Roland’s Caleb Daniel (11) gets a hug from teammate Shawn Giles after catching a touchdown pass in the Rangers’ 27-24 win over Checotah last week. The Rangers will have another big District 3A-4 game on Friday at Okmulgee. (Mike Erwin•TIMES)
It will be another important league match-up for the Rangers, who knocked off Checotah 27-24 in overtime last week.
That win kept Roland in control of its playoff destiny and the Rangers still have a shot at securing a home field playoff game by finishing second in the district. They need to close out the regular season with wins over Okmulgee and Bristow to accomplish that.
Okmulgee is currently in second place with a 4-1 league record. The Bulldogs are 6-2 overall after posting a 34-27 win over Idabel last week for their fourth-straight victory.
Roland is tied for third place with Checotah. The Rangers are 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the district.
A strong ground game has helped the Rangers make a late-season push toward the playoffs after a 1-3 start to the year. Teven Thompson’s 216-yard effort in the win over Checotah made him the county’s first rusher to top the 1,000-yard mark this season. The senior has gained 1,022 yards and run for 11 touchdowns on 180 carries. Jeremy Morris is the next leading rusher for Roland with 64 carries for 336 yards and three TDs.
Roland quarterback Blake Brunk has completed 22 of 65 passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns. Michael Kightlinger is the leading receiver with 12 catches for 239 yards, while Caleb Daniel has caught eight passes for 118 yards.
Thompson leads Roland in scoring this season with 66 points and kicker Jeff Roberts is next with 33. Roberts is also averaging 36.1 yards per punt.
