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On the last play of the third quarter Friday night, Rockville senior quarterback Peter Nalle knew he had the opportunity to make a big play.

Leading just 6-2, Nalle (6 of 13, 75 yards) connected with fellow senior Yoel Goldstein (4 receptions, 67 yards) for a 42-yard completion that would set up a 1-yard touchdown run by junior running back Robbie Parker. The hookup helped give the Rams (3-0) a 12-2 lead at the start of the fourth quarter in Friday night's 19-2 win at Einstein (1-2).

"We saw the corners were playing up," said Nalle. "So I went to coach and told him that a hitch and go would work, and he finally called it and it went for almost a touchdown."

Nalle and Goldstein also opened the scoring in the first quarter after junior outside linebacker Robbie Parker intercepted Titan quarterback Bobby Stouffer's first pass of the game. Nine plays later, Nalle found Goldstein in the end zone from 10 yards out to give the Rams the lead, 6-0.

"I wanted to throw the ball tonight," said Rockville head coach Mark Maradei. "We saw that we could get some pass plays off and I had a lot of confidence in our line [pass protecting]. They are a very solid unit and did whatever we asked them."

The quarterback-to-wide receiver performance was imperative for the Rams, since the Einstein defense held sophomore running back Crusoe Gongbay — who entered the game as Montgomery County's leading rusher, averaging 182.5 yards a game — to only 29 yards.

"They scared the living daylights out of us," said Maradei. "We felt they had a very good team and if we didn't come ready with our A-game, they would have soundly beat us. We lost to them the last two years up on our field and it was our mission to come down here tonight and [win]."

After Rockville's first touchdown, the Titan defense would respond by forcing a safety after downing a punt inside the Rockville 2-yard line, cutting the lead to 6-2 at the half.

That would be the lone highlight of the night for the Titans, as their offense struggled through the air with numerous dropped passes. The ground game was not much better for Einstein, as junior running back Terrance Love struggled to find any holes against the Ram defense. Love ran for 52 yards on 17 carries, but 24 came on the final play of the game.

Late in the fourth quarter, Rockville linebacker Josue Gaitan would get the defense on the board by intercepting a pass from Einstein quarterback Chris Benitez (9 of 28, 121 yards, 2 interceptions) and returning it 32 yards for a touchdown to seal the game.

"I was just trying to bait the quarterback and I got that pick," said Gaitan.

After winning on the strength of their running attack for the first two games, the undefeated Rams now know they can pick each other up if one part of their team struggles.

"It says a lot," said Nalle. "I would still like to get better in passing, but I know we are just going to keep working and get better in that. I know we have a great running game in Crusoe, Robbie and Denzel [Copeland]."

For the Titans, it's time to go back to practice and work on the fundamentals.