Rangers run away with big win over Chargers

Rangers run away with big win over Chargers

BY KERRY BARBOZA Sports Editor

The Boerne Champion football team didn’t get the outcome they were hoping for Friday night when the Chargers hosted Smithson Valley in a district showdown at Boerne ISD Stadium.

Both Hill Country teams entered with district title hopes but it’s the Rangers that have the inside track to this year’s 12-5A DI crown after they defeated the Chargers, 49-14.

Champion drops to 3-2 in district, while the Rangers stay unbeaten at 5-0. The Chargers are 6-2 overall and have dropped two straight after starting the year 6-0.

Champion will look to get back on track Friday with a visit to Shelton Stadium to take on Kyle Lehman.

Chargers coach Blane Ellis said they can’t dwell on the loss for too long because they have two games remaining and are chasing a playoff spot.

“We still have two weeks to take care of business, put it behind us and move forward,” Ellis said. “We need to finish on a strong note and we can assure a playoff berth and have the best seeding possible at this point.”

The Chargers had a great start to Friday’s game and scored on their first two drives to take a 14-7 lead midway through the first quarter, but couldn’t score the rest of the way, while the Rangers tallied the final 42 points of the contest.

Cole Riha had a 1-yard run and Jordan Ballin tossed a touchdown pass to Campbell Deberry for their two TDs, while Nathan Bell kicked two extra points.

Champion tried a fake punt late in the first that the Rangers stuffed for no gain, and in the second quarter, the Chargers went for it on 4th and 5 at the Rangers 46-yard line and didn’t convert.

Both the fake punt and the loss on downs resulted in short fields for Smithson Valley and they scored both times for their first lead of the game at 21-14 with 4:47 before halftime.

Ellis said they were just trying to be aggressive.

“We took chances in the first half on a couple of things, and they didn’t work out the way we wanted,” he said.

Champion was driving towards the end of the first half but an interception by Zach Gingrich in the end zone turned the Chargers away and preserved the Smithson Valley lead at the break, 21-14.

The Rangers came out in the second half and scored on its opening possession to open a 28-14 advantage before the turnover bug reared its ugly head again for the Chargers.

Champion’s first two drives of the third quarter ended with interceptions, one for a Pick-6. After the interception that went for a Rangers TD, the Chargers fumbled on the ensuing kickoff and Smithson Valley was able to score quickly for two touchdowns in a span of two minutes to build a 42-14 lead.

Going back to the end of the first half, Champion turned it over four straight times and fumbled on the kickoff to basically take itself out of the game.

“We have to protect the ball and we can’t give up explosives plays,” Ellis said. “Turnovers are going to change the game at any point and we gave them short fields in the third quarter quite a bit.”

Smithson Valley took over with 10:04 left in the game and chewed 8:19 off the clock after they converted five first downs to keep their drive going.

The Rangers capped the scoring with a 24-yard TD run for the final of 49-14.

Ellis said it was a tough pill to swallow but is confident his team will respond positively with two games left.

“Our expectation is to win out,” he said. “I believe in these guys and I believe in the Chargers and we’re going to put it behind us and move forward.”