4th & Long: Rangers tore out of the gate and cruised to another victory
If you live in the Greater Bulverde/Spring Branch area and have a child that plays sports, then you were probably out at Jumbo Evans Sports Complex on Saturday. Fans flooding in with baseball, soccer, and football games all taking place simultaneously. The roar of the crowd heard cheering as little Johnny reached base for the first time in his career on a swinging bunt. Fans heckling a controversial flop by 7-year-old Jenny as she is carried off on a stretcher only to hop off and reenter seconds later. The monotone sounds of the play-by-play announcer calling a touchdown, seemingly pouring ice water on the excitement, as Timmy races 60 yards down the field. But all that emotion and excitement seemed to zero in on the football field as the Smithson Valley Rangers, Freshmen Blue Team, hit the field at 1:30 PM for their week 6 matchup against the Boerne Greyhounds, yet another team donning some combination of purple uniforms.
The Smithson Valley Rangers, Freshmen Blue Team, tore out of the gate against the Greyhounds. Unlike the last two weeks, the Rangers played like they had something to prove. The day started off fast and never really slowed down as the Rangers cruised to a 32-0 victory. The defense set the tone early making tackles behind the line of scrimmage and creating turnovers while trash talking the quarterback. Principles of football that had eluded them early in games the past couple of weeks. The offense seemingly taking anything they wanted, scoring on all but one of their possessions.
Jacob “Juice” Owens earned the JYD (Junkyard Dog) belt finishing with 2.5 tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss, and a forced fumble on defense combined with a single carry for -1 yards on offense. A pedestrian stat line on the surface, but huge given the improvement made since his recent resistance to even put on shoulder pads without having a panic attack. “That may have been the most excited I’ve been since screaming at the referee during the coin flip in Week 1.” Owens referring to the hit that forced a fumble. “I just tried to fire off the ball and get in the backfield. My dad always tells me to be explosive like a late-night run to Taco Bell. I don’t always know what he means, but he watches a lot of football. Honestly, I think football would be my favorite sport if I didn’t have to do bear crawls or leg lifts.” he continued. “Hey, do you think this belt meets dress code? I think I’m gonna wear it to school.”
The day might have been highlighted by the play of the Wiatrek boys, Jaxson “Jackie-san” and Chastin “El Chasitan” Wiatrek. The announcer having to reference the official roster and having to play a little game of “Name that Wiatrek”.
Jaxson came in at quarterback and put on a show. Weaving through traffic and making people miss every time he touched the ball. Jaxson crossed the goal line, hitting pay dirt, multiple times on Saturday. “Once I hit the edge, I knew nobody was catching me. I think I even heard one of their players say, ‘weren’t you wearing a different number?!’.” Jaxson recalled during his touchdown run. “Frankly, I’m like a chameleon. I can play anywhere. I can play quarterback, running back, offensive line, defensive line, linebacker. It doesn’t matter.”
Chastin created his own highlight on what might have been the most exciting play of the season with an interception returned for a touchdown. With the Greyhounds desperate to get anything going, the quarterback heaved up a pass nowhere near any of his receivers. Chastin snatched it out of the air and ran it back for a pick six that sent the crowd into a frenzy. “I just read the quarterback’s eyes. He was staring down his primary receiver all day. I just went up and high-pointed it.” Chastin describing his approach at the safety position. “Personally, I think that deserves a Sonic Blast. I don’t know what I have to do to get an M&M Sonic Blast.”
Crossing the goal-line for the first time this season was Easton “Easy” Bryant. Taking the hand-off up the middle for the conversion. “Coach Shep called 31 Belly and I knew I was getting in. I’ve got to give the credit to my offensive line. They opened up a hole a Mac truck could drive through.” Bryant said knowing the offensive line gets little praise. “My dad loves the Belly play. If he were the offensive coordinator, I think we would only run the Belly.”
Saturday was a team win if there ever was one. The Rangers, Freshmen Blue Team, got contributions from everyone. Some are starting to say this team could give the Carolina Panthers a game. Based on what we’ve seen, we say let’s get it scheduled.