Though the final score of 60-32 might indicate a blowout to those not at Haviland Friday to witness the Ranger triumph, Greensburg Coach Clint Young knows better.
“We were able to put them away in the second half, but this was a hard-fought game,” Young said later. “It wasn’t an easy game for us. We wore them down in the second half and finally played a tough game through to the finish. That’s why we won, but it’s not like we owned them.”
GHS, in fact, led by just two, 28-26 at the end of three, having trailed 20-14 at the half. It was only after Young’s squad rattled off 32 unanswered points the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter that final doubts concerning the outcome were laid to rest.
Though Haviland was without its starting quarterback, sophomore Ross Binford, following an injury to his non-throwing hand at Cunningham that had number 10 watching from the sidelines with a cast on his lower right arm, Young thought the performance of senior backup Ruben Perez was good enough to give the Dragons just as good a chance to compete.
“I thought he (Perez) did a great job,” Young said. “It’s tough when you haven’t seen him at quarterback on tape (Perez last filled in under center two years ago when Lane Kendall was injured early in the ’07 season) and have to adjust to him in game action.
“I think having him in there made them tougher to defend. He maybe doesn’t throw the ball quite as accurately as Binford, but he moves his feet better and is more dangerous as a runner. I mean, he’s got wheels.”
While the second half was far more enjoyable for the onlookers on the west side of the field, the opening minutes of the game likely had more than a few thinking, “Not again,” when the Rangers shot themselves in the foot similarly to a week earlier, Cody Headrick fumbling a Dragon punt after the GHS defense had forced Haviland into what appeared to be a three-and-out following their reception of the opening kickoff. The miscue led to a Haviland recovery at the Ranger 22 and a two-yard scoring pass from Perez to Tanner McFarland four plays later to give the hosts a quick 6-0 advantage.
Headrick, however, was able to shake off that error as well as an early interception to connect with senior Thomas Derstein on three touchdown passes the rest of the way, as well as join Derstein in throwing up a stiffer pass coverage from his safety position in the second half.
“We saw fewer mistakes from Cody tonight,” Young said. “He had some troubles in the first quarter but he settled down and hit several nice passes. Of course, Thomas got into position for those three scores and made some nice catches.”
It was senior back Nathan Charlton, however, who emerged as the premier difference maker as the game unfolded. Starting at fullback to complement Ty Schaef having moved to tailback in place of the still gimpy Grant Sirois, Young switched Charlton to tail midway in the second quarter, resulting in Charlton racking up 246 yards and three scores on 33 carries.
“Ty was running hard but he was going down on the first hit a lot of the time,” Young said. “I was confident Ty could get in a defender’s way as Nathan’s blocker and that Nathan could break a tackle. I think you saw that when he (Charlton) was hit at the five on his last score by three guys and carried them into the end zone in the fourth quarter.
“Yeah, he was tired by then, but the kid’s got unbelievable heart and there’s just no way to measure that. You can sure look back and see the results later, though.”
Though winning the in-county rivalry was undoubtedly big for Young and his team, the coach said he told his players to keep the results in perspective after the game.
“I told them they should feel great they’d got that first win,” he said. “Then I told them, ‘Look, if you’d lost this game I’d tell you to forget it. But you won it, so congratulations. Now forget it and let’s start to prepare for the next one. At the end of the year we’ll look back and enjoy our wins, including this one. But we’re a long ways from that.”
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Though the final score of 60-32 might indicate a blowout to those not at Haviland Friday to witness the Ranger triumph, Greensburg Coach Clint Young knows better.
“We were able to put them away in the second half, but this was a hard-fought game,” Young said later. “It wasn’t an easy game for us. We wore them down in the second half and finally played a tough game through to the finish. That’s why we won, but it’s not like we owned them.”
GHS, in fact, led by just two, 28-26 at the end of three, having trailed 20-14 at the half. It was only after Young’s squad rattled off 32 unanswered points the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter that final doubts concerning the outcome were laid to rest.
Though Haviland was without its starting quarterback, sophomore Ross Binford, following an injury to his non-throwing hand at Cunningham that had number 10 watching from the sidelines with a cast on his lower right arm, Young thought the performance of senior backup Ruben Perez was good enough to give the Dragons just as good a chance to compete.
“I thought he (Perez) did a great job,” Young said. “It’s tough when you haven’t seen him at quarterback on tape (Perez last filled in under center two years ago when Lane Kendall was injured early in the ’07 season) and have to adjust to him in game action.
“I think having him in there made them tougher to defend. He maybe doesn’t throw the ball quite as accurately as Binford, but he moves his feet better and is more dangerous as a runner. I mean, he’s got wheels.”
While the second half was far more enjoyable for the onlookers on the west side of the field, the opening minutes of the game likely had more than a few thinking, “Not again,” when the Rangers shot themselves in the foot similarly to a week earlier, Cody Headrick fumbling a Dragon punt after the GHS defense had forced Haviland into what appeared to be a three-and-out following their reception of the opening kickoff. The miscue led to a Haviland recovery at the Ranger 22 and a two-yard scoring pass from Perez to Tanner McFarland four plays later to give the hosts a quick 6-0 advantage.
Headrick, however, was able to shake off that error as well as an early interception to connect with senior Thomas Derstein on three touchdown passes the rest of the way, as well as join Derstein in throwing up a stiffer pass coverage from his safety position in the second half.
“We saw fewer mistakes from Cody tonight,” Young said. “He had some troubles in the first quarter but he settled down and hit several nice passes. Of course, Thomas got into position for those three scores and made some nice catches.”
It was senior back Nathan Charlton, however, who emerged as the premier difference maker as the game unfolded. Starting at fullback to complement Ty Schaef having moved to tailback in place of the still gimpy Grant Sirois, Young switched Charlton to tail midway in the second quarter, resulting in Charlton racking up 246 yards and three scores on 33 carries.
“Ty was running hard but he was going down on the first hit a lot of the time,” Young said. “I was confident Ty could get in a defender’s way as Nathan’s blocker and that Nathan could break a tackle. I think you saw that when he (Charlton) was hit at the five on his last score by three guys and carried them into the end zone in the fourth quarter.
“Yeah, he was tired by then, but the kid’s got unbelievable heart and there’s just no way to measure that. You can sure look back and see the results later, though.”
Though winning the in-county rivalry was undoubtedly big for Young and his team, the coach said he told his players to keep the results in perspective after the game.
“I told them they should feel great they’d got that first win,” he said. “Then I told them, ‘Look, if you’d lost this game I’d tell you to forget it. But you won it, so congratulations. Now forget it and let’s start to prepare for the next one. At the end of the year we’ll look back and enjoy our wins, including this one. But we’re a long ways from that.”
