Rangers prepare for the Jellico Blue Devils

Published 2:39 pm Sunday, September 11, 2022

By C.Y. Peters

Star Correspondent

“Better Call Saul” was all I could think about after Friday night’s game at Twin Springs Virginia.  “Confidence is good. Facts on your side, better.” Fact is I saw too many yellow flags every time the Rangers got a good drive going.  Three on their first possession.  All I’m going to say about that.

The Rangers have lost to a good Kentucky team, now a good Virginia team, this week they return to the creek to face the Jellico Blue Devils in a big conference game.

Jellico is 0-4 losing to North Greene last week in a close one, 32-28.  Cloudland has to travel to Cosby another conference game Coach Bennett will be watching.  If Cosby wins they would be in the lead with a 2-0 record; the same goes for Cloudland.  If Unaka beats the Blue Devils and Cloudland wins the Rangers can move into second in the conference title standings.

Last week Ryan Horne rushed for 265-yards and scored four times, but his best feat was picking up first downs on fourth and long.  Somehow he found the right holes and broke some tackles to keep the Titans in control of the football.

On the Ranger’s side, it may have been the best game they have played this year.  They are getting long-winded, staying focused and quarterback Landon Ramsey is very hard to take down.  His ability to pass on the run or turn the speed up the field is to perfection.  He threw for 247 yards, and four touchdowns while completing 16 of his 23 passes.  He made four solo tackles on defense and had a big stop on a punt return.  Ramsey also rushed ten times for 107 yards.

Jamol Blamo is like a freight train if he gets in the open.  He plowed over guards and tackles last week with mostly defensive ends bringing him down.  He rushed for 107 yards and scored two touchdowns.  One of his scores was on a 57-yard pass reception that put the Rangers on the board and tied the score at six.  He finished the night with 79 yards passing making his total performance on the night 186 yards.  On defense, he made three solo tackles and assisted on five.

Other Ranger receivers with catchers were Joe-z Blamo caught four passes for 52-yards, and Brynin Repass caught two passes for 16-yards.  Takota Freeman caught four passes for 54-yards and two touchdowns. He also made seven tackles on defense.  T.J. Thomas and two catches for 25-yards and made two good tackles.  Ryan Peters scored his first touchdown of the season on a 21-yard shuttle pass.  Peters also made four tackles and had three assisted tackles.

Johnny Douglas was the Ranger’s workhorse on defense making ten solo tackles.  Braydon Powell made four tackles with two assists, two were for loss and he also sacked the quarterback.  Big Marcus Shomaker came through with five tackles, and Jacob Wilson followed with two, one of them a big play pushing the Titans back.

Coaches Report: Coach O’Brien Bennett

We improved on both sides of the ball this week, just not enough to win. The effort was there. The attitude was there.  We were in a position to make plays. We just have to get better with our in-game execution. We gave up too many big plays in big situations including two fourth and long touchdown passes and several big runs after having the back bottled up in the backfield. Most of our problem is very fundamental stuff you work in the summer that we were very limited in our ability to practice effectively until we filled out our coaching staff just this week. We’ve added a defensive line coach (Chris Henry), RB/LB coach (Joey Parlier), and a WR/DB coach (John Kosko) since the season started. We don’t have any easy games on our schedule. The name of the game at this point is to continue to improve each week, play catchup with some fundamentals, and hopefully arrive at our potential as we move into the playoffs.