The school year is in full swing, the crowd is ready for action when Friday night comes around each week, and Ranger Country is no exception. In week four of gameplay, the varsity football team took on the East Grand Rapids Pioneers in a wild game that was over by halftime.

“I thought the game went well,” sophomore powerhouse Max Richardson stated. “We kept our heads cool and played from the chin up. It was a well-executed game where everyone contributed to the success of the team.”

The Friday night lights started like every other game for the Rangers this season when they started the game strong in the first quarter putting EGR in its place. The Pioneers tried advancing with the ball since they started the game in possession, but that soon went downhill. Not long after the game started, the Rangers obtained the ball and wasted no time getting down to business. Max started by bulldozing through the Pioneer’s defense for a smooth first down that his teammate junior Ty Hudkins would move right into the endzone for a Ranger touchdown. Although senior Andrew Novay was out of the game with a sprained toe, sophomore Eli Lipke stepped up to kick for his first time on varsity after only making two appearances on junior varsity. Despite being new to the rush, Eli’s kicks never missed the goal post, and the Rangers now led 7-0.

Not long after this power play from the Rangers offense, the Pioneer’s ball was intercepted, and it was time to get moving before the first quarter would end. Even though the score after the first was 7-0, this wouldn’t be the end of the Ranger’s terror. Just minutes later, the ball was right back into Richardson’s arms as he ran straight into scoring range, securing the touchdown for the Rangers. Now, the score sat at 14-0 with over a whole half of gameplay left. The ball started moving back and forth until the four-minute mark of the half, when Ty got the kick return that would move FHC straight to second and sixth in touchdown territory. Once again, the Rangers would score before the half would conclude and then pick up an additional three points from a field goal attempt. When the half ended, the score was 24-0, with the Rangers leading.

With a large lead going into halftime, the team knew what had to be done to stay ahead.

“I think it’s massive that we got early scores straight out the gate; we came ready and prepared. We definitely still have plenty to work on this week fundamentally,” Max recalled.

Max wasn’t the only Ranger reflection on the team’s performance thus far, though, and some of his teammates came forward to voice their opinions.

“I think the strong part of the game was both the O and the D working as a cohesive unit to score, the offense driving the ball down the field, and the defense creating turnovers to score themselves and to put the offense in a great position,” senior Sam Sneider said.

Fifty-two seconds into the third quarter, chaos ensued again in the FHC’s student section when junior JT Hartman brought the ball home, extending the Ranger’s lead to 31-0. After another eight minutes of slow gameplay, EGR came back and scored on FHC before fans knew what was happening. At this point, the score rose to 31-7, where it would stay for the remainder of the game. The Rangers got the well-deserved win over the Pioneers with the final score of 31-7, moving FHC to a 2-0 conference record and an overall record of 4-0 for its 2022 season.

The Rangers take on the Northview at Northview on Friday, September 23, at 7 p.m.

“We made a lot of big plays, and it led to us pulling ahead,” senior and team captain Raymond Cargill said. “Turnovers were a big part of us winning.”