Posted: 10/1/03

Rangers upset #5 Hastings

Joe Drennan
Sports Editor

The Rangers football team handed the Hastings Raiders their first loss of the season, not to mention its first homecoming loss in 32 years.

ìIt was an exciting one,î Forest Lake head football coach Jim Herman said. ìWe came out and played well, and played well throughout the game.î

Unable to do anything with their first possession, the Rangers were forced to punt from their own 47-yard line. Mark Moberg had a very short eight-yard punt that was returned to the Raiders 47-yard line. The Raiders too were unable to make anything of their first possession and punted after three downs.

The Rangers took over on their own 16-yard line. Steve Carlisle was handed the ball for his first three yards of the game. The very next play, Carlisle added ten more yards, and a Rangers first down. Quarterback John Schwietz picked up ten-yards of his own, before he threw an incomplete pass. Schwietz then handed the ball off to Carlisle who muscled his way another six-yards to the Rangers 45-yard line. Schwietz then picked up a first down as he evaded tacklers for nine-yards. The scoring drive was capped off by a Carlisle 46-yard run into the end zone. Mark Molberg's extra point was good, giving the Rangers a 7-0 lead.
The scoring drive took seven plays as the Rangers moved the ball 84 yards in 2:39.

After returning the ball to their own 23-yard line, the Raiders were only able to gain nine-yards before they had to punt the ball.

A four-yard punt return by Kyle Fuller set the Rangers up on their own 33-yard line. Schwietz ran the ball 25 yards on a quarterback keep as he found his way to the Raider 42-yard line. Not to be outdone, Carlisle pushed his way 19-yards. Schwietz added nine more yards onto the Rangers drive before Carlisle ran for five and Four yards on back-to-back-plays. Tom Frericks got into the mix of things when he added a yard to move the ball to the Raiders five-yard line. Frericks got the ball back again as he plunged into the end zone with 1:14 remaining in the first quarter. Mobergís extra point was good and the Rangers were up 14-0.

The Rangers scoring drive covered 67-yards, while eating up 2:46 on the clock.

The Raiders started their drive from their own 40-yard line after a 28-yard return by Josh Foss. The Raiders were able to get a first down off a few short yard rushing gains, but on third-and-one, the Rangers recovered a fumble to take over possession of the ball.

Unable to make anything of the turnover, the Rangers punted the ball from their own 45-yard line. Moberg's punt rolled between two Raiders defenders and came to a rest at the Raiders four-yard line, for a 51-yard punt.

Only able to move the ball one yard, the Raiders had no choice but to punt the ball once again. The punt went 30-yards, setting up the Rangers on the Raiders 35-yard line with 7:53 to go in the second quarter.
The Rangers moved the ball up field using Schwietz, Carlisle, Frericks, and Kevin Secore as they all ran the ball for short gains. A holding penalty kept the rangers from running the ball into the end zone, but Moberg kicked the ball between the uprights for a 29-yard field goal to give the Rangers a 17-0 lead with 3:05 remaining in the second quarter.

The scoring drive that only covered 22-yards took nine plays and 4:48 off the clock.

ìI tell our guys to field all punts, and they had two guys back there that the ball rolled between,î Herman said.

Neither team was able to generate much offense as the first half came to an end.

ìWe put some early pressure on their quarterback,î Herman said. ìOur secondary played well too, if someone caught a ball they were tackled right away.î

2nd Half

To start the second half, the Rangers picked up where they left off. The Raiders started the half with the ball on their own 35-yard line and were unable to move it very far. The Rangers defense forced a fumble that was recovered by the Raiders on the second play from scrimmage that resulted in an eight-yard loss, and broke up a pass to force yet another Raiders punt.

Carlisle and Frericks moved the ball a few yards for the Rangers, but Schwietz was taken down behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of 13-yards. On fourth and 17, Moberg was brought in to punt. Moberg sent the ball downfield 18-yards, and Shawn McMenomy returned the ball nine-yards for the Raiders to his own 27-yard line.

On the ensuing drive, the Raiders were able to put together a string of plays to move them up the field. Relying mostly on short rushing gains from several running backs, the Raiders opted to throw the ball when they were on the Rangers 26-yard line. Fuller intercepted the pass and ended the Raiders scoring threat.
The Rangers were unable to make anything of the turnover as they prepared to punt the ball away on fourth down. A high snap put the ball over Moberg's head and into the end zone. Instead of trying to pick up the ball and make something of the play, Moberg ran the ball out of the end zone for a safety, making the score 17-2 in favor of the Rangers with 1:05 remaining in the third quarter.

"Moberg, being a smart player, didn't try to make something happen,î Herman said. "He just scooped up the ball and ran out the back of the end zone to let Hastings start on their own 20 instead of our ten.î
The Raiders were unable to break through the Ranger sdefense when they got the ball back on a fourth down fumble. With the ball on their own 35-yard line, the Rangers put the ball in the air as Schwietz hit receiver Jake Brown for a 22-yard gain. Carlisle added a few more yards to his game totals as he moved the ball five yards, then nine yards to the Raiders 35-yard line. After another Carlisle nine-yard gain, Schwietz fumbled the ball and the Raiders recovered ending the Ranger threat.

Trying to get some quick points with only 7:23 remaining in the game, Raiders quarterback Scott Kelly started throwing the ball. On the second play, he hit running back Jerad Stewart for a 27-yard gain, moving the ball to the Raiders 20-yard line. Four plays later, on fourth and five, Kelly connected with Joe Van Der Bosch for 24 more yards. Four plays later and a four-yard gain, Kelly found an open Nick Marsh who moved the ball to the Rangers six-yard line for a gain of 14 yards. With the Raiders knocking on the door to the end zone, the Rangers defense stepped it up a notch. On the next two plays the Rangers pushed the Raiders back a total of four yards, and then proceeded to knock down a pass. On fourth and goal from the Rangers ten-yard line, the Raiders chose to go for it, but the Rangers batted the pass down in the end zone.

Taking over on their own ten-yard line, the Rangers simply wanted to eat up time on the game clock as 2:47 remained in the game. Frericks rushed for two yards on the first play, then Stoll moved the ball another seven yards, as the Raiders were penalized five yards. With the time still running the Raiders used their second time out to stop the clock with the Rangers on their own 24-yard line. A few short gains and a Rangers penalty brought up fourth and eight from the Rangers 26-yard line, so Moberg punted the ball 20-yards.

With only 54 seconds remaining in the game, the Raiders had no choice but to go to the air on all four downs. The Rangers defense was ready for it as all four passes went incomplete, and the Rangers got the ball back to run out the clock with them winning 17-2.

The Rangers upset the Raiders on their homecoming amidst all the hoopla and pageantry of homecoming. Now they get to come home for their own homecoming. "We try to treat it as a team like any other game,î Herman said. "The stuff that goes on around is for the fans.î

With an undefeated Stillwater coming to Forest Lake next week, Herman is not worried. "Any time you line up to play you gotta play that game,î Herman said. We played a quality game against Hastings and there is no reason why we can't do that this week.î

1 2 3 4 F
Forest Lake 14 3 0 0 17
Hastings 0 0 2 0 2

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