Losing forty players to graduation will cause a coach concern. Having only 4 players who have played in a Varsity game will cause a coach to lose sleep. That is exactly what coach Teykl was facing as his Rangers took to the field against the Mustangs of Friendswood. To make matters worse the Rangers lost their starting QB in the preseason to a cut on his finger that required stitches to close.
So how did coach Teykl describe his feelings heading into the game Friday? Christmas! That’s right, Christmas. When asked to elaborate, he compared the opening kickoff to opening your Christmas presents. You don’t really know what you have until you get after it. And get after it they did, winning a nail-biter by the score of 27-26.
The first half saw Friendswood take the momentum right from the start with the first drive of the game leading to a FG by Nathan Harvey. By halftime the Mustangs had extended their lead to 13-0. Terry only had three possessions and was unable to sustain drives, while Friendswood was content to keep the clock moving.
What the first half lacked in excitement the second more than made up for it. Terry took the opening kick and quickly got their first score of the game on a 30-yard TD pass from Roderick Rainer to Nathan Etuk, which cut the Friendswood lead to only six. The scoreboard operator didn’t have long to rest though, as Hunter Abel returned the ensuing kickoff for a Mustang TD quickly making the score 20 – 7.
Terry didn’t take long to strike back as Allen Banks scored on a 1 yard run after two plays earlier he broke loose for a 55-yard gain. Banks’ first score of the season again closed the gap to 6, where the score would stay until early in the 4th quarter when Friendswood’s Abel found the endzone again. This time it was on the receiving end of a 62-yard pass.
Many in the stadium thought that was the last straw for the Rangers, but thankfully the players themselves didn’t think so. The Mustang’s ensuing kickoff was fielded by Anthony Brown at his own 28 yardline and he returned the kick to the 30, where it seemed the Mustangs had him surrounded. After coming to a complete stop Brown made three Mustangs miss and he was on his way to the endzone for a 72-yard TD.
It was at this point that the Ranger defense decided it was their turn to shine. After both teams traded punts, Terry was backed up deep in their own territory and had to punt out of their endzone. The punt only went 5 yards after being partially blocked and Friendswood took over on the Ranger 9 yardline. Three plays later and a loss of three yards, Friendswood missed a field goal and a chance to put the game away.
After another Ranger punt the Mustangs again found themselves deep in Ranger territory but the defense held on 4th and short and the offense took over trailing by 5 with just over a minute to play. Two plays, a penalty and a sack had Terry looking at 2nd and long from their own 11. Avoiding a heavy rush QB Rainer launched a rainbow to Anthony Brown who made the catch in traffic around the Ranger 40 yardline and out ran everyone to the endzone to give Terry their fist lead of the game with only 28 second remaining.
Friendswood would get the ball back, but would be without any timeouts as they were all used previously in the half. Two short plays and one long pass play had them on the Terry 12 yardline with 3 seconds remaining. The clock stopped to allow the officials to set the chains and the Mustang field goal team came out onto the field. Once the officials set the chains they started the clock and the Mustangs were unable to get the ball snapped prior to the clock showing 0:00.
Your player of the game was Anthony Brown with his two 4th quarter TDs.
If you missed this game don’t miss us next week as www.KFRDradio.com will bring you these same Terry Rangers against the Austin Bulldogs of Ft Bend ISD. Pre-game on www.KFRDradio.com begins at 7 pm, kickoff at 7:30. If you are going to the game, don’t forget to bring your radio, and listen to the action in the stands on 95.3 fm. Otherwise we’ll be on the Internet with all the action then, and all season long. Check back with FortBendNow for the game schedule and updates throughout the season.
So how did coach Teykl describe his feelings heading into the game Friday? Christmas! That’s right, Christmas. When asked to elaborate, he compared the opening kickoff to opening your Christmas presents. You don’t really know what you have until you get after it. And get after it they did, winning a nail-biter by the score of 27-26.
