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Rhode Island 27 - Brown 24 (Final / OT) Rams Take Back Governor’s Cup Trophy
October 2, 2010 - Meade Stadium, Kingston, RI. Special To PhotoSports.Com by Nick Murgo The taking of points off of the scoreboard usually is a foreboding of bad things to come. When the first half came to an end, the URI Rams had a 17-14 lead advantage over their cross town rivals, Brown University. Hold on a minute, take the last three points off of the scoreboard – due to an offensive holding infraction, and the 46 yard kick by Louis Feinstein “never happened.” Score 14-7 Rhode Island ahead but the momentum factor swung to Brown. Then in the second half, with “no time remaining” Louis again splits the uprights with a seemingly game ending 42 yard FG, only to hear the sound of the ref’s whistle signaling a time out had been taken by Brown's coach’s Phil Estes. Unfortunately for RI, Feinstein's second attempt sailed wide right. Enter OT, but first back up to Brown’s last play of their last 4th quarter possession. Brown’s outstanding QB (Kyle Newhall-Caballe 325 yards passing on the day) goes back to pass from his own 38, with nearly 2 minutes to go in the game; URI’s DE #91(Victor Adesanya who was praised as a great pass rusher in the post game conference) comes up to lay a hit on Newhall – forcing a hurried pass that fell short of the intended sideline. The pass fell into the outstretched arms of URI’s DB, Matt Urban (Mt. Hope HS- Bristol / Warren, RI). For the second game in a row, Urban makes a possibly game ending interception. The QB from Brown, came up holding his hand, and was himself sidelined for the OT period.
During the OT period, Brown had to settle for a 36 yd. FG to take the lead for the first time in the game. The RI offense then came onto the field, as fans were thinking maybe of a FG to tie, or even a TD for the win. But would the two previous ill fated FG’s come back to haunt us in a possible loss? URI’s own outstanding QB, Steve Probst, took the ball in the shotgun formation, made a quick read on the line backer, saw a hole open up in the URI line, and took off forward. This was the same play that the Rams executed in ten prior identical plays during the afternoon. This time, Steve ran full throttle for the end zone without mishap or being tackled, and just like that 7,700 fans saw the game come to an end with Rhode Island winning 27-24 over Brown.
This was a hard fought battle by both teams. The momentum swung several times as each team seemed to answer the call to come back in the face of adversity and to make a defensive stand when needed or to scores points to tie or go ahead. This was another of the epic games that these two teams have given to fans in the last decade. This was another game that went down to the final play. Actually, this was another game that had to be decided in overtime. This time it was Rhody coming out on top for the delight of players and the hometown fans.
After the game, Coach Joe Trainor, said you have to realize that each team will make plays. You have to admit that the other team is going to score, to beat your guy on some play some time. "What we try to avoid is handing them a big gain, or worse a TD. If we lost this game, it would have been because of the two missed tackles in the first quarter, when Brown scored their first TD on the long pass play."
The Rams had a bye week last week, and it looked like there were some cob webs in the hitting and timing at the start of the game. Both the offense and defense started the game playing like it was a scrimmage as costly mistakes were made that nearly set the stage for a long afternoon. This turned out not to be the case for the Rams as they soon realized that only by execution of every play would they beat the Ivy League champions. After the game, QB Steve Probst commented that the team had been very emotional but that coach Trainor told us, that execution wins games. “For myself, coming from Hofstra University, I didn’t realize the nature of the rivalry but as the week of practice went on, the seniors made sure I understood it.” Team mates, Brandon Johnson Farrell (WR- 101 yards) and DB specialist Jarrod William (who had his 2nd blocked punt of the season which led to his recovery and score in the end zone – see below photos) remarked that the fan support was terrific. “All it takes is a couple of exciting wins…” (PS don’t believe everything you see on the internet) Below score was reported incorrectly on ESPN web site - up to three hours after the game.
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