Rangers hope to rebound with home win over Heavener

After a disappointing 58-7 road District 2AII-3 loss at Kiefer last week, the Roland Rangers are hoping returning to Ranger Stadium for tonight’s 7 p.m. home district game against the Heavener Wolves will give them a chance to bounce back.

“We like playing at home,” first-year Roland coach Greg Wise said. “It’s important for our people here. We don’t have to make any travel arrangements. It definitely helps playing at home. I know our fans will come out and support us. I hope we can play our best ball for them.”

After playing their best game of the season in a 41-0 rout of Okmulgee in the district opener Sept. 26 at Ranger Stadium, it was just the opposite last Friday night for the Rangers (1-4 overall, 1-1 in district play).

“It was very disappointing,” Wise said about last week’s district loss to Kiefer. “We didn’t play very well. We found the turnover bug and the penalty bug again, which are things we have to avoid. We had those problems resurface. To be honest, we just didn’t play very well. Kiefer has a lot of size up front, and we just didn’t step up to the challenge — and I take responsibility for that, I don’t think I had our boys ready to play like I needed to in order to face that challenge up front. It was disappointing.”

The Wolves come in at 3-1 overall and 1-1 in district play. The Wolves routed Prague 37-6 last Friday night after dropping the district opener the week before 43-32 to Hugo. The Wolves won their two non-district games — 23-14 over Central and 26-16 over Panama.

“Watching them on film, the strength of their team is their guys up front,” Wise said about the Wolves. “They’re big up front. They’re physical up front. They move well. They’re coached well. (Heavener) coach (Jeff) Broyles does a fine job with them. They run counter and a GT up front really well. On film, it’s been hard for defenses to stop. They like to throw it outside and get their receivers involved in the passing game.”

The Rangers will need to play their “A” game both defensively and offensively to have a chance to get both win No. 2 of the season and in district play.

“We made a point of emphasis this week to make sure we get the counter and GT stuff shut down,” Wise said. “We’ve been working with our defensive backs to make sure we’re aware of all the (offensive) sets they have and the formations they’re going to go with and their tendencies we’ve seen on film. I think the battle that’s going to determine it all is going to be down there in the trenches. If we allow Heavener to push us around and do whatever they want to do to us, it’s going to be a long night for us. It’s going to be a challenge for us, especially to do what we want to do offensively to get the ball moving. I think we can handle their upfront presence well on both sides of the ball, and, if we do, I think we’ll fare well in this game. I think we’re preparing well. I look for a better response this week than the one we had this past Friday. I think it will be a ball game this week.”

Despite last week’s district road loss to Kiefer, the key goals are still attainable for the Rangers — a district title, a playoff berth and, of course, a state championship.

“I alluded to that fact,” Wise said. “We didn’t play well at all last Friday (at Kiefer), but at the end of it, we’re still 1-1 in district. All of our goals are still in front of us. We still have a chance to make the playoffs, a chance to win the district and a chance to do a lot of things. We can’t let that (Kiefer) loss define us. We’ve got to go back to work, and they understand that. I hope we can come out this week with a fire and intensity knowing that every day we’re out there we dictate what kind of season we’re going to have. That’s what I tell the boys — every week and every day, we determine what our season is going to be and what it’s going to look like. Are we doing the right things or are we not doing the right things? We determine our season every day we’re on the field. I expect them to approach Friday’s game against Heavener in that manner. They can dictate their season (this) Friday night. If we go 2-1 in district, we’re getting a step up and a good spring forward to the next game (next Thursday night at Bethel High School near Shawnee). We’re looking forward to it. The coaching staff is looking forward to it. The boys are looking forward to it. I look for a better effort this Friday.”

Wise said the Rangers will be pretty much healthy for tonight’s home district game against Heavener.

“For the most part, we’re going to be healthy,” he said. “We did have several minor things. We had some ankles (injuries), some wrists (injuries) and players pretty banged up, but I think we’ll have a full slate of players (tonight). We’ve been pretty fortunate with that (injuries) so far, and we hope that continues.”