Keaton McAuliffe
Sports Editor
It was a successful Friday night lights for Rams football, as they defeated the St. Joe’s Cadets 62-21, adding another victory to their undefeated record of now 8-0.
The outcome was surprising, as this was the biggest game of the season. As most players mentioned in the game preview, this was to be their biggest challenge yet and it was predicted to be a tight match. However the Rams proved many spectators, as well as themselves, wrong with such a high scoring game and large point gap.
The win was attributed to many successful performances by the Rams, both offensively and defensively. Senior co-captain Connor Buck was the hero in a major defensive play, recovering a ball that was knocked out of the Cadet quarterback’s hands by senior co-captain Cole Harris, and running it to the endzone for a 56 yard touchdown.
The offense had their share of key performances, racking up a total of 522 offensive yards. Senior Quarterback Nick Cascione had a game fit for the record books, with his 379 passing yards ranking him 5th in NCHS history and his six touchdown passes ties him for second among four other former Rams QBs.
Sophomore kicker Peter Swindell also had record making game. His 34 yard field goal gave the Rams their initial lead in the beginning of the game and his 45 yard field goal later on places him second in the school record books.
On Cascione’s receiving end, seniors Jack Gilio, Robby Paul and Cole Turpin caught a pass from Nick to score a touchdown each. Nick found Alex LaPolice in the endzone twice, and sophomore Kyle Smith also scored for the Rams after receiving the ball from the Rams QB.
Cascione even ran the ball into the endzone himself twice, once for a TD and once for a two point conversion.
With another big victory under their belts, the Rams have their sights set on the FCIAC playoffs. But before heading into post season, they will round out the regular season with a game at Wilton this Friday, November 8th, and will return to Dunning the following week on the 15th.
Photos by Hannah Kirkpatrick
