By Allen LaMountain

Correspondent

Staring at a three-point deficit with 1:07 remaining, the Unaka Rangers stood 53 yards away from a come-from-behind victory over Tri-Cities Christian.

The Rangers (1-7) crossed into Eagles territory on a 12 yard gallop by junior tailback Micah Hunt but a late interception by TCC’s Dakota McGhee sealed a 17-14 win for the Eagles (3-5).

“These kids battled their butts off all night,” said Rangers head coach Steve McKinney. “That’s all you can ask is that they leave it all on the field and they left it on the field tonight. We have to try and finish strong. We have two conference games left so we have to buckle our chinstraps a little tighter and try to finish strong.”