Running Rams Overcome Two Score Deficit in 3rd to Down Chargers
SPOTSWOOD, NJ—After taking a trip to South River to take in Rams’ 26-22, Big Central Gridiron headed over to nearby Spotswood to take in the last two quarters of action between the Chargers and Roselle. The two squads played each other last season at Armino Field in Roselle with the Running Rams defeating Spotswood 36-27.
This year both teams have struggled. The Chargers were looking to finish the year with two straight wins after defeating Dunellen at Columbia Park a week ago (19-0) to halt a four game skid. Meanwhile, Roselle was looking to win its first game of the season following losses to New Providence (21-12) on November 7th, and at Middlesex (42-26) on November 13th.
Spotswood trailed Roselle 7-6 at the half in a low scoring affair. However, both teams picked up the offense and scoring pace over the final two periods. The Chargers scored twice within the first four plus minutes of the third quarter to take an 18-7 lead. Roselle would find a way to overcome the two score deficit by scoring 19 of the last 25 points for an exciting 26-24 come from behind victory.
Chargers quarterback Shane Dwyer threw for two touchdown passes, both to teammate Caden Esser including a 35 yard strike to give Spotswood a 24-20 lead early in the fourth period. Christian Montero added an interception return of 47 yards for another touchdown that gave the Chargers its 18-7 lead with under 8 minutes to go in the third period.
However, Roselle, behind the running of Emmanuel Lyles, Jared McRae, and Samir Cherry, was able to rally for the win. Lyles got the comeback going with a 15 yard run to the left corner of the end zone to close the gap to 18-14 midway through the third quarter. Cherry added another TD run early in the fourth for a 20-18 lead despite a missed PAT.
After Spotswood’s go ahead score to lead 24-20, the Running Rams responded with another clutch drive capped by a three yard run by McRae to take a 26-20 lead. The Chargers rallied with a drive that got down to the 35 yard line of Roselle in the closing seconds, but a long throw on 4th down from Dwyer to Esser in the end zone was short and out of bounds.
Roselle then ran out the clock for the hard fought, 26-24 victory. McRae finished with 90 yards rushing on 11 carries for an average of 8.2 yards per carry along with 15 tackles and an interception on defense. Lyles rushed 10 times for 76 yards, or an average of 7.6 yards per rush. Cherry rushed 5 times for 40 yards, or 8.0 yards per carry. All three backs along with QB Evin Rosario scored touchdowns while WR Jaysen Sullivan had 9 receptions for 97 yards or about 10.7 yards per catch.
Tyshaun Techeira had two interceptions including one that helped set up a fourth quarter score for Roselle. With the victory, Roselle got its first win of 2020, and improved to 1-6 overall while Spotswood concluded its season at 2-5. Prior to last season, Roselle and Spotswood had never played each other. With Saturday’s win, Roselle now holds a 2-0 lead in the all time series with the Chargers with both games decided by single digits.
Due to the rising COVID-19 numbers across Union County, Roselle’s annual Thanksgiving Game with Roselle Park was cancelled, which ended the Running Rams season. Roselle finishes at 1-6.
