From Beginning to the End, Gary Carries Through : Football: Ram running back, determined to do his job well, succeeds and sets career highs in yards (126) and rushes (31) in process.

The carries piled up, along with the yards. But Cleveland Gary didn’t get tired. He got stronger.

From the first time he touched the ball Sunday, there was a certain determination. In the back of his mind were two weeks and two near-victories that will be remembered only as losses.

On his first carry during the Rams’ 38-17 victory over the New York Giants at Anaheim Stadium, Gary gained eight yards. He got the ball again on the next play, and gained five more. Jim Everett passed to him, and he picked up eight. The Rams went to him on a fourth consecutive play, and he settled for one.

When the Rams got down to the one-yard line on their first possession, they turned to Gary. Stymied at first, he cut outside, but the Giants’ Mark Collins grabbed him by the ankle and held on tight.

He was still holding on when the officials signaled touchdown.

“It was an off-tackle play,” said Gary, who crossed the goal line with his body outstretched. “They forced me to the outside, but right then I said, ‘I’m outside of my territory.’ I wasn’t supposed to be out there. I had to get in the end zone unless I wanted to hear about it when we looked at the film. It was pretty much a power move. I dragged him in.”

That was the sort of doggedness Gary showed all afternoon. By the time the Rams had their victory, he had scored two touchdowns and had a career-high 126 yards in 31 carries.

“I didn’t come into this game wanting to reach a personal high in carries and a personal high in yardage,” he said. “I came in wanting to win this football game and kick some butt. We lost two close games. We wanted to win.”

Thirty-one carries for an average of 4.1 yards.

“I’m not really tired,” Gary said afterward, still buoyed by the outcome. “I’m sure I’ll feel it in the morning.”

It was the Giants’ running game that drew all the attention before Sunday’s game. Rodney Hampton had 167 yards last week against Phoenix, and was averaging 90 per game. It was supposed to be an uneven match--the Giants’ running game against the Rams’ unimpressive run defense.

But if you look at the result, it was Gary 126, Hampton 38.

“Coming in, Rodney Hampton had a great game last week,” Gary said. “It was very noticeable. Our defense prepared for him all week. It’s not a personal thing. We like Rodney; I like Rodney.”

He also likes to beat Rodney.

“Coming off the two losses, we still felt that we match up with anybody in this league. But we cannot feel like we’re just gonna show up and play and hopefully we’ll win. When we showed up, we brought a lot of enthusiasm.

“It’s up to our opponents to prepare because we’re going to come out and do the very best we can. That’s the attitude we have.

“We prepared, we worked hard all week, and this is a game we were ready for.”

Gary’s old bugaboo, fumbling the ball, caught up with him in the second quarter, with the Rams leading, 14-7. Pepper Johnson hit him at the 49, and the ball came loose. Lawrence Taylor snatched it out of the air.

All around Anaheim Stadium, people stirred. Another Gary fumble. He fumbled only once in limited playing time last season, and had fumbled only once this season--with the Rams recovering. But any time he loses the ball, it brings to mind 1990, when Gary fumbled 12 times and the Rams lost seven of them.

This time, when Gary fumbled and lost, it made him think, but he let it go.

“I knotted a little bit,” he said. “But I knew I was giving the effort, so it didn’t faze me. We came back and did what we had to do.”

The Giants were forced to settle for a field goal, narrowing the lead to 14-10.

“It was a play where I tried to make something happen. The ball just got away,” Gary said. “It didn’t worry me. It didn’t bother me.”

That was because the Rams’ offense kept clicking. The Rams were prepared, and they executed. Everett completed all but three of the 21 passes he threw, for 242 yards. Between them, he and Gary kept the Giants off balance.

“I think the key is Jim Everett throwing the ball the way he threw it and the offensive line blocking the way they blocked,” Gary said. “For us to have a balanced attack, that’s the key to our offense picking up and having some fire. It’s very hard to key on the running game when Jim Everett can hurt you deep. If you try to defend him deep, the offensive line will create holes the way they did for me. And I’ll try to stick it in the end zone from anywhere on the field.”

He stuck it into the end zone twice, and nearly scored another touchdown in the waning minutes of the game, when he took a handoff on a play that started at the Giants’ two-yard line. This time, Collins stopped him at the one.

“Unfortunately, the guy had a good angle on me,” Gary said. “I wanted to put it in the end zone right there and not have to do it from one yard out. But we got it in.”

David Lang did the honors, which was fine with Gary.

The Rams had their victory, and Gary had a career high for the second time in three weeks. Two weeks ago, in a loss to the 49ers, he had 110 yards.

“It’s a nice feeling to know you can always achieve something better than the way you did it before,” Gary said.

And this time he did it for the winning side.