Record-breaker season comes to close

By Leslie Silverman

 

The Hill City High School Rangers football team  walked onto the field Halloween night to take on the Phoenix of Freeman-Marion-Freedman Academy. Queen was playing and a trail of trick or treaters were  behind them.

Hill City received the opening kick but looked a bit off and ended up in a fourth down and two situation. Coach Brett Eckert decided to go for it but the Rangers ended up short, giving Freeman a first and 10 on about the Ranger 25. They scored six on their second play of the game and converted for two extra points.

The Rangers answered back on their next drive when Caleb Sobolik took the kickoff to the Freeman 48.

A tipped pass gave the Rangers another fourth down situation and again Eckert had his team go for it. This time Hill City’s Devin Buehler completed a long pass to Brensen Veneklasen and gave the Rangers their first score of the game. But a failed extra point meant an 8-6 game with under eight minutes left in the first quarter.

The Rangers defense did a great job on Freeman’s second possession forcing the team to punt. But the Hill City offense, who were in sync all season, struggled and failed to make anything happen, punting the ball over to Freeman.

This time the Phoenix used a series of short passes and runs, eating up time on the clock and moving the ball down field. They converted on a fourth and six situation and two plays later were in the end zone again, leaving the Rangers down by 10 with less than a minute left in the first quarter.

The Rangers tried to get something going in quarter two, with Buehler hitting Zane Messick for a first down on the Phoenix 36. But an incomplete pass to that same target set up a fourth and nine situation and despite Buehler’s best efforts to scramble past the Freeman defense once again the Rangers gave up possession on downs. 

Several plays later Freeman was in the end zone again and by the end of the half Freeman was leading the Rangers 22-6.

The Rangers season came to an end at the end of the game, with Freeman winning 36-26.

Eckert says his team could not find any flow offensively.

He said the team “had far too many errors which caused plays that we were expecting to be good, to not be good. In close games like that you have to play clean football.”

He credits Freeman for mixing things up, executing in ways  that “we hadn’t seen all year with some variations on their RPO (run-pass option). We just had far too many errors which halted our offense and allowed their offense to move the ball and stay on the field.”

Despite the loss, the 24-25 Rangers football team was the best in recent memory. 

Eckert is proud of his boys and all of their hard work and says they should feel that same pride in their accomplishments. 

“We made it further than any Hill City team in recent history. This was a major step in the building process of becoming recognized as one of the top teams around and in the building of the culture of Hill City football. 

“I am very proud of the boys and all the hard work that has gone into putting them in a position to do this well.”

The 24-25 Rangers team set school records including  an average  48.3 offensive points per game, 69.1 percent pass percentage in a season and 48 extra point kicks by freshman Logan Street.

Outgoing senior quarterback  Buehler scored 156 points this season and 26 touchdowns, making his a name that will be remembered in Rangers history.

Coach Eckert says the playoff competition was  a “good experience” one he hopes will make his team “hungry for the off-season” and an even better 25-26 season.