Roosevelt Ends Suitland's Hopes of Perfect Season with 34-14 Win

A perfect season is nearly impossible in sports. Impossible is what the Suitland Rams were trying to avoid entering Saturday's regular season finale at David "Nick" Lynch Memorial Stadium, known by locals the "House of Pain."

The field has certainly lived up to its nickname in recent years, as the Rams hadn't lost at home in two seasons leading up to this weekend's game.

Suitland came into Saturday with multiple claims to fame. Ranked number one in the Prince George's 4A Division and 14th in the entire metro area by the Washington Post, the Rams began the day with a marvelous 9-0 record under head coach Ed Shields.

Standing in their way of perfection was Tom Green's Raiders, who brought a 7-2 record to the table.

Before the game, the Suitland seniors gathered together to honor their former coach, the late David Lynch, who died on Jan. 1, 2009 in a car accident at the age of 43. The seniors released balloons in his honor. 

The game started quickly for Roosevelt as Donte Williams returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. The Raiders missed the two-point conversion.

Suitland answered right back with a 73-yard touchdown return of their own by senior Lorenzo Steele. Their extra point was converted, making the score 7-6 after only 28 seconds of play.

Suitland quickly regained possession of the ball after a failed Roosevelt drive. The Rams began their series by relying on the rushing attack of senior running backs Anthony Norman and Steele.

The series was completed with a 23-yard touchdown pass by quarterback Nyema Washington to senior LaVern Jacobs, giving the Rams a 14-6 lead with 6:17 remaining in the first quarter.

After Suitland pulled off a gutsy call with an onside kick recovery by Robert Burke, a Roosevelt player stripped a Suitland runner of the ball, and took it all the way back for a defensive score, cutting Suitland's lead to 14-12 after another failed two-point conversion.

Raider Justin Williams began the second quarter with a long touchdown run to give Roosevelt a 20-14 lead.

After a number Suitland penalties, including a 15-yard facemask personal foul by Gregory Evans, Roosevelt back-up quarterback Jairus Cook took advantage of the Rams' mistakes and made the score 27-14 with a 20-yard run.

Following halftime, things went from bad to worse for Suitland. Although they put together an effective drive of rushing plays by Norman and Steele to open the third period, Jamie Wigfall's effort to surge into the end zone resulted in a fumble at Roosevelt's 2-yard line.

Later in the third quarter, Suitland found themselves at Roosevelt's 17, but Washington's incompletion on fourth down turned the ball over, squandering yet another scoring opportunity.

Roosevelt closed out the game by running continuously, eating up nearly seven minutes of clock. The final dagger came when Rahn Fisher, who had been featured prominently on the fourth-quarter drive, plunged into the end zone to make the score 34-14, where it would stand for the rest of the game, ending Suitland's dreams of a 10-0 season.

Green was proud of him team after the game and was enthusiastic that they could end the regular season on a positive note.

"The win was very big for us. We didn't want to go into the playoffs on a two-game losing streak," he said.

Green was particularly happy with the success that his team's running game had against the Rams.

"Those guys, keeping their shoulder pads down, running hard, not fumbling the ball, that's the biggest thing. If we execute and don't fumble the ball we have a chance to win. We did that and I'm happy with it," he said.

The two teams will meet again next week in the first round of the state playoffs, and Green knows that Suitland will be ready for that matchup.

"They're very tough. We knew what they were going to bring to the table," he said. "We'll look at the film and see what things we need to improve on and then we will go from there."

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