The Forest Hills Central Rangers went down to the Forest Hills Northern Huskies in a close game 6-7 on September 12th. Both teams got off to a slow start, until a 20 yard pass from Collin Grupe to Ben Castillo finally got the game rolling at the end of the 1st quarter. The Rangers ended up at the Huskies 5 yard line on that same drive, but couldn’t convert on a 4th down and gave the ball back to Northern. FHN jumped on the Rangers failed drive, and had back to back quarterback sneaks that combined for 85 yards. With the Huskies in the red zone, the Ranger defense locked down, and after 2 bad snaps for the Northern center, the Rangers got the ball back at their own 20 yard line.
With 30 seconds left in the 1st half, the Rangers threw an interception on the Huskies 25 yard line, sending the game to halftime, the score still 0-0.
The 3rd quarter started off slow for both teams, until cornerback Jack Davidson intercepted a pass at midfield and took it all the way back to the Huskies 5 yard line. With the momentum on the Rangers side, quarterback Collin Grupe took the next snap for a rushing touchdown, giving FHC a 6-0 lead after a missed extra point attempt. Both teams punted on their next drives, until the Huskies went on a nice drive that resulted in a 6 yard touchdown run with 1:30 left in the 3rd quarter. The extra point was good, and Northern took a 7-6 lead.
Collin Grupe got a huge 4th down tackle for the Rangers with 2:05 left in the game, setting FHC up at their own 40 yard line, for a potential winning drive. After an incomplete pass and a 5 yard penalty, the Rangers had a tough 3rd and 15 from their own 40 yard line. The Rangers couldn’t take the game back though, as an interception by a Northern safety sealed the game with 20 seconds left. After a kneel down by the FHN quarterback, the Rangers officially lost to their rival 6-7.
When asked what the Rangers could do better to prepare for the upcoming week, WR/CB Jack Davidson said, “We just need to have more endurance and less stupid mistakes.” QB Collin Grupe responded, “We need to be more consistent on both sides of the ball. Penalties are a big issue too.”
The Rangers are 0-2 going into week 3, where they are playing at home on September 19th against Unity Christian High School.
