Rangers hope to secure first win of the season

By: Tyler Stark

Pictures by Abigail Miller and Aiden Hatch

Well, Ranger fans, we are only 3 games into the 2021 football season and our Rangers find themselves in what appears to be a massive game. The Rangers have started 0-3 with losses to Cenntenial, Clovis North, and Tulare Western. In those games, the biggest thing that has derailed this Ranger team thus far quite honestly has been themselves.

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Mistakes have been very costly for this squad, that’s not to say everything’s been awful from these boys, they’ve shown a lot of flashes on both sides of the ball, but it just seems like these boys cannot play mistake-free football for four quarters.

All of these factors are what makes Friday night’s game against Kingsburg seem so massive.

When a team starts off with some losses it’s easy to feel pressure, but defensive linemen Kai Preisendorf ‘24 feels that there is little pressure on them this week. Preisendorf says “I don’t think there’s much pressure at all, those last games we all played our hearts out and left everything we had on the field, our record doesn’t matter at all, we played tough teams and we are hungry and ready for our first win.”

Tight end Kolby Howard ‘22 has a bit of a different view on the matter. Howard says “There is a lot of pressure on our team this week. We need to come out with a win.” It’s fascinating to hear these very different views. It was great to see a guy who feels no pressure, and a guy who definitely feels that this team has a lot of pressure on them.

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Star wide receiver Christian Daniel ‘22 feels a bit frustrated after the way the last few games have ended. Daniel says “It’s been very frustrating these last two weeks especially when you know your team is way better than that.

Daniel goes on to say if his team is aggressive and locked in, come Friday night they’ll have a good shot to win.

The players on this Ranger squad understand how big of a game this is, they understand how big a win would be for them. Defensive end PJ Myers ‘23 says “I feel like this game is the tone-setter for how this season will go, and if we’re hungry enough for playoffs.”

During that first game of the season against Centennial the Rangers seemed to have a bit of work to do in the passing department. The run game looked stellar, but there were a lot of questions in that passing game.

Now, however, the passing game seems to be improving each and every week, and as a result quarterback Frankie Alvarez ‘23 feels that his confidence is very solid right now. “After every game I’ve only gained more and more confidence. The more experience I’ve gotten the more comfortable I’ve been throwing. ”

Alvarez’s primary receiver Ashton Ibarra ‘22 echoes his quarterback’s sentiment. “I have a lot of confidence in our passing game especially since all the receivers are dialed in with the QB.”

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In order for that passing game to have another good game the offensive line will have to do their job and give Frankie Alvarez time in the pocket.

Right guard B.J Wainwright ‘24 really wants to see improvements from his unit. “I would most like to see our offensive line improve from last game. I think we have gotten better this week and I want to show the improvements we have made.” 

This is truly a huge game for the Rangers, and it was great to hear all of them understand, and talk about the magnitude of this matchup. Hopefully, they can come out on top on Friday.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 in the Mineral King Bowl on Friday night.

Tune in to the livestream here (LINK)

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