By OAKLEE FIELDER
The Rangers had an amazing turn around from their weekend against Harding with a close loss against the Arkansas Tech University Wonderboys on Thursday night.
The Rangers came close to taking down the Wonderboys as they took the Great American Conference by surprise after a 76-0 loss to Harding University in week one. Most people expected a similar result for the Rangers when they were ready to face Arkansas Tech, but the Rangers flipped the script.
Sophomore quarterback Jacob T. Jones, threw for 302 yards against the Wonderboys. Jones threw three touchdowns, two to Koda Bridges and one to Bailee Davenport. Bridges had the most receiving yards for the Rangers with 73. Royal Kyle had the longest reception as he ran for 46 yards in the 3rd quarter after a catch thrown by Jones.
The Rangers had the lead at the end of quarter one by one point. The Rangers scored a two-point conversion after a touchdown to lead 8-7 going into quarter two.
In the second quarter, the Wonderboys scored two touchdowns and the Rangers scored nothing. Entering the half, the Rangers were down 20-8.
Despite the Rangers losing their grip on Arkansas Tech in the second quarter, there was still a feeling of hope around the stadium. Fans stayed glued to their seats and the team came back out like nothing had happened.
In the third quarter, the two teams were even in the scoring, both with two touchdowns PAT completions. Coming down to the final quarter, the Rangers had one goal and that was to win.
The fourth quarter started in the possession of the Wonderboys. After six plays, the Wonderboys went for it on a 4th and 2 on the Ranger’s end. The Northwestern defense acted as a brick wall and stopped Arkansas Tech in their steps. The Rangers earned possession and started back down the field.
After eight plays, the Rangers made up 62 yards to get into the Wonderboy redzone. The Rangers had a penalty against them for an illegal formation and were sent back five yards to the 19-yard line on a 4th and 7. Despite the obstacles and pressure on them, the Rangers scored a 19-yard touchdown with a throw from Jones to Bridges. The PAT was good and there was only 6:48 left on the clock.
On the game-changing drive for the Wonderboys, the Ranger defense stepped up again to give their offense a chance to win the game. The defense stopped the Wonderboys in four plays and sent the offense right back out.
With five minutes left and 61 yards to go, the Ranger offense had work to do. They drove down the field, making first down after first down until they got stuck at the 31-yard line with a 4th and 14. The two-minute warning went off, and the Rangers were given a free timeout to setup a play.
One play to win it and it was given to Jones and Kyle. Jones waited for the right time as Arkansas Tech defenders hung back to attempt to defend the pass. Jones saw an opportunity to throw to Kyle and gave it a shot. Kyle just barely lost the ball, giving the Wonderboys the ball, ending the game.
Ranger defensive player Wyatt Potter said the defense feels good and is in high spirits after the close loss to Arkansas Tech.
“I’m feeling good defensively,” Potter said. “After giving up 76 the week before, and then holding them to 34-29, we feel good defensively. We need to come up with more stops, but it was much better this week.”
Potter said they need to have more stops to help out the offense.
“Just get more stops, help the offense out more in the first half and play more complimentary football,” Potter said. “Gotta get our run stuff fixed, start stoning the run, but overall a lot better than Harding, but a lot of work to do.”
The Rangers face Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday for Family Day. The game will be at home at Ranger Field at 6pm.
