Rangers playing for home field in state playoffs Friday

Published 11:30 pm Monday, October 10, 2022

By C.Y. Peters

Star Correspondent

    The Unaka Rangers biggest contest of the season is coming up this Friday. A win will secure home-field advantage in the opening game of the TSSAA State Play-Offs. “Our next step comes this week at home against a much improved Cosby team,” Rangers head coach O’Brien Bennett said. This game is a must-win for us to lock in a home game in the first round of the playoffs, so we need to fill the stadium and have an electric atmosphere as we welcome a very athletic group of Eagles.”

Unaka will face a Cosby Eagles team coming off a 50-12 loss to Oakdale. The Eagles are 2-1 in the conference and 3-4 overall.

  Cosby feasts off of mistakes. They have speed at every skill position, including quarterback and can make you pay for any mistake you make on defense. “We will have to be very sound in our assignments and very good tacklers to avoid giving up easy points. Offensively, we will need to protect the football. With as much speed as they have, a turnover can turn into a quick six points. It’s the same on special teams. We will have to be very fundamentally sound, mentally disciplined, and physically tough to avoid making the kind of mistakes they use to win games,” he said.

The Rangers are 2-1 in the conference play and improved to 4-3 overall after coming off a 34-8 victory over the Region 1-3A Claiborne Bulldogs.

“Any time you can win on the road versus a bigger school, it’s

something to be proud of,”  Rangers head coach O’Brien Bennett said. “It’s also needed experience if we ever want to get over the playoff hump we’ve been working toward.”

For the season, Unaka quarterback, Landon Ramsey has passed for 1,200 yards. He is nearing 500 yards rushing and has accounted for 14 touchdowns for the Rangers. He led the Rangers in tackles last week with eight. He threw for 145 yards on 12 0f 20 20 completions.

“Offensively, Landon, Jamol, and Joe-Z Blamo provided big plays, but Ryan Peters and Nathan Wilson also stepped up in expanded roles,” said Bennett. “We still have a lot of learning and growth left to do, but building depth and getting road experience against a tough, well-coached opponent will only accelerate the process.”

Jamol Blamo passed the 500-yard mark last week in rushing and has scored nine touchdowns. He has also made 54 tackles on defense. He made seven tackles last Friday night.

    Ryan Peters had a big game last week, carrying the ball 10 times for 73-yards. He also added a two-point conversion.

    Sophomore Brynin Repass has stepped up this year and done everything asked. He’s carried the ball, played receiver and taken a few snaps at quarterback. Last week he caught three passes and made eight tackles on defense. Joe-z Blamo caught three passes for 49-yards and Johnny Douglas made five tackles.

When talking about defense, Bennett said, “Our defense stepped up in a big way Friday night, holding Claiborne’s option game to only one score. Landon Ramsey, Brynin Repass, Isaiah White, and Jamol Blamo stepped up to lead a great defensive effort.”

    Cloudland has already secured a home playoff game but must beat North Greene and Jellico to win the conference title outright. Unfortunately, they have a lot of people hurt right now, so the conference title may still be up for grabs. However, the Landers hold their own destiny, win out and win the conference.

    The Unaka-Cosby game is really important and keeps the door open for the winning team to win the conference if the Landers lose.