Rams News

Rams score early en route
to Governor's Cup victory
08/28 10:26 PM

By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff

KANSAS CITY -- Sorry, KC. The Cup stays East. The Rams haven't done a lot of things right since moving to St. Louis in 1995. But they have this Governor's Cup thing down cold.
We're talking three-peat. Yes, for the third consecutive season, the Rams won the annual preseason game between Missouri's NFL franchises. (There was no game played in '95.)
``Has it been three in a row?'' Rams safety Keith Lyle said. ``It's great to have the Governor's Cup. But in the end. . . .''
But in the end, it's only preseason, and Lyle would gladly trade the three Cup triumphs for three regular-season victories. ``Definitely,'' he said.
Friday's 10-6 win allowed the Rams to take home the shiny new Governor's Cup trophy presented by the governor -- Mel Carnahan -- to team vice chairman Stan Kroenke and coach Dick Vermeil.
The Rams thus finish preseason play at 2-2; Kansas City finished at 2-3. The Rams can take solace in the fact that this was easily their best performance of the summer before the game degenerated in the second half.
``You can see we are better,'' Vermeil said. ``We are better than we were last year going into the regular season. How much better, I don't know. But we are a better football team.''
Greg Hill led the Rams out of the tunnel at Arrowhead Stadium before the game, then he led them into the end zone. Hill started for the first time this preseason -- against his former team, no less. He carried five times for 21 yards on the Rams' opening drive, including a 3-yard sprint around right end for a first quarter touchdown.
That's right, a first-quarter touchdown. For the first time in the Vermeil era -- a span of eight exhibition games -- the Rams scored a preseason TD in the first quarter. The 10-play, 70-yard drive included three completions in four attempts by Tony Banks.
``I felt good about it,'' Vermeil said. ``I scripted that myself.''
All 10 plays were decided in advance, by Vermeil.
Only one of those 10 plays went for more than eight yards, and that was a 15-yard completion to Isaac Bruce that became a 24-yard play when Chiefs safety Jerome Woods grabbed Bruce's facemask to make the tackle. KC was penalized half the distance to the goal line, so the play carried to the Chiefs' 9.
From there, Hill carried to the Chiefs' 6, then an offsides penalty on KC linebacker Derrick Thomas moved it to the 3. Hill made the end zone on the next play, with the aid of a block by tight end Ernie Conwell. Hill celebrated, by blowing kisses to the crowd of 69,501 at Arrowhead.
``Kansas City is the best place in the NFL to play football,'' Hill said. ``To walk through that tunnel and to see all that red.''
The Chiefs had a golden opportunity to erase that 7-0 St. Louis lead minutes later when Eddie Kennison fumbled a Louie Aguiar punt at the Rams 21-yard line and Melvin Johnson recovered for the Chiefs. But Greg Manusky, normally a special teams ace for the Chiefs, was penalized for getting downfield too quickly. So the turnover was negated, and Kansas City punted again.
The play typified the evening for Kansas City, which was flagged 17 times for 135 yards.
The Chiefs marched to an apparent game-tying touchdown late in the second quarter, when backup quarterback Rich Gannon completed a 10-yard TD pass to Joe Horn, who beat Taje Allen on the play. But the Rams retained a one-point lead -- 7-6 -- when D'Marco Farr blocked the extra point try by KC kicker Pete Stoyanovich.
Only 29 seconds remained in the half after the TD, but instead of sitting on the ball, the Rams attacked. Banks threw to Kennison for 22 yards to the Kansas City 43. A short completion to tight end Conwell and a penalty against the Chiefs advanced the ball to the KC 35 with 2 seconds left in the half.
Out trotted Jeff Wilkins to boot a 52-yarder on the final play of the first half, giving the Rams a 10-6 lead.
Banks was finished for the day, with easily his best outing of the preseason.
He completed 10 of 14 passes Friday for 120 yards.

ARCHIVE

HOME