Rangers have something to prove in Baileyton

Published 4:37 pm Wednesday, August 15, 2018

With a revamped enthusiasm for football in Stoney Creek, the Rangers have been putting in overtime during the offseason.

This overtime has included hours in the weight room and hours on the field.

And come this Friday night, Ranger fans will be anxious to see if all that work will pay off as Unaka makes the trip over to North Greene to kick off the 2018 season.

“We are ranked last in the state,” said Unaka senior QB John Ramsey. “There isn’t much more motivation you can get than that. We are going to out Friday night down in Baileyton and try to punch them right in the mouth. We are going to try and put as many points on the board as we can.

“We want to make a statement week one,” added Ramsey. “We want everyone to know we are back and ready to compete.”

Ramsey returns to the gridiron after collecting more than 2,000 yards passing in 2017, and this time around he feels extremely confident in his receiving core, which includes returning starter Devon Jarrett who accounted for over 500 yards receiving last season.

“We are good,” said Ramsey about his targets. “We have Bryson Street, Reid Taylor, Devon Jarrett, Devin Ramsey, Nick Shell, Daniel Shearl, Nick Bowers—we have a lot of good receivers. They can all make plays and they can catch the ball. They can all get vertical.”

During the preseason, the Rangers have worked on developing their run game and will look to junior Logan Benway and senior Aaron Carr to get a lot of touches, with Street and Bowers getting in the mix. Paving the way for the Ranger running backs will be an offensive line made up of seniors Athin Hughes and Drew Stanley along with sophomores Colby Jones, Nathaniel Oakes, and Jordan Day. Unaka senior Tyler Burke will line up as a tight end.

“The line has been blocking great,” said Ramsey. “We have a couple really good running backs that I feel will do a lot of damage for us this year.”

On the defensive side of the ball, the Rangers will look to Street, who is a returning starting senior that had 99 solo tackles at the linebacker position. Just like last year, Street will be looked to again to be a force on the Unaka defense.

“We want to prove that we are not the underdogs this season,” said Street. “A lot of people are putting us down and saying we will be dead last in the conference. Nobody knows what we have been through up here and the work that we have put in up here. We are a brotherhood up here.

“We have seen improvement,” added Street. “Our defense is more lethal at stopping the run game this year.”

Street will play behind a defensive line made up of junior Brandon Smith, senior Cydney Robertson, Burke, and Carr. Benway and Bowers will join Street at linebacker while Devin Ramsey, Shearl, Jarrett,  and Taylor play in the secondary.

The North Greene Huskies are under new management this season after longtime assistant coach Andrew Murray was promoted to head coach. The Huskies went 1-9 in 2017 after an injury-heavy year.

“We are excited about getting the opportunity to play North Greene,” said Unaka head coach O’Brien Bennett. “They have got a new coach and a new system. They seem to be working them hard over there and getting them better. We are excited about the competition. We want our kids to step up to the challenge, and we feel that we are walking in as underdogs. Not a lot of people are expecting us to be competitive in ball games this year. We have been talking about this since January, and you reap what you sow, and these guys have been sowing the seeds of success.”

Kick off is slated for 7:30 p.m.