mcguire tag      The Rangers come into the locker room for halftime. Disappointment settles through the team because they are losing the first half. But this doesn’t stp the Rangers, it only makes them want the win more.

During the second half they prove that they have the abilities to take that win.

During the Ranger’s home opener on September 9 it was a tale of two havles when it came to the game. In the first tqwo quarters the Rangers had only scored six points and had lost 27 to the Arkansas Monticello Boll Weevils.

But the second half proved much more successful for the Rangers.

The Rangers scored 29 points in the second half and the Boll Weevils only scored 10, making the final score a close 37 to 35 loss for the Rangers.

This is the second week in a row the Rangers have started off with a slow first half and then made up points in the second half.

During the first game of the season on August 30 against Oklahoma Baptist University, the Rangers scored 14 points to Oklahoma Baptist’s 24 points and in the second half scored 14 points to their seven points.

Players and coaches have also noticed the comparisons from game one to game two of the season.

The football team’s wideout, Horatio Smith, said “I think maybe we’ve been coming out too relaxed. We’ve done a good job in practice so we think the game is just going to be easy.”

Smith helped the Rangers get a touchdown in the second half of the game by surging up the field on the kickoff for a 75 – yard return, which put the Rangers in the redzone.

“I feel like I did a really good job [in the game],” Smith said. “Honestly I didnt keep the ball enough, so I need to work on that. I feel like when i do get the ball in my hands I made the best of that moment.”

Smith started playing wideout as a sophomore in high school and as a junior in college is still in this position.

“I fell in love with it,” he said. “Catching the ball, and being a  receiver. My job is to catch the ball and score.”

That’s not all that Smith fell in love with though. Smith said being on home turf is amazing and said the Ranger field is a great environment.

“You get to show the people you surround yourself with all-day, every day what you are made of,” he said, “and you get to protect your home.”

Having a home also means having a family, and that is what the Ranger team is to Smith.

“Overall, I think the team has been scoring a lot better than we did in the past two years,” Smith said. “I can see that we are getting better and I trust the process.”

Going out the rest of the season Smith hopes the tale of two halves will no longer be a theme. Moving forward he said he strives to get All-American Conference.

“You can definitely guarantee that we are going to come out fighting hard in the first half,” Smith said. “We are not going to let ourselves get put into a hole, and then try to dig ourselves out of that hole in the second half. We are going to be more efficient. We are going to take care of the ball.  We are going to play more as a team, not just as individuals.”