Central visits Roland tonight in county football match-up

It will be a county-wide matchup tonight when the Central Tigers visit the Roland Rangers for a 7 p.m. game at Ranger Stadium for Roland’s homecoming, which will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The Tigers (2-0) are coming in off two thrilling non-district victories — 27-24 in double overtime in the season opener at Heavener and last week’s home opener 32-30 over Warner.

“Early in the year in non-district games, battling back the way we have and coming out with two Ws is a big deal,” Central coach Jeremy Thompson said. “They were two hard-fought games to win. We played extremely hard. I’m proud of our efforts and how we played.”

It’s been a rough start to the 2025 season for the Rangers (0-2), losing their first two games, 62-18 in “The Battle of 64” to Muldrow in the season opener at Ranger Stadium and last week’s 36-12 road loss to Lavaca, Ark.

“Right now, we’re just playing like a young football team,” Roland coach Greg Wise said. “I take responsibility for us not being able to come out in the first half and play. We have to come out with better focus and intentions in the first half to be able to start games better. We get behind early, and it’s little things here and there that are causing it to happen. When we start settling in and playing ball, we can play pretty good football. We just have to be able to start games better, and not rely on second halves of ball games to start getting started. The past two weeks, we’ve put ourselves in a hole that we haven’t been able to dig out of. We’ve been able to look at what we’ve been able to do defensively against people from midway through the second quarter on, we’ve been fairly decent. We’ve been able to put together some good football. Unfortunately, the first quarter and up until mid second quarter is hurting us right now. We just have to come out better and start playing right away, and bring that same intensity and focus in the second half and bring it into the first half — and not get so down so quick. I believe it’s youth. The more time they’re going to get in these game-like situations, the more comfortable they’re going to get. For now, we’re just going to have to try our best to get them ready to start the game. I think once they figure out they can play with a lot of people, it will open them up and they’ll play hard and fast. That’s what we’re looking for. We have to be the aggressor and get after it. I know we have the pieces to the puzzle that we can start putting together some really good things — it’s just going to take time to do it. We have stuff to build off from last week, and we’re seeing promise and that drive to be out there to do it — and that’s the most important thing.”

Most of, if not all, of the breaks have gone the opposition’s way, and Wise is hopeful those start going the way of the Rangers.

“We have not had a lot of breaks in these two games,” Wise said. “It just seems like a lot of things have gone against us. I’m just talking about plays that haven’t gone in our direction. Last week, we had (Lavaca, Ark.) in fourth-and-12. We played coverage really well. They dropped back and threw a pass that got tipped a couple of times, and there was a Lavaca receiver waiting. The pass gets tipped around, and the Lavaca guy falls to the ground and catches the ball on the ground — and they got a first down off it. They went on to score on that first possession. If that play would have ended up different, who knows what happens. We just haven’t had any of those (breaks). We haven’t had any breaks yet go our direction. Will some of those start going our way? I certainly hope so.”

The last time the Tigers visited Ranger Stadium, they won a dramatic 8-7 game in which former player and current Hendrix College football player Aidan Sainer blocked the field-goal attempt on the final play of the game.

“That was an exciting night,” Thompson said. “Being in-county, both teams played extremely hard. It was a fun game, and to end the game the way we did with Aidan Sainer blocking that kick, it was what Friday nights are to be about. This one will be a big one as well.”

While Wise has had the Rangers focusing on the Tigers and not homecoming, he’s hoping that maybe the festive night of homecoming just might be what his players need to help get them over the top tonight.

“I don’t talk much about homecoming as a motivator,” Wise said. “I like that we have homecoming. It’s important for the school. If it’s an intrinsic motivator to these kids, and anything that will get their spirits up, to get them to play harder, by all means, let’s do it. We talk a lot about the two controllables that each person can control, their attitude and effort, in anything they do in life. If homecoming is what it takes (to pump them up), then I’m fine with it. We’re looking for a spark somehow.”

Thompson is concerned with Roland’s athleticism and quickness.

“They’re athletic,” Thompson said. “They can run. They have playmakers on the field. They like to throw the football. Those things are always scary. I think their quarterback plays hard and runs hard. It’s an in-county game. It’s a little bit of a rivalry game. When you play in-county, it will be a good game and a good atmosphere. We’re excited for it.”

Wise said the Rangers know what the Tigers will try to do tonight. It’s just a matter of being able to stop them.

“I will always say this,” Wise said. “Coach Thompson is a good coach. I coached with him for a number of years. I know how he wants to get things done. I know he’s a competitor. I know his team will be ready. I know he’s a great preparation guy, therefore his players are always ready to go. He will have his team ready. They like to run a lot of counter. They like to run some read-offense off that. They throw the ball decently well. They’ve done a little bit of switching of their personnel. Wherever (Thompson) feels he’s going to have the biggest positive effect for his team, he’s going to put them in that position to do that. We’ve faced them for the last few years. We know what we’re going to get out of them.”

Thompson believes the most important key to the Tigers winning tonight is how well his linemen on both sides of the ball do.

“Every week, it starts at the line of scrimmage,” Thompson said. “I’m very proud of our offensive and defensive lines. Those guys are playing hard. They played very well last week (against Warner). We have to establish the run game. We have to take care of the football on each possession. We can’t have breakdowns on special teams. We gave up the opening kick (for a touchdown) last week. Those little things always add up. We have to limit mistakes. We have to continue to improve from the week before.”

Wise said the Rangers will need to be physical and swarm to the ball to have a chance to make it a happy homecoming tonight.

“We have to be able to match physicality,” Wise said. “We have made it a focal point — we have got to be physical. Is it where I want it to be? No, but it’s going to take a while. I can see in a lot of areas our kids are turning the corner. Physicality is one of the areas I’m seeing improvement with. Last week, we struggled with that. We have to be more physical — regardless of who we’re playing. Central is going to be one of the most physical teams we’re going to play. We have to stop their speed. They have a lot of skill kids who can run. We have kids that can run, too. I think we match up pretty well, skill kids to skill kids. We have to be able to keep up with their speed — and outlast their speed. We’ll have to either match it or beat it. We haven’t been able to match it or beat it the last two weeks, and it’s cost us. It’s all mental. We’re going to have to know what they’re doing before they do it. This is another key for me. We cannot get caught up in one-on-one battles with anybody, especially on defense. The objective is to swarm to the football. We’ve got to get to the football. That’s been a point of emphasis for two weeks now. We haven’t done as good a job as we should.”

The Tigers will be entering tonight’s game relatively healthy.

“Each and every Friday night, there’s always those bumps and bruises,” Thompson said. “You try to get healthy throughout the week and get ready for Friday. I think for the most part, we are (healthy).”

The same cannot be said for the Rangers.

“We’ve got key injuries from starters,” Wise said. “Caden Davidson, a starting linebacker and fullback for us, is probably out for the season with a foot and ankle injury. We’re having to try to fill the gap with him being gone, but it’s going to be hard to replace him. I hate for him to have to go out and get injured, and it’s going to affect the rest of our season. (Quarterback) Kayden Hartt got injured. He took a shot in last week’s game. He’s been on concussion protocol this week. I don’t know if we’ll have him available for (tonight). He will have to pass our concussion protocol. When I feel, and the doctor feels, he’s ready to come back, we’ll bring him back. If not, then we’ll sit him (out tonight’s game). His health is the most important thing to us. We’ve been hit pretty hard, but we have other guys who are stepping up. Other than that, we just have minor bumps and bruises that we’re trying to nurse back to health.”

CORRECTION

In Wednesday’s edition, due to technological issues, the incorrect statistical information was put in the Central football game story.

The story should have stated that Ryker Miller rushed for 131 yards, Braxin Goodson rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown and Gavin Randolph caught six passes for 161 yards to go with his three touchdown receptions.

The online version of the story has been corrected.

Your TIMES regrets the error.