By DJ Harding-
The beginning of the Division I FCS Football Playoffs for both the University of Rhode Island Rams (URI) and Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils (CCSU) began on an early cold Saturday afternoon in Kingston, Rhode Island at Meade Stadium.
For the Rams who are the 10th seed with a record of 10-2 they have won their last two contests and have won nine of their last ten. Most recently a 35-21 win over Bryant University.
For the Blue Devils they are on a four game win streak with their most recent win coming against 19th ranked Duquesne University 21-14. The Blue Devils come into the contest with a record of 7-5.
Both teams begin the quest to the FCS Championship which will be in Frisco Texas on January 6th. But before we can talk championship games the Rams and Blue Devils have one mission first, to win today.
The Rams got the ball first and would go three and out but the defense made up for it by intercepting CCSU quarterback Brady Olson. Rams quarterback D.J Cureton intercepted Olson and kickstarted a 52 yard drive by the Rams highlighted by a 39 yard run by Malik Grant and a 19 yard pass to number 81 Tommy Smith thrown by quarterback Hunter Helms.
The Rams 52 yard drive ended scoreless as the Blue Devils blocked their field goal attempt. The Blue Devils then went three and out giving the ball right back to URI. Rhode Island would then travel 80 yards in 8 plays to score the first points of the game.
The drive would be capped off with a 38 yard touchdown pass from Helms to Smith. Smith at this point already had 2 catches for 57 yards and a touchdown. Central Connecticut on the first play on their next drive saw bad turn into worse as Olson would throw his second interception of the game.
Emmanuel Gomes for the Rams took Olson’s pass 42 yards and scored a defensive touchdown giving the Rams a 14-0 lead after the point after was successful. By the end of the first quarter the score stayed at 14-0 with Rhode Island beginning the game with a two score lead.
CCSU had a big return at the beginning of the drive late in the first quarter but squandered the opportunity to start the second quarter having to punt, giving the ball back to Rhode Island once again.
The Blue Devils defense halted the Rams as Malachai Wright intercepted Helms. Helms’s first interception of the game was returned by Wright 12 yards to the Rams 48 yard line.
Off of the Wright interception CCSU went 48 yards in eight plays to get their first touchdown of the day. Olson would find Isaac Boston for an 11 yard touchdown pass which brought the score to 14-7.
Central Connecticut then went into their bag of tricks and snuck in an onside kick giving them the ball 52 yards away from their endzone. The Blue Devils saw their drive stall after not converting on fourth and one which returned the ball to the Rams at their own 27 yard line.
Rhode Island with 3:52 left on the clock traveled down the field 43 yards in 11 plays as the second quarter was coming to a close. The Rams turned the ball over on downs with 26 seconds remaining. CCSU kneeled with 26 seconds left sending the game into halftime with the score still remaining at 14-7 with URI leading.
The Blue Devils got the ball first and punted after only gaining seven yards in three plays. The punt traveled 66 yards landing at the URI two yard line. The Rams drive went 75 total yards due to some penalties on the drive. Malik Grant ran for 79 yards on the drive from two carries, one of them going 75 yards.
URI saw their drive end scoreless as Helms was picked off for the second time in the contest. Christopher Jean intercepted Helms on the CCSU five yard line and returned it 22 yards. The Blue Devils offense after three plays punted once again back to the Rams unable to capitalize off of Jean’s interception.
Rhode Island took the ball 54 yards on 10 plays but had their drive stall on fourth down which was their second time not converting on fourth down. Central Connecticut capitalized on the turnover on downs by URI and took the ball 75 yards on six plays, tying the game up with a touchdown.
Isaac Boston caught his second touchdown of the game as the Blue Devils and Rams were all knotted up at 14 points apiece. Boston at this point had 2 catches for 17 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The third quarter ended soon after Boston’s third quarter touchdown leaving the game at a score of 14-14 with 15 minutes left in regulation. URI received the ball at the end of the third but punted immediately to begin the fourth quarter.
CCSU punted the ball right back to URI after three plays as well, giving the game back to back three and outs. The Rams after a decent punt return began their drive 32 yards from the endzone.
32 yards later receiver Tommy Smith after catching one in the air in wildcat formation ran one on the ground for six yards putting Rhode Island back up 21-14.
The Blue Devils began their drive with two big plays first a 35 yards pass to Michael Trovrelli and then a 17 yard rush by Elijah Howard. CCSU during the whole drive went 58 yards in 8 plays with the drive ending in a 32 yards field goal .
Rhode Island got the ball back with 4:47 left in the game holding on to a 21-17 lead. The Rams ran some clock behind Malik Grant who on the day had 222 rushing yards on 28 carries averaging 7.9 yards per carry.
Grant postgame spoke on his performance saying “all glory goes to the o-line they blocked and made my job easy.”
Central Connecticut, after stopping the Rams during their attempt to chew clock, had the ball at the URI 20 yard line with 80 yards to travel and 43 seconds left on the clock.
What was supposed to be a magical 80 yard touchdown drive for CCSU fans ended in disaster on the first play as Olson dropped back on the first play and threw his third pick of the game.
Defensive lineman Westley Neal Jr came up with the intercepted as the Rams secured their first round win with a score of 21-17.
The Blue Devils had their season come to and end while the Rams will travel to Georgia to face off against seventh seed Mercer on December 7th with kickoff scheduled for 2:00PM EST
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