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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
The Unaka Rangers are playing at a high level as they enter this week’s contest on the road at Cosby looking to run their overall record to 6-2 on the year and solidly secure the second seed in Region 1 Class 1-A meaning a home playoff game for the second consecutive year.

Coach O’Brien Bennett’s team is marking off all the boxes right now as they continue to grow as a team and with an offense like the Rangers have it is getting increasingly difficult to slow down this unit of Rangers.

As always it starts in the backfield for the Rangers as junior Landon Ramsey continues to put up huge numbers and last week scored both of Unaka’s touchdowns in a 14-12 win over Claiborne in a mud pit battle after a huge rainstorm passed before the game even started.

Jamol Blamo keeps growing as a running back as Blamo’s presence makes it difficult for opposing teams to focus solely on Landon and his brother Devin.

Speaking of Devin, the oldest of the two Ramsey brothers came within a few yards of a state record a couple of weeks ago and has asserted himself as probably the best wide receiver in Class 1A and possibly even Class 2A and 3A play.

And that just scratches the surface as the Rangers have a plethora of offensive weapons they can utilize to catch their opponents off guard.

While it is easy to notice the big numbers of the playmakers, one cannot forget the line on both sides of the football that opened the holes for Blamo and the rest of the Ranger running backs while protecting Ramsey to give him time to throw the football.

On defense, one has to keep the opponents from scoring and the Ranger ‘D’ has met the challenge as they rose up last week to slam the door on Claiborne who needed a two-point conversion to force overtime but the Ranger defense was having none of it.

If there is one element that hasn’t been talked about during the season it is Bennett as the coach has come in and changed the culture of Ranger football from one of a losing mentality to one that believes they can do whatever they set their minds to.

That has transposed to the field as the Rangers continue to excel in the 2021 season.

The kickoff at Cosby will be at 7:30 pm.