Forest Hills Central freshman football lost their fourth straight game of the season on Thursday to the dominant South Christian Sailors 21-0. The Rangers haven’t been able to get going at all this season and have been outscored by their opponents 86-26 through their first 4 games.
South Christian went on a long 6:40 first drive to start the game until a rushing touchdown capped off the drive, giving the Sailors a 7-0 lead. Despite a great sack and multiple great tackles by Collin Grupe. The Rangers stuck to the run game for their first possession, mostly by Collin Grupe. Although Grupe was able to take FHC into the red zone, a 4th down incomplete pass intended for Ian Reitzenstein scratched off any hope of an opening drive score. The Rangers defense held strong immediately and forced a fumble at the Sailors 16-yard line with 5:20 left in the first half.
Although a powering run by Grupe set FHC up at the South Christian 3-yard line, the Sailors were able to hold the Rangers out of the end zone and forced another 4th down incompletion. South Christian took advantage of the Rangers’ mistake and proceeded to take the next play for a 97-yard rushing touchdown with 1:38 left in the half, giving them a 14-point lead. The Rangers had one last chance to put up a score before the first half concluded, but quarterback Lucas Casten fumbled the ball away at the Ranger 39-yard line with 13 seconds left in the half. SC attempted to run a flea flicker on the last play of the 2nd quarter, but the pass was incomplete, sending the Rangers into the locker room down by 14 points.
Both defenses were able to hold strong for the second half, especially Souch Christian, who intercepted a pass from backup quarterback Collin Grupe at the Sailors’ 10-yard line with 4:39 left in the 3rd quarter. SC went on a long, slow drive to waste time before chucking an incredible 45-yard touchdown pass to put the Rangers down by 21 with 9:47 left in the game. The Rangers were stopped yet again on their next drive, as the Sailors forced a fumble at South Christian’s 43-yard line with 8:28 left in the game. The Rangers’ defense was able to stop the next SC drive and forced a punt. But yet again, the Rangers had another fumble at their own 22-yard line, this time by Judah Slendebroek, with 5:54 left in the ball game.
The Rangers defense finally got a turnover, as D-Lineman Jack Valentino forced a fumble with 3:41 left, but the Rangers were unable to get anything going in the final minutes and suffered their 4th straight loss of the season.
When asked what the team could do better, Center Jaxson Chopp replied, “As a team, we need to finish,” Chopp added, “We can’t just stall out at the 5 or 10-yard line.” Ian Reitzenstein responded, “We just need to work on doing our jobs,” Reitzenstein said, “We need to be focused every play all game long.”
The Rangers will play at home on October 17th against the Wyoming Wolves and will try to get their first win of the season.
