Samantha Axon, Sports Editor
@SAxonCourant
On Thanksgiving day, the Rams football team faced off against the Darien Blue Wave in the annual Turkey Bowl. The 9-0 Rams were looking to win this game for the first time in four years.
In 2013, the Rams were undefeated on the day before Thanksgiving, in 2014 they were undefeated the day before Thanksgiving, and in 2015 the Rams were once again undefeated until the day before Thanksgiving.
Over the last three years, the Rams have only lost one game the entire season, all of them being against Darien on Thanksgiving. During this span of time, the Rams have been 45-0 against all teams, besides the Blue Wave. Coming into the Turkey Bowl this year, the Rams are yet again undefeated, and are looking to remain undefeated after Thanksgiving day for the first time since 2012.
Senior co-captain James Freyre sees a need for the Rams to perfect their possessions and finishes this year, since that is where the team has struggled in the past. “The last three years we have lost by one possession,” James said. “Each time, we lost by split seconds and due to little mistakes on our part. We need to minimize on our mistakes and take advantage of the ones that Darien makes.”
Photo by Kara Fahey
Senior co-captain Teddy Hood sees the game as important due to the competitiveness of both teams this season. “Between both teams being 9-0 this season, and this being a famous rivalry, I do consider it one of the most important games of the year,” Teddy said. “The tradition of this game and the hype around it always makes it a fantastic game to play in.”
James also thinks that the large crowd adds to the excitement of the game. “This game is always important since I have family that comes from all over,” he said. “Plus, this game always has the biggest crowd of the year, so it always makes the hype a little higher.”
Despite losing the game in past years, Defensive Coordinator Chris Silvestri notes that the team could come away with the victory this year. “Nothing has changed from our last meetings with Darien,” Mr. Silvestri said. “We are approaching the game in the same way, maybe just the hunger is there a little bit more which can help motivate us during the game.”
In order to come away with a win this year, the Rams needed to be able to stop quarterback Brian Peters. This season Peters completed 2,359 total yards and a .650 completion rate. At the same time, the Rams needed to be able to stay on top of junior Mitch Pryor. Pryor had 659 total rushing yards so far this season, and averaged 9.0 yards per carry. If the Rams were effective in containing Peters and Pryor, then they are heading into states undefeated. Regardless, stay up to date on all Rams football news at nchscourant.com.
