Despite comeback, Rangers fall to Scotties

The Philip Scotties took a bite out of the perfect season of the Hill City Rangers football team with a one- point win Oct. 3.

The Rangers trailed most of the game, starting the second quarter trailing by two. By the end of the half, they were down by 11.

The game was fought largely on the ground, with the Scotties using two running weapons, Latham Gabriel and Tyce Gropper, alongside quarterback Teagan Gropper, to run past the Rangers’ defense throughout the game. Hill City’s quarterback, Brensen  Veneklasen had a tough time connecting with his own wide receivers as Philip’s coverage was unending.

Despite getting the ball first in quarter three, the Rangers could not score and the Scotties used most of the time on the clock. Neither team scored in the quarter, but as the fourth quarter began, the Scotties were driving. 

With 11:56 left in the game, the Scotties extended their lead to 17 points, with the score 38-21. 

In the last 10 minutes of the game, the Rangers showed why they were undefeated coming in.

Despite receiving an unsportsmanlike conduct call that negated a score, the Rangers ran the exact same play with Caleb Sobolik running for 45 yards, narrowing the Scotties’ lead to nine. The Rangers’ drive took mere seconds to complete.

The Scotties took over at their own 20 yard line.

Once again, the Rangers struggled to stop the run, and its front line got mowed down by the Scotties, allowing another Philip touchdown. The score was  44-29 with 9:43 left in the game.

On the next Rangers’ possession, flags continued to eat at Hill City gains with an illegal man down field bringing back a play to Zane Messick, who was finally able to shake off the Scotties’ continued coverage.

Head football coach Brett Eckert said that while he disagrees with referee calls at times, “The calls are what the calls are. I will disagree with calls at times, but in the end none of that really matters if our boys don’t do their jobs.”

Despite the penalty, Sobolik got a Rangers first down and got into the end zone with 7:10 left in the game.

The Scotties took possession once again, trying to take time off the clock by running the ball and staying in bounds. The Rangers defense came in hard, trying to force a throw or a turnover. The Scotties faced a fourth and five on their own 41 yard line with 4:30 left in the game and burning a time out to bring the clock down to 3:52.

In what seemed like a do-or-die moment, the Rangers defense stopped the Scotties from getting a first down, taking over on downs. 

Veneklasen threw deep, but the ball went through the receiver’s hands with two Scotties on coverage. With 3:28 left, Veneklasen ran for a first down and Sobolik led the Rangers into the end zone.

With the comeback, the Rangers had an opportunity to tie the game. 

Instead, they opted for two. 

“That decision to go for two is based off of a ton of things, and in the game, you have about 10 seconds to make a final decision of going for two or not,” Eckert said. “We had all the momentum on our side with around three minutes left in the game. We have just scored three scores while also holding them on two consecutive three and outs. We are rolling and feeling good. We are aggressive and believe it is more beneficial to put all the pressure on them by going up. They hadn’t stopped us running the football in those drives during the fourth quarter. 

“So you believe, as an offense, that we should be easily able to get the three yards for a two-point conversion based upon how our offense was playing. When momentum is on your side you take it, as well as the fact that we believed even if we didn’t get it, we would be able to get a stop again on defense and get in field goal range because we had two timeouts.”

Eckert added the decision “forces them into what we want. They are not a big play offense, and they don’t have a great passing attack.  If they only have two minutes to drive the length of the field and have to score with a run-heavy offense, it will be really difficult for them.”

A bad snap prevented the points. 

This is not the first Rangers game in which bad snaps have been an issue. 

Eckert said it “is something that we have discussed not just in that specific case of bad snaps, but we have a tendency to make mistakes in various areas of the game routinely. It comes back to being disciplined in the small things.”

A flag on the play got waived off, and the score stood at 44-43 Scotties, with 3:16 left to go. 

Once again, the Scotties gained possession, and the Rangers defense put Philip in a fourth down situation. 

They fumbled and the Rangers take over at midfield with two minutes left on the clock.

Sobolik went up the middle as the clock ticked down. 

The Rangers got a first down and went to Sobolik. They had no time outs left.

Under a minute remained in the game when Veneklasen got a Hill City first down. He spiked the ball, stopping the clock with 33 seconds left in the game, and Logan Street came on to try a 37-yard field goal.

The kick was long enough, no Scotties hands touched it, but announcers said the ball went about a foot wide of the goal post. The referees signaled it was no good, and the Rangers dropped to 6-1 on the season. Eckert did not comment on the attempt.

Overall, Eckert said the loss was due to the team not doing its job. 

“Our defense is constructed that if everyone does their job, the way they are supposed to, we believe we can stop people….Even in our game against Philip, when we did our job, we stopped their offense.  When guys decided to do their own thing, we gave up big play after big play,” said Eckert.

He said despite the loss, “a lot of our seniors shine in the big moment. We had some great individual efforts, but we are going to need some of our other guys to step up if we want to be as good as we hope to be. It is a great opportunity to get better and refocus on the things that we need to correct for the next part of our season.” 

Sobolik rushed for 289 yards in the game and scored five touchdowns.

The Rangers return home for their homecoming week and final game of the regular season taking on Kadoka (3-3). The Kougars have won their last two games and are led by Karson Eisenbraun as quarterback. Action begins at Ranger Field at 6 p.m. Oct 10.