Posted: 9/8/04

Rangers season kicks off

Joe Drennan
Sports Editor

The Forest Lake High School football team kicked off its season against Menomonie, WI, Friday night. Menomonie was a bit too much in a 27-14 loss for the Rangers.

ìMenomonie is a quality program that traditionally goes deep into the playoffs and always plays hard,î Rangers head coach Jim Herman said. ìThey didnít do anything surprising, but they also had a game under their belt too when this was our first game.î

Menomonie got on the board first in the first quarter as they moved the ball downfield on their first possession for a touchdown. The score came off a 32 yard run by Jeff Henderson. The extra point attempt by Todd Wengel was good.

In the second quarter Adam Young intercepted a Menomonie pass and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown. Mark Mobergís extra point attempt was good to tie the game.

Menomonie struck back before halftime with an 18 yard pass from Lucas Stanton to Jeff Warner for a touchdown. Wengelís extra point attempt was good, giving Menomonie a 14-7 lead at halftime.

The Rangers held Menomonie on the first series of the second half, forcing them to punt. There was some dispute on the punt that the Rangers returners let go. Menomonie argued that the ball hit one of the Forest Lake returners and jumped on the ball hoping for possession. The officials ruled that the ball missed the Rangers players and was indeed first and ten for the Rangers. The Rangers were unable to capitalize on the ensuing drive as neither team scored in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter Menomonie struck again on a 10 yard run by Evan Peissing. The extra point attempt was no good. A nine yard run by Brandon Deplois later in the quarter gave Menomonie some insurance and this time Wengelís extra point attempt was good, giving Menomonie a 27-7 lead.

On the ensuing kick off Trip Schultz received the ball at the Rangers three yard line. Schultz started running downfield, avoiding tackles until he finally reached the end zone on a 93 yard kickoff return. Mobergís extra point was good with the score 27-14 in favor of Menomonie.

ìOur young linemen looked like they were playing in their first game,î Herman said. ìThey didnít stay low enough at times and missed some blocking assignments but those are all things that are correctable.î

After seeing how the young players reacted in real game situations Herman said his runningback Schultz was a nice surprise.

ìHe (Schultz) has some speed but heís also big and strong and we have to make use of him more as the season wears on,î Herman said.

Another bright spot in the 27-14 loss was linebacker Ryan Turry who also filled in at fullback on the offense when Kevin Secore went down with an injury.

The Rangers next game is Friday at Roseville. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

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