This past Friday was arguably the most anticipated game of the Rangers’ young season because of who they were playing, cross-town rival Forest Hills Northern. 

The Huskies received the opening kickoff, and it did not take long for them to get the ball moving. 

Despite a fumble early on in the drive, which they were able to jump on, not much else went wrong for the Husky offense. FHN had a strong passing attack against the Ranger defense, which led to the first touchdown of the game. 

When the Rangers got the ball, things were kind of up and down to start. 

Senior quarterback Nick Williams was able to open up the first set of downs with a 20-yard strike to Junior receiver Luka Nuo. The Ranger offense then fell behind on the down count, only to be bailed out by two Husky penalties (roughing the passer and unnecessary roughness), which moved the ball down the field. 

On a 3rd and 12, things looked doubtful on the once promising drive, until Williams connected with fellow Senior receiver Adam Piotrowski, who managed to catch the ball from the turf. While this brought the Rangers to the 2-yard line, back-to-back incompletions and a false start on 3rd and 1 would lead the Rangers to settle for a field goal (by Sophomore Lucas Moeller) with 2:33 left to go in the 1st quarter. 

The Husky offense seemed to continue from where they opened up the game, because after a good kickoff return from their special teams players, they once again were driving down the field with ease. 

However, during this drive, the rushing attack proved to be more damaging, and by the end of the first quarter, FHN was not only up 7-3, but their offense was back in scoring position. 

The Huskies quickly capitalized on their driving efforts by scoring another touchdown, this time rushing, within the first five seconds of the second quarter.

Williams and the offense tried to answer, but the passing game just wasn’t developing for the Rangers on their second drive of the night, and they were forced to punt the ball. 

When the Huskies got the ball back for the third time, the Rangers were finally ready for them. A huge TFL by Senior Parker Udy set the tone for the defense, which was then followed by another TFL on second down and a sack on third down. The Husky offense was forced to punt for the first time, and the Rangers had some momentum in their favor. 

However, once again, the air attack for FHC struggled. 

Williams tried to establish the deep ball with Junior receivers Carson Schick and Blake Teliczan, but the Husky defense held their own and came away with an interception to end the drive. 

This seemed to reignite the spark for FHN because once again, they were successful with the run game, marched down the field, and punched the ball into the endzone to take a 21-3 lead with 5:47 to go in the first half. 

Trailing by 18 and with an opportunity to score back-to-back (Rangers would receive the ball in the second half), FHC was desperate to kickstart its struggling offense.

They seemed to do just that, following a great return by Teliczan, which set up the offense near midfield. However, after various failed rushing attempts and an illegal shift, the Rangers found themselves on a 4th and 6. Luckily, Nuo was able to gain the necessary yardage and keep the drive alive. 

Throughout the rest of the drive, the Rangers played tough football. They found themself behind on downs, but then Williams would scramble to convert. 

Senior OLB Matt Sexton explained the team’s mindset and what helped them keep drives like this alive, even when they were struggling. 

“You know, [we] just stay positive,” said Sexton. “That’s our go-to every time we’re down a score or something.”

With the clock winding down, FHC once again found themselves behind the chains due to penalties and incompletions. Each team exchanged its remaining timeouts while the playcall kept changing, until eventually the Rangers faced a 4th and 18. 

The play looked successful at first, but unfortunately for the Rangers, Williams’ pass skimmed off Teliczan’s fingers, and they went into halftime trailing 21-3.

The second half of the game was very similar to the first. 

FHN dominated on both sides of the ball, forcing the Rangers to punt on 3 and outs every possession while the Huskies themselves were driving down the field. 

They could not be stopped on their way to three more scores on rushing plays from 77 yards out, 51 yards out, and a 1-yard punch-in. 

Despite being fierce rivals and what the score of the game was, Head Coach Dave Fortino gave credit to the team of Huskies for how they played against the Rangers.

“Northern’s a lot better than what their record was,” Fortino said. They’re probably the second most talented team we’ll play all year. They’re big and strong, and we just gotta get bigger and stronger.”

While the game may have been pretty much over, that did not stop the Rangers from keeping their spirits up on the sidelines. No matter how big or small the play that was made was, the entire team cheered for their fellow athletes. 

Perhaps it was because of their attitude, but with less than half of the fourth quarter remaining, the Rangers continued to put up a fight on offense. 

Fortino recognized this and was proud of how his team behaved during the game.

“I think we showed some character by fighting hard through the fourth quarter,” he said. We did not give up [no matter the score].”

Their second scoring drive of the night was highlighted by successful chunk rushes by Sophomore running back Collin Grupe and impressive connections from Williams to Freshman phenom receiver Miles Pell. 

Grupe drove the Rangers down the field rush after rush, but once they were within the 35-yard line, Williams looked to the air to gain yardage. He connected with Pell for the first down to keep the drive alive, and then one snap later, he found Pell in the endzone for a 23-yard touchdown pass. 

With 4:38 remaining in the game, FHN ran out the clock as much as they could before giving the ball back to FHC for the last drive of the night. Teliczan rushed for a few downs to close out the game and proved that the run game for FHC has talent behind it. 

Unfortunately for the Rangers, Friday’s game didn’t go in their favor with a final score of 42-10. It also marked the first time in a little over 20 years that the Huskies would go on to beat FHC. 

Despite this loss, though, the Rangers showed flashes of who they are in the early season, and they have plenty of time to improve. Sexton knows this and is optimistic about what the rest of the year holds for the team, but he also knows what needs to happen to see a change.

“[We need to] just stick together, you know,” Sexton said. “ [We need to] practice harder and get better each week. We’re going through a downfall right now, but we need to keep coming to practice, playing hard, and working our game.” 

Fortino shares the same attitude as Sexton. He believes in his team, but knows the work that needs to be put in.

“We just got to get better,” he said. “We’re going to focus on ourselves, and we’re not gonna worry about what anyone else does. Each day we’re gonna try and get ourselves better, and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”