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Rams eager to take on Wayland Baptist University

Davonte+Mitchell-Dixon+runs+onto+the+field+in+the+Bacone+College+game.%0APhoto+by+Little+Joe
Da’vonte Mitchell-Dixon runs onto the field in the Bacone College game. Photo by Little Joe

The Rams have one goal in mind for this Saturday.

“Score more than Wayland,” head coach Joe Prud’homme said, referring to the Wayland Baptist University Pioneers, the team the Rams will be playing at 2 p.m. at Farrington Field.

But within that goal, there are smaller ones as well, Prud’homme said.

“Limit penalties, have extended drives on offense, continue to force turnovers on defense. Score with our special teams,” he said.

The Pioneers (3-5, 3-3 CSFL) have had a mediocre season. They won two of their three wins by two points or less. Their biggest win was last Saturday, when they beat Bacone College 48-21, according to wbuathletics.com.

The Rams, meanwhile, did noticeably better than in past weeks in last Saturday’s game against Lyon College. Not only did they only lose by just seven points, 21-14, but they also took the lead for the first time all season on a first quarter one-yard touchdown run by Jermarcus Jones, followed by Bryce Nye’s extra point.

Here are five ways the Rams have been preparing to achieve their goals this Saturday.

  1. Getting to know Wayland.

The Rams have been watching film on Wayland to get to know their style better, running back Da’vonte Mitchell-Dixon said.

“To get ready for Wayland, we’ve been looking at certain formations they line up in to put us one step ahead,” Mitchell-Dixon said.

Understanding the opposing team is important to every game, cornerback Kameron Brown said.

“We are going to review what we need to review on the opposing players,” Brown said. “Know their tendencies and what they like to do on each side of the ball and attack them accordingly.”

  1. Changing the game plan.

Each week the Rams incorporate new plays to keep the other teams guessing and to adapt to their opponent, Mitchell-Dixon said.

“The less predictable we are, the more we’ll see better outcomes in certain situations,” Mitchell-Dixon said.

The team added both offensive and defensive plays to take advantage of Wayland’s weaknesses, Brown said.

“We added a couple plays to catch their defense slipping,” he said, “as well as on the defensive side we added a couple assets to get over on their offense.”

  1. Fixing past mistakes.

“We are working on correcting the mistakes that we made last week,” Prud’homme said.

The Rams started to prepare for the Wayland Baptist game on Sunday by briefly touching on the things the team would be working on during the week and learning from mistakes during film, linebacker Tristen Blake said.

“We basically just looked at what we need to fix from this past week,” Blake said.

  1. Being confident.

The Rams played very well against Lyon College and the team is hungry for a win after being so close, Prud’homme said.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” he said. “That has helped our confidence.”

The Rams are excited because they’re finally starting to see what they envisioned back in the fall of 2016 when the program started, Mitchell-Dixon said.

“I’m excited because I can see that we’re growing as a team and it’s something special,” Mitchell-Dixon said. “If we can have great momentum going into this game I know we’re going to have a fun Saturday.”

The Rams are eager to get back on the field, Brown said.

“We feel like this is a great opportunity to get our first win” he said.

  1. Playing as a team.

The entire team has been working on trusting each other and playing as a unit, Brown said.

“Our focus this week is getting the entire defense to click,” he said. “Our defensive line is finally coming together and playing really great so now we’re focusing on getting the rest of the components of our defense to click as well.”

The game will be available to stream live or follow via live stats on ramsports.net. Tickets are $10 general admission and are available for purchase on ramsports.net or at the gate.

Da’vonte Mitchell-Dixon runs onto the field before the Bacone College game.
Photo by Little Joe
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Rams eager to take on Wayland Baptist University