Rams’ Secondary Is Primary Reason for Beating Oilers : Pro football: Humphery, Henley make the big plays to keep Moon out of the end zone, 17-13.

The Rams’ last stand, fittingly enough, came down to a last-gasp pass in the last minute of the last quarter of a game that probably was their last stab at lasting in the playoff race past November.

And this time, Custer, they weren’t.

The Rams, to the surprise of many, emerged from Sunday afternoon’s 17-13 victory over the Houston Oilers still upright--if still teetering on the brink of collapse--and dizzy with the rare taste of victory.

When cornerback Bobby Humphery made it across the field in time to knock away Oiler quarterback Warren Moon’s fourth-down pass to running back Allen Pinkett at the goal line with 40 seconds left in the game, the Rams just couldn’t contain themselves before 52,628 at Anaheim Stadium.

“If I could do a back flip like Henry Ellard, I would’ve tried,” quarterback Jim Everett said.

Ram Coach John Robinson was spared that sight, but you got the feeling he wished he could have been doing some giddy gymnastics after the Humphery play, too.

“This was a win we needed desperately,” Robinson said, “and this was a win we got. We’re going to enjoy it as a team. The game gives us life.”

Humphery’s mad dash was the most dramatic of a series of clutch plays performed Sunday by a Rams’ secondary that had been pillaged all season by opponent quarterbacks and was missing Pro Bowl cornerback Jerry Gray.

Again and again, the Oilers (4-5) would threaten, then again and again Humphery or newly activated cornerback Darryl Henley or somebody would make a play to stave off the charge.

Although Moon and the Oilers’ run-and-shoot offense collected 366 yards and although Moon himself passed for 343, the Ram defense contained Houston as well as could be expected. Moon, who entered the game having thrown just one interception in his last 156 attempts, was intercepted twice near the Ram goal line--once by Henley, once by Humphery.

When it counted most, when Moon had four shots at stealing the game from inside the 10-yard line, the Rams made their stand.

Moon, after leading Houston down the field, had first-and-goal at the Ram seven-yard line with 1:45 remaining.

“I thought it was appropriate that it came down to the defense shouldering the load for the final four plays,” linebacker Kevin Greene said. “It came down to the last play, the last seconds. And we made the play.”

With Robinson scheming to conserve the clock if the Oilers went ahead, the Ram defenders first stopped running back Lorenzo White for one yard, stopped White again for one yard on a Moon pass, then held tight when a pass flicked off the hands of Ernest Givins in the end zone.

Fourth down, Oilers on the five-yard line, 47 seconds left and “a few prayers” left for Robinson.

Moon dropped back, looked to his right, felt the pressure of the Rams’ three-man rush, then saw what everybody else saw: Pinkett wide open in the left flat.

“Everybody was kind of running around,” Henley said. “The play seemed to take like 11 minutes.”

By the time Moon twisted around and sent the ball Pinkett’s way, Humphery had begun his scamper from the back-middle of the end zone, and for a long moment the game was just three things: the ball, Pinkett floating into the end zone and Humphery dashing to knock it away.

“I saw it like it was in slow motion,” Greene said.

Then everything was quick again, with Humphery smashing the ball with two hands out of bounds and the whole Ram defense celebrating like they had won the state high school championship.

The Rams finished the game having held Houston to three points in the final two periods. They did it mostly with their basic 3-4 alignment, eschewing the seven-defensive back formations most teams play against Houston after a brief first-half flirtation with it.

Moon was sacked just once, but was not allowed to saunter outside and buy extra time for his receivers. And when he did pile up enough passes to get his team downfield, Humphery and Henley were there to end it.

The Rams’ usually potent offense, despite Cleveland Gary’s 87 rushing yards, was having its own problems with Houston, turning what by all accounts appeared to be a scoreboard breaker into a defensive brawl.

“It’s strange how football games don’t go the way people expect them to,” Robinson said. “To have, what, four points (actually, three) scored in the second half seems impossible. But that’s one of the great things about this game. Most of us, you, me, anybody that likes to predict, doesn’t ever quite get it.

“Something happened in the game that just made it into a defensive contest.”

Early, the Oilers, Moon and the run-and-shoot did not disappoint, sprinting up the field for a 40-yard Moon-to-Drew Hill touchdown pass and a 22-yard Teddy Garcia field goal on their only two first-quarter possessions.

On the Hill touchdown, Moon found his receiver wide open after Hill ran by Henley and a late-arriving Pat Terrell.

The Oilers took their second possession 70 yards on nine plays but had to settle for Garcia’s kick when receiver Leonard Harris dropped Moon’s delivery in the end zone.

But the Rams answered both drives and tied the game at 10 with a 19-yard, first-quarter Mike Lansford field goal, then a one-yard touchdown plunge by Gary early in the second period.

After stopping Houston for the first time, the Rams marched 80 yards on 10 plays for a 17-10 lead, with Everett completing passes to tight end Pete Holohan and Ellard for a combined 45 yards. Everett then threw the 100th touchdown pass of his career (including playoffs) when tight end Damone Johnson was wide open in the end zone from two yards out.

Everett completed 10 passes in a row from the end of first half to beginning of third quarter. But the string came to an ugly end when he underthrew Johnson, allowing safety Leander Knight to step into the flat, intercept the pass at the Oiler 15 and end the Rams’ drive.

The Oilers broke the scoring drought and narrowed the Ram lead to four points early in the fourth, completing an 11-play drive with Garcia’s 32-yard field goal, ending the scoring at 17-13.

The Oilers threatened again after blocking Keith English’s punt in the fourth quarter, but were denied by Humphery’s interception in the end zone--almost exactly where he would later end their last hope a few minutes later.

“It feels so good,” fullback Buford McGee said.

Ram Notes

Cornerback Mickey Sutton hurt his left knee and is scheduled to be X-rayed for possible damage today. . . . Although cornerback Jerry Gray dressed, he did not play, nursing a sore left knee. Sutton started in his place, then had to be replaced by Darryl Henley. Henley was seeing his first action of the year after being activated off the injured-reserve list.

* MIKE DOWNEY: After their Monday night slap in the face by Steelers, Rams really needed this one. Column, C11.

* RUN AND FALL: The Oilers piled up yards but couldn’t get the points they needed. John Weyler’s story, C12.