This was the season the Rangers needed. This was a season twenty-eight years in the making and one of the biggest seasons in FHC’s history. ​​This was the varsity football team’s 2022 season will be one to remember always.

The roar of the FHC student section has never been so loud, and never again will it be. The excitement of dressing up on a Friday night to cheer on your team was true bliss. This was a team that earned and deserved every win. This was a roster of players that understood that no game is guaranteed. Knowing that through the sun, wind, rain, and snow our Rangers would perform to unbelievable efforts like it was nothing was a treat that we could never repay them for this season, and I truly hope that the classes to come understand the importance of this virtue. 

Thirteen and one is all we can use to describe this season. Our team ran over the OK White teams as well as non-conference Jenison, Portage Central, Reeths-Puffer, Mona Shores, East Lansing, and Dexter. We crushed every obstacle thrown our way, and week after week we proved everyone wrong about how far we could get. This was our season to go all the way, and although we didn’t win the state title over Warren De La Salle, it isn’t the loss that matters but rather the unforgettable journey we took to get there. 

“I think the season went very well,” senior captain Raymond Cargill quoted. “We had a lot of doubters at the beginning of the season, and I think we proved them wrong. The season did not end in the outcome we wanted, but I’m very proud of this team. I think this year sets the bar high for future FHC football teams.”

After what was supposed to be our season many times before, this season meant payback for all of last season’s seniors and of course all of the players who had the task of filling the shoes of FHC legends before them who were stripped of their playoff years ago. With their outstanding performances and leadership, the seniors of this year not only honored their school, community, and the names of those who came before but also fulfilled their duty of honoring the teams of the past in a way no one imagined. 

“My senior season was everything I could have asked it to be, I made so many great bonds, and we accomplished so many things,” senior Crandall Quinn said. “I wish we would have won the whole thing. But I am so proud of my team and I’m happy with the final season.”

When reflecting back on such an impactful season, we look back at every minute, every down, and every game that painted our season mural for all to be proud of. We remember games such as the district championship against Mona Shores at home where we defied the odds and shut down the naysayers who said we weren’t strong enough or that we didn’t want it bad enough. This was the game that was a major turning point and changed everything during the playoffs. 

“My favorite game was most likely Mona Shores. Up until this year, I had never beaten Mona. It was an obstacle that I wanted to overcome before the season started,” Crandall said. “So when we finally accomplished that, I was beyond excited.”

It was two games later during whiteout conditions and miles from home that our team fought tirelessly into double overtime that proved we deserved to be at Ford Field more than anyone else. 

“I think my favorite win this season was the win over Dexter because it was a hard-fought team win in a blizzard,” senior Michael Campbell said.

All of these moments could not be possible without a stellar team comprised of players from all three levels of the program, and now that everything is said and done, we move onward and figure out how to improve next season without the seniors, who will always have their accomplishments engraved here at FHC to mark all they have done for generations of players to come. 

“Obviously, we’re going to miss the seniors leaving this year. They are great mentors and leaders in this program,” sophomore Max Richardson stated. “They leave behind a large legacy and large shoes to fill. Many of them have kept me under their wings this year and helped us succeed far beyond many expectations. They have a winning mentality, and they are sure to bring that into any endeavor they have after football.”

There is no doubt that the 2022 Ranger football season was exactly what it should have been, and it will go down in history for all that it brought to our school. Thank you to the community for supporting the team week after week to give the team what they needed to be successful. Thank you to the coaches who worked day and night with the athletes to give them the season they deserved. Thank you student section for never failing to pump up the crowd and bring our spirit wherever we traveled. My final thank you goes out to every FHC Ranger football player; you all are the reason that the FHC Rangers are the team to beat and have been an absolute joy to cover. You have given me and all of us the gift of football the way it should be, and I could never thank you enough. This is Serena Thiede signing off.