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BY NIC MILLER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
SNEEDVILLE – If you could recall only a few weeks ago, you would know that the Unaka Rangers started their season off on the road against the Hancock County Indians.

The Rangers made that same trip this Friday and were ready to accomplish the same feat as before by walking out with a victory, this time on the Indians Senior NIght.

It was the Indians that would start off with possession of the ball, but thanks to an amazing defensive performance from the Rangers, it was three plays and out for the home team.

On their inaugural drive, the Rangers would use both the ground and the air to march down the field, but their momentum would be stopped when a fumble in Indian territory would give the home team possession once again.

After another stop for the Rangers defense, Unaka scored on the first play of their next drive with a 30-yard lob from Landon Ramsey to his brother Devin Ramsey.

L. Ramsey would increase the lead with a two-point conversion to give the visitors the advantage 8-0.

But the Indians weren’t going down quietly, as a kickoff return to midfield sparked the Hancock County offense, eventually resulting in a four-yard touchdown rush by Jarod Bolden and a two-point conversion by Devon Blevins to knot things up, 8-8.

Things kept rolling for the Rangers as it was a repeat of their first score as the Ramsey to Ramsey connection returned, this time from 45 yards out followed by another rush by L. Ramsey for an extra two points before the end of the first quarter to give Unaka the lead once again, 16-8.

Both offenses were in full effect during this game as Blevins would call his own number to scamper in from midfield, while a rush afterward by Brady Johnson evened things back up, 16-16.

On the next possession for the Rangers, it would be Ramsey to Ramsey again, this time from forty yards out for their third touchdown connection. L. Ramsey would once again take it in on the conversion to give Unaka a 24-16 lead halfway through the second quarter.

And after a solid drive by the Indians, a fumble would be scooped up by the Rangers’ Mark Nealon and taken back 62 yards for another Ranger score that would be capped off by a…you guessed it, a Ramsey to Ramsey pass for the conversion as the Unaka lead increased just before halftime, 32-16.

In an attempt to score just before the half, the Indians would cough up the ball again, leading to another touchdown pass from Ramsey to Ramsey from ten yards out, their fourth connection for a touchdown of the game.

After a Kaleb Collins rush for a conversion, Unaka went into halftime boasting a 40-16 lead.

After the break, the scoring onslaught would continue when Collins would rush 55 yards to the end zone followed by a D. Ramsey conversion to make the score an uneven 48-16.

And things just kept getting better for the Rangers in the third quarter when D. Ramsey dragged his feet to stay in bounds for another Ramsey to Ramsey touchdown from twenty-seven yards out.

With the addition of the conversion, it was running clock territory, 56-16.

With the running clock in effect, the Rangers would have a fun time on the bus ride home as they walk away with a 56-16 win.

Unaka head coach O’Brien Bennett spoke on his team’s impressive performance saying, “We came into this week working on ourselves because we didn’t want to be our worst enemy tonight.

“After losing last week we didn’t wanna come out here and beat ourselves by making preventable mistakes.”

Bennett spoke on his players stepping up when they were needed, saying, “After Daniel Shearl went down last week, we were looking for guys to step up and make plays, and that’s exactly what they did.

“We had that big scoop and score in the second quarter by Mark Nealon as well as the five touchdowns the Ramsey brothers had. So overall I thought we executed well and had guys make plays for us that helped us separate ourselves early.”

The Rangers will be on the road again next week to take on the Cosby Eagles.