By: Tyler Stark
Photos by: Abigail Miller
After 3 heartbreaking losses, the Rangers got their first win of the season last Friday night against Kingsburg. It was truly a special moment. The fans and players alike were more than excited to celebrate the Rangers’ first win of the season. Everyone is hoping that the boys can carry that momentum and secure another big win this Friday against Lemoore.
Head coach Kevin Scharton could not have been more proud of his players.
Scharton says, “It felt really good to get that first win. The kids have been working very hard so I’m really happy for our team, they deserved it.” Scharton continues by saying that Lemoore is a tough team, and his boys are up for the challenge.
There were a lot of good plays that came against Kingsburg, but perhaps the biggest play of the night was made by Rio Sanchez ‘23. With under a minute left Kingsburg had just scored a touchdown and were down 20-18. Kingsburg went for the two-point conversion, but Sanchez came up with the tackle to secure the win for the Rangers.
Sanchez said, “It felt great to get an opportunity like that and make that kind of play.”
Sanchez goes on to say he’s very happy about that play, but he is not letting it get into his head too much. Sanchez says, “You can’t let that get over your head. If another special play happens then it happens but I’m just focused on playing my game and playing my best when I get onto the field.”
Arguably the most impressive aspect of last Friday’s remarkable win was the fact that the Rangers got it done without linebacker Marcus Correia ‘22. Correia was at the game cheering his teammates on from the sidelines, but it was obviously very different and not what he’s used to.
Correia says, “It was definitely hard, especially when I’m never hurt and not used to being on the sidelines.”
Correia felt that his team played very well with his absence and says, “The team had a great win without a few players. That’s how it should be. People have to step up like they did last week to be a solid team.”
It’s going to be huge to have Correia back in the lineup. He is one of the biggest leaders of this team, and his presence will definitely be a major deal for this squad.
Defensive back Ethan Griffiths ‘22 believes that his team did a lot of things well against Kingsburg, but he really liked the aggression and the unity that the team had in order to secure the win.
Griffiths says, ”We played really aggressive and we played very well as a team.”
Image courtesy of Griffiths
Griffiths goes on to say he wants to see his team play with that same aggression on Friday.
Obviously getting the win against Kingsburg was the most important thing for the Rangers last week, but defensive end PJ Myers had achieved a very important goal. Myers earned his first recorded sack of the season. Myers says, “It felt great to get my first sack of the season, it’s a moment I’ll never forget.
The Rangers will need more big plays from Myers and that defensive line if they want to secure a win on Friday.
When a team is coming off of a big win, there can sometimes be pressure to live up to that performance in their next outing. However, wide receiver Ashton Ibarra ‘22 says he feels no pressure coming into this game.
Ibarra says, “We play like we’re 0-0 every game, and we keep that mindset through all 4 quarters.”
Running back Alex Perch ‘24 says that his team did a fantastic job executing last week. Perch says, “We executed. This was really the first week we were able to put everything together.”
Execution will be key again this week for the Rangers, if they want to win they are going to have to play another complete game. They are going to have to play well for four quarters.
This is a big game for the Rangers. There’s a ton of momentum on their side and if they can feed off of that and execute like they did last week it could be a special night leading to another win for the Rangers.
The kickoff will take place at 7:00 at the Mineral King Bowl.
Gigantea is also Livestreaming the game tonight.
Tyler Stark
Tyler Stark ('24) is in his freshmen year, and this is his first year writing for the Redwood Gigantea. Tyler hopes to work for Sports Illustrated in the future. you can contact him by email with: tyler.st3800@vusd.us
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