One quarterback down didn’t stop the FHC varsity football team from taking the win from Lowell and advancing to the district finals. Junior Max Holser, in particular, stepped up to the plate as starting quarterback and led the Rangers to take down the Red Arrows 35-20.
Even though it seemed like it would be large shoes to fill with senior quarterback Mason McDonald sitting the first game of playoffs, Holser knew what needed to be done.
“It was next man up,” Holser said. “I practiced all week, but you have to be ready when it’s your time.”
This showed right at the beginning of the game. Although it was back and forth between the Rangers and Red Arrows at the beginning, senior running back JT Hartman changed that with a one-yard touchdown. Along with senior kicker Alex Moeller gaining the extra point, FHC took the lead 7-0 with 1:54 left in the first quarter.
The fire didn’t stop there. Due to a fumble from Lowell, the Rangers gained possession of the ball in the Red Arrows’ territory, leading Hartman to gain another touchdown. This time, he scored a five-yard touchdown, with Moeller kicking an extra point, allowing the Rangers to advance its lead 14-0 by the end of the first quarter.
As the second quarter started, Lowell came out fighting. With one timeout from the Red Arrows on the Ranger’s 33-yard line, Lowell moved the ball into the end zone. Along with an extra point, Lowell trailed 14-7 with 4:09 left in the second quarter. However, this was the last time that the Red Arrows were in range of taking over the Rangers.
Junior tight end Max Richardson scored a five-yard touchdown with a pass from Holser, which pushed FHC’s lead over Lowell to 21-7 with 0:15 left in the second quarter.
Senior running back JT Hartman had a dominating first half and finished the game with four touchdowns. Head coach Tim Rogers said he has never seen a performance like it.
“Probably the best single performance high school football I have seen in my career, which is over 30 years, was what JT Hartman did today, Rogers said. “He played running back, played quarterback, and played linebacker. He was outstanding.”
Even with Hartman having to take over as quarterback at times, Holser would fill the shoes of quarterback quite well, and he proved that with a 37-yard touchdown to Richardson. With another extra point good by Moeller, the Rangers extended their lead once more, 28-7, with 10:21 left in the third quarter.
Richardson had a lot of trust in Holser.
“I don’t think it changed much just for the team, especially not for me,” Richardson said. “We all have faith in Max. He has been working hard all season. He has been right behind Mason, working hard and paying attention. So, we had no problem with him coming in and playing quarterback.”
As the third quarter progressed, the Rangers didn’t let this lead hold them back. Lowell took another timeout on its own 27-yard line. A failed first down put the Rangers into Lowell territory once more, allowing FHC to move down the field, leading to another touchdown. Hartman scored another touchdown with a three-yard run. With the extra point good, the Rangers extended their lead once more, 35-7, with 6:44 left in the third quarter.
The Red Arrows scored another touchdown on their next possession. The Rangers led 35-14 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Lowell scored the last touchdown of the game. They went for the two-point conversion but failed with a sack of the quarterback from FHC.
Now, with this game behind them, there are many things that the team needs to look toward and focus on going into its next game against Mount Pleasant. However, one issue in particular that Rogers highlighted is something out of the players’ control: health.
“Something that we don’t control, which is getting healthy,” Rogers said. “So we’re going to have to figure out a way to practice and prepare and still find some time to get our kids healthy. And then again, we got to find out what the unique abilities are the people who are replacing some of the guys that are hurt and take full advantage of going into the next game.”
Even so, Richardson has an idea of what the team will be focusing on skills-wise.
“Obviously, we are going to look at who is up next,” Richardson said. “We’ll have film Sunday, and with Mount Pleasant, we got to work hard fronts. We can’t get piles going and really win the box up front.”
