Hutcheson had 12 carries for 77 yards on the day. The Hammer now has over 1,000 yards rushing in his career. 

On the Defensive side of things.  The Carroll crew lead the way.  The Carroll brothers of T.C. and Nick Carroll each had 10 tackles.  Nick “The Pick 6” Carroll had another INT return for a TD.  That would be his 3^rd this year.   Herrick had 4 tackles, Musso had 3 tackles.  The D was opportunistic as always  with 3 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery.  If you take away Blair Roberts the Rams really contained the Bishop Kearney Kings.  The Rams at one point were up 26 to 9.  The Kings came back to 26 to 24 but the Rams kept composed scored again and never looked back 33 to 24.  One of the thngs the Rams might look at is their Red Zone O.  they were 1 for 4 in the Red Zone last week and now 18 for 30 on the season.  To win a sectional title and a state title that will have to be improved on.  That comes down to the play calling and the big hogmollies up front getting the job done.  On the flip side the D was two and 0 on red zone stops maki ng than 4 for 11 stops on D.

Before we take a look at this week’s game lets take a look at numbers of signifigants.  Coach Carroll will be going for career win number 125.  Andre McCloud is at 441 carries he will go over 450 carries on his career.  He is at 3828 all time on the ground in his career.  Now is he not only Bath ’s all time leading rusher he is number 12 all tiem in Section V.  He s behind former Hornell stand out Anthony Pollizzi who has 3883.  The LeRoy grad Kyle Miller is at number 10 with 3906.  so with a good day McCloud could move into the top ten in section V. 

Lets take a look at the TACKLE TALLY BOARD.    T.C. is now at 75 tackles on the season putting him over 300 for his career.  302 to be exact.  He is now 72 behind Keith Smith as the all time leading tackler.   Now just an interesting side story.  T.C. in his 8^th grade year had 52 tackles and in his Freshman year had 64 tackls for 116.  Nick in his first two years on varsity is at 106.  If he keeps it up and gets a little better could break his big brothers tackling record himself.  He is a year behind T.C. n school

As for McCloud’s scoring record.  He is about 11 TD’s away from the Top five all time in section five.  That Hornell game really hurt him with that.  They will need to go deep for him to get in the top five.

Alright. 

This Saturdays game 

Coach Wayne Carroll has had great success against the FLAA the Finger Lakes Athletic Association.  Since 1999 he is 14 and 1. 

In pool play he is 3 and 2.  1 and 1 at home.  That one loss at home dcame in 2005 on a rainy day against Midlakes in a 20 to 0 score.

In the regular season Coach is 5 and 0 and 3 and 0 at home and in sectionals he is 6 and 2 3 and 1 at home.  The two losses in sectionals last years title game at Pae Tech park with the  28 to 21 loss to Geneva and the other one was the quarterfinal loss in 2006 to ER-G 41 to 15.  So overall since 1999 14 and 4 and 7 and 2 at home against FLAA teams. 

Since 1995 Coach Carroll is 5 and 2 in Round 1 of sectionals and 5 and 5 and 1 at home in the first round.  Coach is 19 and 11 in sectionals since 1995.  Carroll has won titles in 1995, 2001,2002, and 2003.

Pal-Mac is coached by Tom Schmandt.  He is in his 14^th year as the head coach of the Red Raiders.  He has not won a sectional title yet.  His career record is 56 and 60.  They are 4 and 6 in last 10 sectional games.  In the 7 years they have made sectionals they have lost to the eventual champs 4 out of the 7 years.  They are 3 and 4 in the first round since 1999.  They are 2 and 4 on the road in the first round of sectionals as the lower seed.  In 2005 they were the 8 seed and went into Waterloo and beat the number 1 seed 20 to 0.  They are 3 and 7 in their last ten sectional games on the road.  They are 1 and 5 against LCAA D I teams snce 1999.  They are 4 and 3 against LCAA D I teams in the regular season since 1999.

They made it to the title game in 2005 and lost to Hornell 35 to 8.  </ FONT>

The Red Raiders are led by 1^st year starting QB Pete VaLade.  He has over 700 yards on the ground and 10 TD’s.  They line up out of the shot gun 90 percent of the time with one back in the backfield with VaLade.  They run out of this a lot with the counter play with VaLade keeping the ball.  Their strongest position is offensive line with three returning starters up front.  Jesse Doyle is the teams leading receiver with 14 catches.  He is very fast.  Valade only has two passing TD’s n the season. 

Ben Zink who was one of their star wide outs and DB’s has been out with a broken collarbone but is rumored to be making his return this Sat against Bath .  Dave Vanlaeken who has been Pal Mac’s leading rusher is out for the rst of the season with a torn ACL. 

They will run the option some this Saturday.  Their top back is 6 foot 185 pound Keegan Kinslow.  He was out for four games but was back last week.  He had 21 carries for 85 yards.  He is also a DB.  They hyave five returning players on O and 4 on D. 

Rightnow it stacks up for Bath but Pal-mac last year played Hornell on the carpet in Hornell very close 28 to 21.  They also played ER-G

  Very well last week losing 20 to 13 and playing Livonia close in a lose 14 to 7 but then they lost to Midlakes 7 to 6.  Giving Midlakes their first win since 2006. 

Should be a great one join us and GO RAMS

Rams Football

Well it is time to look towards the Bishop Kearney game for the Bath Rams.  There is not much history here between these two teams.  They have not played in the regular season or sectionals since 1999.  That is as far back as my research goes. 

What I do know is that the Bishop Kearney Kings have been kicked out of Finger Lakes League.  With open enrollment a lot of people feel that is an unfair advantage.  The Bath Haverling rams re the only Section V team to play the Kings this year.  BK has played teams from Section III from the Syracuse area and Section VI the Buffalo area.  They even played a team from Canada last week and the Canada team played at Bishop Kearney and forgot they were playing by North American football rules not Canadian rules and had a lot of penalties.  BK is a Class C school but don’t let that fool you they are a good Class C school.  They have been a B school in the past in other sports. 

The Rams come in tied for second in Class B with ERG, and Hornell.  Each has 21 points.  Geneva is in 1^st place.  Geneva has an easy game this week and will win.  ERG has a winnable game against Pal Mac which is a Class B school so ERG will get five points for the win.  If the Rams win against the Class C team they will only gtet four points.  So if Geneva and ERG win the best the Rams can hope for is a three seed.  Hornell plays a state ranked team in LeRoy.  If Hornell wins then20 Bath losses Bath would be in the fourth hole.  If they both lose or Bath wins and Hornell loses Bath would be in the third spot.  The importance of that is if you are the number two or three seed you would not have to face the number 1 seed until the title game.  1 faces four and two faces three in the semi’s.  So Bath could see Hornell or ERG very soon.

First they need to worry about the Kings.

]Lets look at the BK Kings.  They are 4-2 on the Season.  Against teams with a record better than .500 the Kings are 1 and 2 on the season.  They are 1 and 2 on the road this year.  They have scored 195 points for an average of 32.5 points.  They have only give up 84 points for an average of 14 poi nts against.  They have shut out their opponents twice this year  They win by an average of 31.5 points.   They lose by an average of 8 points.  When they score less than 30 points they are 0 and 2 on the season.  They Kings are 13 and 11 on the road since 2004.  They are 2 and 3 vs. LCAA team’s since 2004.  They lost to LeRoy in the Section V Class C title game last year 36 to 14. 

The kings are coached by Art Carlisi who is in his 7^th year at BK.  His record is 38 and 28. 

The team is lead by their QB Jake Meeks.  The Six foot Junior QB has been the starter for two years and has a great arm.  In Week five Meeks threw for a school record 325 yards and 3 TD’s as he went 10 for 15.  That is an avera ge of 32.5 yards a completion.  Junior Wide Receiver Blair Roberts had 249 of those yards.  Last week in the Kings win Meeks went 6 for 13 for 170 yards and 3TD’s.  The Rams secondary will be tested.  The Kings have a 5’9 190 pound senior running back by the name of Justin Forte.  While Forte does not get the ball 40 times a game he does good work when he gets it.  In the first game of the season against Westhill he had 14 carries for 240 yards along with three TD’s.  In last week’s game Forte had 16 carries for 109 yards and two TD’s.  Forte was the Offensive player of the week in Class C in week 8 of last year.  Meeks has three targets who stand over six foot tall.  Blair Roberts who is a 6’3 185 pound Junior and Quentin Gause who is a 6’1 215 pound sophomore.  Roberts and Quentin have Int’s for 70 yard TD’s this year. Gause ws the Class C Defensive Player of the week twice last year in week 4 and week 7. The King’s defense for ce six Turnovers against Buffalo ’s Cardinal O’Hara. 

David Davis a 6’3 290 pound junior is their run stopper up front.

While scoring point have not been the problem for the kings.  They have scored over 200 points the last three years. 

The Kings vulnerable spot is when they take on run heavy teams. 

Which could play right into the hands of the Rams.

Lets talk about the Rams.  They come into the game only giving up like 9.33 points per game.  They have not given up more than 14 points in any one game.  They have gi ven up 7 TD’s and have been thru the air. 

Now that McCloud has the all time leading rushing record with 3602 yards.  The next record to watch is the all time tackling record at Bath Haverling.  Right now Keith Smith who played between 1997 and 2001 holds the record with 374 career tackles.  T.C. Carroll is in 2^nd place after he passed Pat Prescott this year.  He has 65 tackles on the season putting him at 292 for his career.  He is 82 tackles behind Smith.  T.C has played in 32 games in his career and his is averaging just over 9 tackles a  game.  If he keeps that average it would take him 9 games.  Well you know they will play at least two games this year and maybe more if they win in the Semi’s So that would be at the least three games this year and seven regular season games next year.  If they were not to play in post season next year and he played all ten games he would end with 91 tackles and have the recor d with 383 tackles.  He averages almost 9.2 tackles a game so it would just be over 90 tackles.  However I am sure he would exchange that record for a Sectional title. 

The Rams have rushed for 1795 yards this season a average of 299 yards a game.  McCloud is a little bit behind his pace last year, when he finished with almost 1500 yards.  He is at 724 yards an average of 120 yards a game.  He averaged 148 yards a game last year.  There are more weapons this year offensively for the Rams.  Kuver has run well along with Hutch.  They have also threw the ball more. 

Last week Kuver went 8 for 18 for 100 yards against Hornell.  He is 25 for 48 for 337 yards and 2 TD’s.  Kuver was 32 for 65 for over 400 yards and 4 TD’s last year in ten games.  So he is only attempting 2 more passes attempts on average per game.  Yet McCloud had 173 carries last year and he only has 83 this year.  So he had an average of 17 carries last year and this year he is averaging 13 carries a game.  They have spread the ball out with Hutch and Kuver a little bit more  The D has been stingy.  One shut out and two teams only scoring 7 points each.  T.C. leads the D with 65 tackles 10.8 average a game.  Nick Carroll has 40 tackles so between the Carroll crew they have 105 tackles 1 sack and 4 interception between the two of them.  Musso has 36 tackles and Danny Herrick has 31 tackles and leads the D with 7 sacks.  This D has 16 sacks 9 INT’s and 2 fumble recoveries.  They only gave up 111 yards to Dwyer on the Turf.  Dwyer averaged 198 a game before that.  He carried the ball 28 times.  That is only an average of 3.9 a carry.  They did give up 160 yards in the air with two TD’s and a two point conversation on a half back pass.  They have faced some good throwing QB’s this year.  Dotterer, Harkenrider, Fenti, Girolmo, and Hoag. 

This week will be no exception.  If the Rams secondary can’t stop the pass Ram fans will be left with a Meek stomach I mean a weak stomach.  Forte did have over 1500 yards last year on the ground so they can run as well.  Should be a great day out at Bath Haverling Football Stadium on Senior Day.  The Senior’s will get one more home game after this with a home sectional game.  That’s it for now. Go Rams

Latest and greatest...

So the game of the year happened.  With no Zapata or no Bassage on the back of the jerseys for the Hornell Red Raiders, and the Rams being undefeated, people felt that Bath was the favorite.  Hornell has that amazing record of 40 and 5 on the turf.  The curse of the Carpet continued for Coach Wayne Carroll as he has never won at Maple City Park and after Friday night that record is still intact.  The Rams led at the half 7 to 0 but with three interceptions and a fumble recovery and only leading by 7 Bath could not feel great about the lead.  They held the lead until 6 minutes to go and the wheels came off.  Two consecutive fumbles and the Horell Red Raiders came back 14 to 7.   If Bath had won the game they would have won the LCAA title outright and moved into first place in Class B in Sectional seedings.  By losing they are tri champs with Hornell and HF-L.    Andre MCloud did get the record and he became the all-time leading rusher with 3602 yards passing Mark Robinson who was in first place with 3591.  It was not the best way to get it.  McCloud had 7 carries for 18 yards. 
We talked about what would give, Bath's great run game or the Red Raiders great run defense.  Hornell had not given up a hundred yard runner and still have not.  The Rams threw 18 times in the game.  Going into the contest the first five games they had only thrown 30 times.  Austin Dwyer, the Red Raiders' back got 28 carries for 111 to go over 1000 yards on the season.  The Rams got hurt the most through the air for a second year in a row.  Harkenrider had 7 completions for 162 yards and two TD's.  Jordan Schwartz, the Red Raiders' leading reciever, had an 81 and 13 yard TD. 
This is the Red Raiders' sixth straight win over the Rams and they have won the last seven out of ten in the series. 
Gene Mastin got his 200th career win Friday night, moving him to second all-time in Section V history only trailing Don Santini now who retired in 1992 after coaching at Fairport and LeRoy.  Mastin is now 27th all time in New York state with wins.  He will most likely get the record next year unless they run the tables this year to a state title. 
Was seven carries enough for McCloud?  Did they go away from him too much?  Was 18 passes too much or were they trying to take advantage of a weak Hornell secondary?   Should they have run the ball inside the red zone more?  All of these things could be debated.  Bottom line is when you get in the red zone 5 times and only come away with one score there is a problem with execution someplace.  When your runnng back who has run over 3600 yards in his career can only get 18 yards you have to look at that.  When you get four TO's and only cash one in tht is a problem too.  The turf was a big advantage for the Red Raiders.  The Rams just did not look comfortable.  While the Ram faithful came out in force the Hornell crowd was loud, so loud it shook the press box at times.   Did Hornell take McCloud out of the game by holding him to 18 yards or did Bath take him out of the game by only giving it to him seven times? 
Coach Carroll feels his team ran out of gas and got tired and that the game was won in the offseason in the weight room.  That the hogmolly's up front for Hornell were able to move the big fellows up front of the Rams. 
It was a great game and these two might just hook up again in sectionals.  Both will be in the top four and get a home game in the quarterfinals.  Bath is one of the top four teams.  That is clear.  The question is where to they fit in those top four teams.  Are they the elite of the elite or are they four out of the four?  They need to prove themselves this weekend aginst Bishop Kearney.  The rams fell to Hornell who is one of the top four teams in Class B and were losing to ERG when the lights went out and they are one of the top four teams.  That leaves Geneva who beat them last year as the other team in the top four.  Time will tell.

Saturday's kickoff is at 1:30.  Catch the game on V98.3 or at www.myspace.com/thesportsedge! 

Tune in this Sunday to the Local Sports Edge on V98.3 and the world wide web thanks to network1sports.com starting at 11AM whend we will take a look at Section V Sectionals.  We will tell you who is seeded where and who people will play. 
We will also have the Leader of the Buffalo Bills Blue Collar Defense Paul Posluszny - The Poz - on the show to talk about the Bills' 4 and 1 start, and we will talk a little NBA with a member of the world champion Boston Celtics, Paul Pierce.  Also Coach Wayne Carroll will be on to talk about Bath's game against Bishop Kearney and look ahead to the playoffs.  We might also have Bath Haverling Rams boy' soccer coach Matt Hill on to talk about their great season and their quest for a sectional and state title this year.  That's it for now. Catch ya on the flip side!

Game's on NOW!!

My apologies...this should have been up sooner...Hope you're enjoying the game!

Well it’s game day.  It will be like a super bowl atmosphere at Maple City Park tonight.  There will be three radio stations broadcasting the game.  A TV station there recording it to play later on with Peisch TV Channel 99 on your Time Warner Cable.  Two TV stations getting highlights and two or three papers.  This two schools don’t like each other.  Just this year at Maple City Park during a boys varisty soccer game between Bath and Hornell there was a bench clearing fight. 

These kids know each other well and this mean a lot to both teams and programs.

Last year the Red Raiders won 35 to 13 the year before that 28 to 14.  Both of those were in Bath .  The last two times the Rams have played on the turf in Hornell they loast 41 to 0 in 2005 and 10 to 7 in 2003. 

While the series is 12 to 6 Hornell has won the last 5 regular season matchups over the years there has been close games like the 2001 Sectional title game when Bath won 14 to 13. 

On the Turf though it is worth at least 7 if not 10 points for the Red Raiders.  Under Coach Gene Mastin’s rein in Hornell in his last 40 home games they are 40 and 5. . He is 15 and 0 in post season games on the turf.

However the Rams are 9 and 1 in their last 10 games on the road and 12 and 2 against LCAA D 1 teams both losses to Hornell.

The winner of this game normally is a good indicator of who will win the Section V Class B title.  Since 1995 Hornell and < st1:City w:st="on">Bath has combined to win 10 out of the 13 years.  Geneva has won it the last two years and Midlakes won it in 1996. 

Everybody knows what the teams want to do. Run, Run, Run, and if they can run some more that would be great. 

Both teams have great running games.  Both teams have great run defense.

The Bath Rams have ran for 1672 yards and 21 TD’s in five games for an average of 334 yards led by Andre McCloud with 76 carries for 706 yards.  .  That is an average of 15 carries for 142 yards.  So the Rams average 334 yards on the ground.  In 5 games The Red Raiders Defense has only given up 484 yards on 164 carries and 7 TD=E 2s That is an average of 33 carries for 96 yards.  They have held two teams to less than 10 yards rushing this year.  Midlakes gained 7 in Week 1 and Way-Co gained 7 in Week 4. 

On the Flip side the Rams strength on Defense is the stuffing the run.  Opponents average less than 75 yards on the ground against the Rams D.  The Red Raiders love to run. The have toted the pigskin 208 time for 1395 yards with 16 TD’s.  For an average of 40 carries for 279 yards.  Their start back is Austin Dwyer who is a great high school wrestler in his own right is a down hill tough runner.  He has 128 carries for 988 yards and 12 TD’s That is an average of 25 carries for 197 yards. 

So who’s better is better than the others better. 

Hornell is known to get out to quick starts they have outscored their opponents 69 to 14 in the first quarters this year and again Bath the last two years they have out scored them 49 to 7.  If Bath can stay in it early I think Bath has the depth and the conditioning to wear the Red Raiders down and run the ball successfully in the 2^nd half. 

Hornell averages 38 points a game while giving up 18 points a game.  The Rams who we talked about the offense so much because of Andre McCloud and how they average 38.5 points a game the Defense has been spectacular. They average giving up 8.2 points a game.  Bath ’s average margin of victory is 28.4.  Hornell’s average margin of victory is 22 points a game.  In games decided by 14 points or less Bath is 1 and 0 and Hornell is 1 and 1.  Against teams with winning records < st1:City w:st="on"> Bath is 3 and 0 and Hornell is 1 and 1. 

Not a single player on the Bath Rams has beat Hornell on the Varsity football level in their career and I can tell you thely would like to change that. 

The weather looks good.  No rain which means for good traction on the turf in Hornell. 

I have mentioned that Andre McCloud is going for the Bath Haverling all time leading rusher spot in this game.  On the other side of the field Austin Dwyer is looking to go over 1,000 yards on the ground and Coach Gene Mastin is looking for his 200^th career victory.  Right now he is tied with retired Coach Mike Foster at 199.  Mastin is 8 wins away from becoming the all time winningest coach in Section V history.  He trails Don Santini who coached at Fairpor t and LeRoy and has 206 win and retired in 2001.  Mastin is 28^th all time in NYS with wins. 

Who will impose their will on the other team.  Is this the year of the Ram   This would be Coach Wayne Carroll’s 124^th career win but this one would be a pretty special one if they can bring one a win from a place that has been unkind to him in the past.  Tune in tonight for a great one

Bath @ Hornell on Friday Night

Well it is the game that everybody has been waiting for.  The Bath Haverling Rams and Hornell Red Raiders football game, that is.  The game is at Hornell, which is a big advantage to the Red Raiders.  The Rams are 5 and 0 and the Red Raiders are 4 and 1.  The Red Raiders stubbed their toe last week with a 26 to 21 loss to the HF-L Cougars up in the Cougars' den.  That snapped a 32 game LCAA D 1 regular season winning streak.  Last D 1 team to beat the Red Raiders?  Yep, you got it, the Rams.  The Rams beat them in 2003 in sectionals but the last time during the regular season was 2002 when Bath opened their new field and beat Hornell 45 to 13.  Since 1999 Hornell is 46 and 3 against LCAA D 1 teams and 8 and 2 in the post season for a total of 54 and 5.

Hornell leads the series 12 to 6.  They have won the last four contests in a row.  Before that Bath had won three out of 4. 

Bath Coach Wayne Carroll, who has been at the helm since 1992 at Haverling, can not recall his program winning on the carpet at Maple City Park at the Varsity level. 

The Rams have been out played the last two years. 

Andre McCloud, who is 7 yards away from becoming Bath's all time leading rushing breaking Mark Robinson's record of 3591 yards, has never gained over 100 yards on the ground in his first three meetings against the Red Raiders.  McCloud finished with 1489 yards and 29 TD's last year and was held to 5 yards at home on the ground against Hornell. 

The winner of the I 86 showdown will be the LCAA Division 1 champ.    This one is for bragging rights in Steuben County .  Pre game at 6:30 and kickoff at 7PM.  It is one of three great rivalry games in Section V this weekend with Pembroke 5 and 0 at Oakfield-Alabama in the Genesee Region and LeRoy who is 5 and 0 at Cal-Mum.  I will check back in later this week with some stats for you to chew on.

Lots to talk about...

So the Rams keep rambling on with a 56 to 14 win over the HF-L Cougars.  Coach Wayne Carroll got his 121st win of his career and the Rams improved to 3 and 0 on the season and 2 and 0 in LCAA league play.  HF-L falls to 1 and 2.  It was the Mac and Hutch show.  Cody Hutcheson had 14 carries for 144 yards and 3 TD's on the offensive side of the ball and four tackles from his corner spot of D.  Andre McCloud had 11 carries for 130 yards and 3 TD's.  Hutch has six TD's this year McCloud has 8.  McCloud continues to near the all time leading rusher at Bath Haverling.  Mark Robinson holds the record with 3,591.  With McClouds 385 yards so far in three games he has 3.168 yards in his career.  he is just 393 yards away from tying the record.  If he continues to average around 130 yards a game he could get it in the Hornell game however with Way-Co being down this year if he gets close to 200 against Livonia this Friday night he would only need 223 yards against Way-Co and he could get that. 
This is a topic that always seems to crop up at all levels of sports.  Running up the score.  Whne is enough enough.  In the victory over Dansville 48 to 6 Bath Haverling Rams fans felt the Rams went into a shell and didn't try to throw the ball and work on somethings they would not maybe do in a close game or might have to do down the road in a big game.  Other's say don't show your hand.  Why show your howl play book if you don't need too.  In the win against HF-L the Rams did open it up a little more in the 2nd half by throwing the ball a couple times in the second have to work on the passing game a little bit.  Coach Carroll explained to us if his team is winning by 21 points or more going into the 4th Quarter he calls off the dogs at that point.  Unless in the past the other team had made a statement against them and they have somethng to settle with them.  How long do you leave your starters in.  Are you deep enough that you can do whole sale exchanges in personnel. 

We chatted with Livonia football Coach Steve Girolmo and he told us that with his team up 35-7 after the first offensive drive of the second half he st his starters down on both sides of the ball. At one point his second squad drove the ball to the 5 yard line and was about to punch it in and he ordered them to sit on the ball and not score.  Some would say those boys deserve to score a TD as well.  They practice hard. They executed and got down in position.  Coach G's response is they did what I asked them to do.  We know we were going to score in my heard and my mind we scored and I am as proud of them getting to the five as I would be if they crossed that goal line. 

Oakfield-Alabama beat Alexander in the Genesee Region 63 to 0 and did not play their starters in the 2nd half. 
LeRoy beat Wellsville 77 to 7.  Up 63 to 7 LeRoy put in their second unit.  Got stopped a couple times, put their number 1 squad and scored a 41 yard TD and then put in their second squad for good. 

My coaches always told me if you don't want to give up 77 points or 63 or 56 or 35 or whatever the score then don't let the other team score so much.   I will say this. If the team that is on the losing end sends in the second squad, I think the winning team should do the samething as well.  Is it that important to run your starters out their against another teams second team.  Injury is a big reason I feel you should not.  Most teams are not that deep in this area.  If you have a player that suffers a injury in a 51 to 0 win when it is already 41 to 0 was it worth it.  Some would argue tha5t a player could be hurt on any play so you can't think that way. 

The other reason I believe you should get your second squad in during mop up time is for the future.  That 8th grader or 9th grader will one day whether it be next year or the year after will be your starting QB one day and here is a chance for him and those other youngsters to get some in game time to work on things.  As a coach that is your future out there.  If those kids never see the light of day until the day they have to start I think you are hurting their learning curve.  They will be slower to produce as a starter if they never got any game time at the varsity level. 

A question posed to me is if a team is up 49 to 0 and the team with 0 brings in their subs on offense and the team with 49 keeps their starters in on D for the whole game and the team with 0 never scores  some say that is not a true shut out.  A true shut out would be if the team with 0 brings in subs on Offense and you bring your subs in on D and you keep them out of the end zone that is a true shut out. 

In the Pro's and college I say let them play and score however many you want.  In high school football margin of victory does not really come into play and I think sportsmanship should be taken into account 
I will pose this last question

Is it more unsportsman like to to score 77 points on a team
or
Score 42 and get down to their 2 yard line and then kneel on it and say
hey since you can't stop us we will kneel on it and give you the ball back
Some would say that is more insulting than just scoring. 


Tune in this Friday night around 6:30 for the countdown to kickoff pregram show of the 3 and 0 Bath Haverling Rams and the Livonia Bulldogs who are 2 and 1.

These two teams have split the last four meetings.  In the last two meetings the Rams have beat the Bulldogs 35 to 0 and 27 to 0 so 62 to 0.  Yet the last time the Rams went to the Dog house the Rams lost 20 to 0 and the year before that the Bulldogs beat the Rams 49 to 0 so they had outscored the Rams 69 to 0. 

The Bulldogs are 9-3 at the doghouse over the last 3 years.  The Rams are 7 and 1 over the last three years are the road. 


Tune into the Local Sports Edge this Sunday for the UNHEARD TAPES.  Some new interviews but there will be some interviews that have been just played on the internet or have never been played before because have just ran out of time. 
Such interviews as
Dennis Quaid who starts in the upcoming movie "The Express" the life story of Ernie Davis an Elmira native and the first ever African-American to win the Heisman Trophy and one of the major components of that 1959 SU National championship team

Also Buffalo Bills QB Trent Edwards will talk about the Bills great start to the season and is he the best QB that came out of the 2007 draft. 

Tiger Woods we will talk to him about rehabbing the knee

Dick Butkus the Chicago Bear great and NFL Hall of Famer will be on to talk about fighting steriod use and a web site he is working with

Roy Oswalt the Houston Astro's ace pitcher will be on to talk about his great season and what his team needs to get to help them win.

Olympic Gold Medalist and NBA superstar Dwayne Wade will be on to talk about the Redem team and his time in China and this years NBA season.

and who knows what other interviews that Producer Dan Yankee's will select to play

Tune in this Sunday at 11 A.M. for the show

What's coming up?

So the dust has settled here in the SoTie or Southern Tier for you non locals.  Bath was awarded the win in the first game of the season even though they were trailing 14 to 21 and driving.  In a revealing interview with Bath Haverling coach Wayne Carroll about the ending of the game and the rescheduled game that was to have taken place on Monday Sept 8th, he told me that if they had gone and punched it in from the 27 with 2:39 left they would have gone for two points not for the tie. He said there was a closed door meeting with the seniors on the team Sunday night and they took a vote if they should go for 1 or 2 and they would have gone for the win.  Now we will never know however if it would have worked but stay tuned - these two might just go head to head at Pae Tech Park in Rochester in Sectionals. 

The Rams showed there was no hangover from the controversy from week 1.  They easily ran over the Dansville Mustangs in Dansville 48 to 6.  Coach Carroll got his 120th victory of his career and Andre McCloud went over 3,000 yards in his career as well as going over having 30 TDS in his Varsity career.  The D was stout, with a sack and 2 INT's.  The Local Sports Edge Player of The Game was...well, the whole O line.  After not looking so hot in week 1 they came out and responded to a challenge layed down to them from their coach.  The Rams ran at will and had 7 rushing TD's on the night.  This was the Rams team people talked about in the preseason.

Now the Rams, who are a Class B school, will take on league foe from Class A the HF-L Cougars.  the Coug's are 1 and 1 on the season.  HF-L beat Wayland Cohocton this past Friday 45 to 20.  Bath has won the last two meetings and will host HF-L this Friday night.  Pre game at 6:30PM. 

This weekend on the Local Sports Edge Sunday from 11 A.M. until 1 P.M. we will have Coach Wayne Carroll in the Coach's Corner to talk about his team's performance against HF-L and to preview the Livonia Bulldogs game.  We will also replay our interview with NY Mets 3rd Baseman David Wright.  We got a hand written request from one of the soldiers from the Edge Army: Angry Dick the Listener.  Dick is an 80 year young Mets fan who listens to the show and makes sure we keep in line and if we don't he gets on us to make sure we cover his granddaughter in cinderella softball.   We will have Coach Steve Girolmo of Livonia High School on the show to get his take on the upcoming Livonia vs. Bath game.  Tune in this Sunday online from the link on our MySpace page starting at 11 A.M. for the Local Sports Edge thanks to Network 1 sports.

Bath/ER-G Saga

Lets back track for a minute if we could.  Two weeks ago on our High School football preview show we talked about how Bath-Haverling and East Rochester Gananda were two of the best teams in their respective leagues.  Bath out of the LCAA and ER-G out of the FLAA.  We talked about how talented the players were, what good coaches they had and how they could enjoy pretty successful seasons and maybe see each other at the end of the year in the Section V Final Four at some point. FIRST, however they would play each other on opening night at Bath-Haverling football stadium.  Kickoff was at 7PM.  At the half the Rams lead 14-7.  There was a playoff feel to the game.  Defensive guru and Head coach of the Bath-Haverling Rams had devised a plan to put his best and most athletic player Andre McCloud who might be the best running back in all of Section V at Defensive End.  Nobody expected this move and it was highly questioned.  As McCloud had gained nearly 1500 yards last year and 28 TD's would it be a wise move putting him at DE.  At half it looked like it worked.  Three Sacks by McCloud and 2 by Danny Herrick.  Holding the explosive ER-G offense to 7 points was a victory for the Rams.  Their goal.... Hold the Bombers to 20 points.  The Bombers were 6 and 2 last year and were 0-2 when scoring under 20 points. 

The Second half started and slowly the momentum went to ERG and they went up 21-14 with around 4 minutes to go in the 4th Quarter.  Bath's defense was not getting pressure on the great Dotterer any more andh was starting to move his team up and down the field.  The Rams got the ball with just under four minutes to go.  They got it in ggreat field position because ERG did not want to kick to Andre McCloud.  the Rams started running from sideline to sideline with McCloud eating up yards.  McCloud ran for a 1st down as he was brought out of bounds at ERG's 27 yard line.  It was 1st and 10 at ERG's 27 yard line on the left has mark with 2:39 left in the game.  The Rams had all of their timeouts (3) and were trailing 21-14.  The Rams huddled and calling a play for 1st down, and were about to break the huddle when at 9:15PM THE LIGHTS IN BATH WENT OUT.  Now it was just the football field.  The soccer field across the complex were still lit.  The parking lot lights were on.  The School lights were on but no football stadium lights.  We were able to stay on the air during the pandemoni because of a battery back up on our board.  We stayed on the air until 10PM.  At first it took a while to get the head janitor to the school with the keys to get into the box.  They assumed a break was tripped.  They could not find it.  While that was happening both teams were huddled on the field preparing for the game to start again. 

At some point in time somebody someplace decided for ERG to get on their busses and head back home.  Here is where all HECK  broke lose.  Without a solid game plan of what was going to happen next ERG left the field.  By the way the lights were restored at Midnight friday night.  It was said both schools would talk about it the next day.  The following morning both districts were contacted by Section V and they were informed that the game was considered A NO CONTEST.  What does that mean.  At first it looked like both teams would be penilized for that.  Looking further into it however if both teams won out and went 6 and 0.  With the way they configure sectional points it would be figured as both being 7 and 0.  So with a no contest BOTH teams are now coming out a head.  Well most other coaches, teams, and schools in Section V did not like the sounds of that.  So the New York State Federation stepped in at 4PM on Sunday.  They said you can not have a NO CONTEST.  The game must be made up, if the game is not finished Bath Haverling wood have to forfeit and ERG would win.  Well Coach Wayne Carroll and his new NEVER AND I MEAN NEVER FORFEIT.  They couldb have two players out there they would play. 

So the decision was made Sunday night to finish the game Monday at 5:30PM at Bath Haverling.  2:39 on the clock.  Bath with the ball on ERG's 27 yard line with three timeouts to go and it is 1st and 10.  the next morning I start getting phone calls at 7AM this would be Monday Sept 8th.  There is a story in the Rochester D and C.  ERG forfeits.  The East Rochester Gananda coach Dennsi Greco is quoted as saying "The positives would be us hanging on to win.  The negatives outweigh it big time.  It's not smart."  Greco said who does not want his players to travel over two hours for a second time for just less than three minutes of game time action and then have to play Waterloo Friday night.  "It's not taking the best interest in the kids at heart.  If they want the win that bad, the sectional points that bad take' em.  This whole thing is ridiculous.  Your expecting kids to do something that is unhealthy." 

At that point I was contacted by Haverling school district informing me that the East Rochester Gananda school district  had not made up their minds and that Coach Greco who is in his 16th year can not make that decisiion on the districts behalf.  At Noon yesterday the Haverling school district was notified by the ERG district that they would not becoming down to play the game.  So that would mean that even though Bath was losing 14 to 21 they would win.  Now in a article today in the Corning leader it might not be over yet.  There are a lot of differing opinions.  Some say as in baseball after six completed innings whoever is ahead in a game that gets called due to weather wins, or if it is not after the sixth inning it gets made up some point in the season.  Of course tht is MLB not high school. Samething goes for Soccer after I think the 60 minute mark if the game ends due to weather the team leading at that point wins.  So some say right then and there ERG should have been named the winner.  Some say they played 45 out of 48 minutes and they were winning.  It is Bath's field and the malfunction happened on their field.  Some say they should have sat right down that night in the school and hammered out a resolution right there on when they would make the game up.   It could have been played on Sunday.  You have to either play the game on a Sunday or Monday, because you have to have 5 days of practice between games.  So if you have a Friday night game you can play on a Wednesday night.  Some would argue that Bath should have met half way and played at a neutral field.  I woule say does that not hurt the Rams because it was on their home field.  Wo7uld then not get robbed of their home field advantage.  Is it fair for ERG to make two trips to Bath.  Some say it should not count at all.  Yet would that not deny the ERG kids maybe a great upset on the road against the Rams, or deny the Rams a great game tying or winning drive to come from behind.  There are a few things that are clear.  A solution should have been in place before ERG rolled out of town Friday night.  Section V should have moved more swiftly and been more definitive on situations like this.  While you can only do your best to recreate the situation at this point it will never be the exact same and the biggest injustice in this whole thing is BOTH TEAMS AND BOTH KIDS have been robbed of a great opening game to their season and both teams will have to live all season long with this over their heads with a black eye on their season because the adults in Section V and NYS didn't get this right the first time.  By ERG not coming while they claim it is for the best interest of their kids or because of gas money, those kids who played their heart out that night against some would say the favorite in Class B the Rams and had the Rams on the rops now lose that game even though they were less than 3 minutes away from a great win.  The Rams got the win for now.  They are 1 and 0 and Coach Carroll got his 119 career win but I can tell you he would have rather played it out than get it this way.  He would have played at Midnight when the lights came back on.  He and his ball club are not afraid.  They will slap on the chin strap whenever and whereever to play a game.  This might not be over yet.  They might finish this one or they might just meet in sectionals.  One thing is for sure after ERG came to Bath two years ago and rolled the Rams 41 to 15 in sections with the Rams being a 2 seed and ERG being a 7 seed, and now lIGHT-gate.  There is a new rivalry in Section V football-    Joel Oriend WVIN Sports Director and Voice of the Bath Haverling Rams