The FHC Freshman football team took on Zealand East at home on October 16. There are still gaps in the Rangers’ offense and defense, which were exposed during this week. Because of this, the Chix were able to contain most of the momentum and hand the freshman team another loss.
Zealand East got the ball first and took advantage, as they went on a 6-minute drive on only short runs and capped off the drive with a touchdown. The Rangers were able to force a fumble on the conversion, but FHC went down early 6-0. The Rangers had a strong first drive as well, mostly on short runs and passes from QB Jace Aldridge. Their drive lasted 8 minutes, but an interception ended the drive with 8:45 left in the 2nd quarter. This set up the Chix perfectly, as they were able to march down into the red zone and score on a 20-yard rushing touchdown. A completed pass gave ZE the 2-point conversion, making the score 14-0.
With 3 minutes left until halftime, the Rangers needed to have a solid drive to get back in the game. The drive started really well, with many great runs by RB Isaiah Painter and QB Jace Aldridge. However, two bad drops by FHC wide receivers and a run for no gain set up a tough 3rd & 10, which unfortunately led to a long interception by the Chix with 1:02 left in the second quarter, keeping the Rangers down 14-0. The score stayed the same until halftime.
The Rangers got the ball first to start the 2nd half, and kept the ball on the ground, but a fumble by Isaiah Painter ended the drive. The Ranger defense held strong on the Chix’s next possession, and was able to make a huge 4th down stop with 5:52 left in the 3rd quarter. The Rangers’ offense still couldn’t get any momentum, as they were forced to punt on their next drive, and turned the ball over on 4th down on the drive after. The next drive wasn’t much better, as they fumbled the ball away in the red zone with 9:02 left in the game.
There were no more big plays and moments for the rest of the game, except for a garbage-time touchdown by Zealand East, which ended the game with a final score of 22-0, and another loss for the Rangers.
