By RYAN D. MURRAY

For the Herald

The Rams romped the Falcons 41-6 on Friday night at Cranston Stadium.

La Salle quarterback Jace Pena had a monster game while completing just 5-of-6 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. He was also very efficient on the ground rushing five times for 129 yards and a touchdown.

On other side, Cranston’s quarterback Ryan Marsella completed 8-of-13 passes for 40 yards with one interception. He was sacked only once..

On the Rams’ first possession of the game, after forcing the Falcons’ offense into a three-and-out, Pena threw a dart to the left side to wide receiver C.J. Waite, who was wide open and took it 56 yards to the end zone. After the extra point by Evan Nassaney the Rams led 7-0.

Next, it was the Rams’ bulky senior back Kyron Lopes, who exploded on offense. On the first down of the drive, Lopes plowed through the Cranston defense for a 7-yard run. On second down, Lopes ran 43 yards for the touchdown and gave La Salle a 14-0 advantage with 8:06 left in the first quarter.

Later in the first quarter, Cranston would take over with great field position after a big sack by junior Kyle Hammond helped it keep La Salle deep in its own territory. La Salle made matters worse when junior Andrew Wallace punted the ball out of bounds at the Rams’ 40-yard line.

The Falcons would take advantage, feeding their running back Matt Lonardo. He would run six times for 19 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown on the drive. However, the extra point attempt was blocked by Waite. The Falcons trailed 14-6.

The Rams received the following kickoff and took charge, starting at their own 41-yard line. They would eventually go for it on fourth-and-3 and convert. Then, Pena connected with Waite for a 10-yard reception, giving the Rams another first down at the Falcons’ 31-yard line. The Rams would run a quarterback keeper with Pena, who faked the ball to the running back before running 30 yards himself for the score. The Rams would lead 21-6 with 7:49 left in the first half.

After another West three-and-out, the Rams got back to business.

Taking over at the Falcons’ 49-yard line, Pena and Lopes took turns running the ball and moving the chains. Finally, Pena handed it to Waite, who would run 10 yards for another La Salle touchdown. The Rams would go up 28-6.

West senior Drew Watts would respond by taking the next kickoff from the Falcons’ 10 all the way to their own 30 yard line. But just when things looked to finally be going the Falcons’ way, Marsella threw an interception, with Waite returning it 91 yards for a touchdown to put Cranston in a bigger hole at 35-6 heading to halftime.

In the third quarter, La Salle running back Kyle Batty fumbled the ball and Cranston recovered it at the 50-yard line. Though the Falcons had good field position, Cranston would fail to score after La Salle sophomore Neziah Coakley sacked Marsella for a loss of 11 yards. The sack would set Cranston up with a fourth-and-11 and the Rams would be forced to punt again.

On first down, La Salle ran the quarterback keeper and Pena raced 79 yards, breaking a tackle at midfield, before going all the way for the score and extending La Salle’s lead to 41-6.

Late in the third quarter, Marsella could be seen walking to the bench in pain. Soon after, he came out of the game.

“He’s doing fine,” Cranston West head coach Steve Stoehr said. “He’s a little banged up…He was getting beat up so we decided to take him out.”

Lonardo had 15 touches for 28 yards and a touchdown for the Falcons.

“Matt played very well,” Stoehr said. “He played as well as expected in a 41-6 loss. He ran hard.”

Lopes had 11 carries for 85 yards, including the 43-yard touchdown scamper.

Stoehr thinks his team will improve.

“We’re a very young team and they have a very good team,” he said. “Our backfield is seniors but our line is sophomores and juniors. So we’ll get better.”

It was the Falcons’ first loss of the season in league play. They fell to 1-1 while La Salle moved to 2-0. Next, Cranston West will host rival Cranston East on Friday at Cranston Stadium at 7 p.m.