Week by week stories and recaps of the 2002 Estacada Ranger Football season. Each week Coach Freeborn writes a story about the game for the local newspaper. They are republished here FYI:

09.10.2004 Game #1 - Cascade

The Rangers opened another football season with a victory over Cascade 19-7 last Friday night at Randall Field. The defense played exceptionally well most of the night and the offense showed flashes of excellence as well.

The Rangers kicked off to the Cougars to open the game. A quarterback scramble, a sack by defensive tackle Joel Elliott, a run which ended short of the first down marker was all the Cascadians could muster and they were forced to punt.

Andy Loehr returned the ball to our 40 yard line for our first series. Josh Theander picked up a first down on our second play on a 13 yard counter play. Two plays later, Junior quarterback Reed Huskey ran an option to the right and scored from 37 yards out, but it was called back on a holding call. This drive stalled out due to a number of first game miscues. Everyone in our offensive backfield is basically a novice on offense. All have played some back there, but none had really ever started an those first game jitters were very evident Friday night, not only for them but others as well.

The defense forced another 3 and out and Loehr returned the punt to midfield. Two time during this next series, the Rangers had receivers wide open in the secondary but were unable to connect. Nifty running by fullback Jorge Diaz and tailback Theander coupled with fine blocking by the line and option decisions by QB Huskey kept this drive alive for the remainder of the quarter.

This year, once again, Estacada is fortunate to have six running backs that are most capable; therefore, we rotate these fine players in the offensive backfield so they might have fresher legs on defense. The second quarter began with fullback Nate Nicholson scoring from 7 yards out behind the blocking of tackles Jordan Myers and Joel Elliott, split end Andy Loehr, flanker Michael Coyle and tailback Gordy Grochowsky. Nate had a fine game at fullback carrying the ball 11 times for 109 yards and 2 touchdowns. Ben Cogdill added the PAT and the Rangers were up 7-0 early in the second quarter. To this point in the game, Cascade had but 4 yards total offense. For the night the Cougars had just 47 yards running and 65 yards passing with one interception.

Cascade threatened a bit on their next possession, but penalties and good Ranger defense forced another Cougar punt.

Estacada drove the ball down to Cascade's 37 yard line. There, tailback Gordy Grochowsky, who led all Ranger rushers with 124 yards on 11 carries) took a pitchout, swept left, broke through a would be tackler at the 3, shed another at the 10 and went on in to score. The PAT was no good and the Rangers led 13-0 at the half.

Estacada took the second half kickoff and marched down to Cascade's 25 yard line where penalties and a fumble stalled our the drive. The penalties and turnover gave the Cougars their best field position of the night, but the Ranger defense kept them from scoring and gave the ball back to the offense on downs.

Unfortunately another Ranger fumble on the very next play gave them even better field position. As the fourth quarter opened, Cascade connected on a 14 yard pass play to narrow the score to 13-7. The teams traded possessions which took some time off the clock. Halfway through the fourth, the Rangers fielded a punt on our own 18 yard line. Grochowsky took turns with Nicholson driving the ball out to the 44 where Nate took the handoff behind great blocking and exploded for a 56 yard TD run that put the game out of reach, 19-7.

Cascade tried to mount a drive but free safety Andy Loehr intercepted a Cougar pass near midfield which put a halt to any hope they had of getting back into the ball game. The game ended with Diaz and Theander running the clock out as the Rangers drove the ball all the way down the field to the five yard line when the clock ran out.

This week the team travels to Vancouver B.C. to play Terry Fox high. Their team is coached by a friend of mine and we though it would be neat to have a game. Next year they will come to Estacada to play. Coach McDonnell has used our offense and training techniques to propel the Ravens to their provincial playoffs every year for the past 3-4 years last year making it to the semi finals.

The schools in B.C. play "American Rules" football so there won't be any 12 man formations next weekend. The game is at 1:00 PM on Sat the 18th. Come on up to Vancouver for the weekend and take in the game, do some shopping (the exchange rate is very favorable) and the shops are great.

The team will stat with Raven families, we will travel up on Friday to practice, play the game on Sat after which we will go to see a B.C. Lions Canadian professional football game, spend the night and travel back on Sunday. The team would like to thank all the people in the community who have supported our fundraisers which enable us to schedule this cultural exchange game.

Game #2: Terry Fox Secondary

Last weekend the Ranger football team traveled to Port Coquitlam British Columbia, Canada to play Terry Fox Secondary School in kind of a cultural exchange type game. Many of our players had never been out of the immediate Oregon-Washington area, much less been to Canada.

We left Friday morning and traveled to Port Coquitlam, an eastern suburb of Vancouver, B.C. We ate a buffet lunch in Marysville WA just north of the Seattle/Everett area where Coach Freeborn taught before moving to Estacada.

Upon arrival the Rangers conducted a brief practice followed by a BBQ hosted by the Raven Boosters and Leadership group. After eating the boys paired up with their host families that they would be staying with for the weekend. Many of the boys went to a local football game that evening.

Saturday AM the team meet up at Applebee's for breakfast then traveled to a very nice community center where Terry Fox plays their home games; and a very nice center it is, a combination park and ball fields arrangement. They have a nice stadium surrounded by numerous soccer and lacrosse fields including an astro turff facility. Our game was moved onto the astro turff due to the rain they've been having. It is the wettest it has been in 35 years there this fall.

The Rangers kicked off to the Ravens to begin the game. The Ranger defense forced a punt in just 3 plays. It rained hard during the pregame and slacked off only a bit to begin the game making things very slippery including the ball. We fumbled away the snap on our first play from scrimmage giving them excellent field position deep in our territory. The defense stiffened again, however, and the Ravens turned the ball oven on downs.

On the 4th lay from scrimmage, quarterback Reed Huskey optioned left, cut back and ran 60 yards to score. The PAT was wide left; the Rangers led 6-0. Following the kickoff the Ravens put together a nifty 8 play drive of their own to tie the score at 6 as their PAT run was stopped short. Martin McDonnell, the Raven Co Head Coach, and I have been friends for a number of years. We met online discussing football strategy. In fact, he has successfully used our offense to propel his school in the Provincial Championships. His offensive play calling looked pretty good; they scored with ease on this drive.

The Rangers began their next drive on our own 30. On 3rd and long, QB Huskey lofted a nice play action pass into the hands of Flanker Michael Coyle for 40 yards. Nate Nicholson scored on the next play from 3 yards out. Tailback Grochowsky carried the option pitch in for the PAT and the Rangers led 14-6.

On the very frist play from scrimmage following the Kick Off, cornerback Reed Huskey intercepted a pass and returned it to our 40. On the 3rd play from scrimmage, tailback Grochowsky broke right on a counter play, eluded several would be tacklers on the line of scrimmage and scampered 55 yards to score behind excellent blocking of Jordan Myers and Alan Noble. Ben Cogdill's PAT kick was good and the Rangers led 21-6.

The teams traded possessions for the remainder of the half. The Rangers came close to scoring again before the half but were unable to connect.

The Rangers opened the 2nd half with a scoring drive finished with a pretty 4 yard play action pass which saw Michael Coyle wide open in the end zone to haul in Huskey's touch pass. Cogdill's PAT made the score 28 to 6.

We held them in the next series and drove the ball down the field only to have a pass intercepted which turned into 6 points as they scored on their second play. PAT was good and the Rangers now led 28-13.

The Ravens scored again on another long fun from scrimmage near the beginning of the 4th quarter to cut the lead down to 28-19.

Following the kick off the Rangers capped off the scoring on a 2 yard run by Nate Nicholson. Grochowsky added the extra points and the game ended 36-19.

Following the game the team went to a large mall to eat at their food court. The boys learned about the exchange rate and the value of the American dollar. That evening the team traveled to downtown Vancouver to see a Canadian Professional Football game which was very exciting. The game went into overtime and was won by the B.C. Lions when the Edminton kicker attempted a 52 yard field goal only to have it kit the crossbar and bounce back at him, no good.

We got up early Sunday and traveled back to Estacada arriving mid afternoon.

This game was quite the challenger for our boys. Terry Fox is a school of over 2,000 students, so they have a larger talent pool to choose from. In addition, the Ravens have been in their playoffs for the past three years, so they know about competition making the semifinals for their Provincial Championships last fall.

Next week, as well as the following 2 weeks after that, the Rangers face another playoff team in North Marion. You will remember that they were our opponent for the first playoff game last year. They feature a strong I formation running attack with a very effective vertical passing attack. It's a home game so come on out and support the team.

Game #3: North Marion

What a fabulous evening for a football game. It's the kind of day or even week(s) people around the USA don't know we have at this time of year. We are truly fortunate to live where we do. And the Rangers played as beautifully as the weather putting the game out of reach 35-0 before halftime.

The only thing the Huskies won on Friday was the coin flip. Things went downhill quickly for them after that as they chose to defer and kickoff which struck Joseph O'Meara who alertly fell on the ball giving us great field position to start the game at our 45 yard line.

Going into the game the coaching staff thought we might be able to sweep their defense and the first play form scrimmage proved that theory true as tailback Gordy Grochowsky took the pitch and headed around right end. Behind excellent blocking by Billy Simpkins, Nate Nicholson and Reed Huskey, Gordy outran 3 defenders who had an angle on him 55 yards to score. The PAT was wide left and the Rangers led 6-0 very early in the game.

North Marion returned the kickoff to their 40 yard line. A toss play was stopped by defensive end Alan Noble on first down. On second down Gordy Grochowsky recovered a fumble and the Rangers started their second series on the husky 45.

On third down QB Reed Husky hit flanker Jason Warren on a 27 yard play action pass to the left to keep this drive alive. A roughing the passer penalty advanced the ball to the 9 yard line. Another sweep right by Grochowsky scored from 7 yards out on 2nd down. Gordy had a great start to the game. After taking an option pitch from Huskey, he ran untouched into the end zone for the conversion. In less than 3 and a half minutes he had recovered a fumble and scored 14 points and hadn't had a finger laid on him in the process. It doesn't get much better than that.

This time North Marion started on their 25. A QB scramble on 2nd down netted them a first, but that drive stalled and they punted to Michael Coyle who returned the ball to the Ranger 43.

While it was a great night for the fans, it was a bit warm and humid for the players. Implementing our backfield rotation allows us to keep fresh legs on defense. We had 12 different Rangers carry the ball during the game. Josh Theander ripped off an 18 yard gain on a counter play on first down. We marched down to the 12 but were not able to overcome 2 penalties incurred on this drive. North Marion drove the ball out to midfield where a penalty and a sack by Joel Elliot ended this drive and the quarter.

Estacada started their next drive on their 25 following a Husky punt. After advancing the ball to mid field, Reed Huskey broke free on a 42 yard option play to the right. Another sweep by Theander set up a touchdown by Jorge Diaz from 3 yards out. Ben Cogdill's PAT put the Rangers up 21-0 at the 9:28 mark of the 2nd quarter.

The Huskies were forced to punt yet again in 3 plays. The Rangers started their next drive from their 34. On this series Ben Cogdill and Mark Stafford were the running backs. A long sweep by Cogdill took the ball down to the 25. A 20 yard dive play by and a fullback power, three yard scoring play by Stafford, coupled with Cogdill's second PAT of the night, put the Rangers up 28 - 0 at the 5:49 mark of the second quarter.

For the first time in the game, the Huskies drove into Estacada territory on the next series of downs moving he ball down to the 43 when a 4th down sack by Billy Simpkins and Jacob Seal turned the ball over to the Rangers.

Nicholson and Grochowsky were back in a running backs for this drive., Hard running by Nicholson and a 25 yard counter play by Grochowsky put the Rangers into scoring position again. A 15 yard option run by Nicholson too the ball down to the 6 where Nate took it in off left tackle. Cogdill's PAT put the Rangers up 35-0 at the 2:28 mark of the second half.

Grochowsky intercepted a pass with 1:28 remaining. The Rangers moved the ball down to the 5 but ran out of time before scoring. We had time outs available but chose not to use them. We had completely dominated the first half racking up over 325 yards of offense. Our line led by Joel Elliot, Jordan Myers, Alan Noble and Joseph O'Meara had pretty much dominated play throughout the half and the issue had long been decided. It would have been unsportsmanlike for us to run up the score any more.

With the score being what it was, we began substituting freely at the very start of the 2nd half. The Rangers were able to move the ball at times in the 2nd half but penalties and missed assignments killed our drives. North Marion was able to score 2 times in the 4th quarter against primarily Freshman and Sophomore substitutes who were able to gain valuable experience in this game.

This Friday night the Rangers travel to Rainier for our last non-conference game. Rainier has a new coach and a rejuvenated program as they are undefeated to this point in the season and averaging over 30 points a game. The scored close to 40 points against North Marion and beat LaSalle big last weekend. Their team features a wide open attack with a talented, accurate scrambling All Conference QB with a swarming defense. The Rangers will have their hands full.

Game #4: Rainier

Things got off to a slow start last Friday as the team bus got stuck in Portland's Friday afternoon traffic. We didn't seem to hit our stride until overtime of all things winning 21-14 over the Rainier Columbians at their field.

What a great day for a game, however, clear, cool with a touch of fall in the air, much like it was 38 years ago when my wife and I were married. Jacquie said last week that she wanted a tougher game so the boys would better prepared for Tri Valley play beginning this week. Boy, did she get her wish!

We won the coin toss, deferred, kicked off to them and held them for a 3 and out. Neither team was able to do much with the ball early and exchanged possessions in the early going. Rainier was undefeated coming into this game and proved to be quite stubborn as the evening progressed.

The Rangers did mount a serious drive late in the first quarter driving the ball down to the Columbian 25, but a fumble turned the ball over. We got the ball back and drive the ball down to their 30 this time where another fumble on 4th down and three turned the ball over to them once again.

Rainier got it going here early in the second quarter driving the ball down the field with a power running game out of a 1940s single wing looking offense. Our defense put up a stiff front, but Rainier scored to go up 6-0 at the 7:13 mark of the second quarter.

Following the kickoff we once again drove the ball deep into their territory. Junior Mark Stafford highlighted the drive with a 40 yard run on a draw play. This drive ended when a 4th down pass went through the hands of a Ranger receiver in the end zone.

On their second play from scrimmage, they completed a pass that went for 65 yards. Only the track speed of Gordy Grochowsky was able to run the receiver down and make a touchdown saving tackle. The Columbians tried, unsuccessfully, to employ the power running game once again. At the 2:16 mark Reed Huskey intercepted a play action pass in the end zone for a touchback and killed their drive.

On the next play from scrimmage Stafford took the ball over right tackle and raced 80 yards for a TD! A clipping call, however, took the ball back to midfield and time ran out before the Rangers could score.

The Columbians kick off to start the second half. In just a few plays we had the ball inside their 40. Then a penalty and missed assignments put us in a 3rd and 23 situation. Reed Huskey dropped back, looked deep, but hit Nate Nicholson on a middle screen. We caught them in a blitz, Nate hauled in the pass, broke right and beat everyone to the end zone. Ben Cogdill, who was a perfect 3 for 3 on the night, put the Rangers ahead 7-6.

Once again Rainier connected on another long pass and pushed the ball inside our 10 yard line. A huge tackle for a loss by Billy Simpkins, a batted ball by Jordan Myers and a forced fumble by Jacob Seal ended that drive.

We punted on 3rd and they drive the ball down to our 16 where the defense turned them back on 4th down. Just 3 plays later we fumbled thee ball right back to them. This time they got the ball down to the 18 where linebacker Mark Stafford batted the ball away on 4th down.

With time running out in the 4th, Rainier scored and added a 2 point conversion to tie the game with 2 minutes to go. Unable to get close enough to score, we went into overtime.

We lost the flip and had to go on offense first. You would like to go on defense first; one has a clearer knowledge of what is needed to win.

A blatant pass interference on 2nd down gave us a first down at the 12. It was actually a play on the defenders part. If he would not have interferred, Simpkins would have had an easy TD pass. As it was, Nate Nickelson, scored in just three plays and the Ranger would lead 21-7.

Andy Loehr's interception of a 4th down pass ended the game with the Rangers up 21-14, victorious for the 4th time.

This week is a short week with the Rangers playing Wilsonville at home on Thursday due to the statewide education day on Friday. The Wildcats are rated #1 being undefeated this year after having made it to the state final game last year. The game is at home and there promises to be a big crowd; see you there.

Game #5 - Wilsonville

Last Friday night the Wilsonville Wildcats came to Estacada ready to play; and play they did defeating the Rangers 43-14.

One of the things we stress with the team is competing with the best brings out the best in you and them. And when playing the best, you will find out, very quickly, what you need to work on to get better. We certainly got our share of lessons last week!

We won the toss and deferred just like we wanted; we even got to defend the goal we wanted. It didn't last long as that was about as long as we had things go our way for the rest of the evening.

The kickoff bounced off a receiver's hand and carried into the end zone. In high school ball, when the ball crosses the gal line, it becomes a dead ball immediately and a touchback is declared, since it was the momentum of the kick that propelled the ball into the end zone.

On their second play from scrimmage a Wildcat runner took the handoff and behind excellent blocking, broke loose for a 72 yard TD run. They were out to an early lead 7-0.

Michael Coyle returned the kickoff out to the 37 yard line and was just one block away from a much larger one. On 3rd down a major blocking error on a sweep right play found us 2 yards short of a first and we chose to punt after which they went on a 7 play scoring drive to take a 14-0 lead.

An old song says "when you're hot, you're hot!" A particular play on this drive demonstrated how "hot" they were. With the ball at midfield, their QB dropped to pass was pressured, turned completely around by Joel Elliot, hit by Nate Nicholson as he blindly released the ball which hit the receiver perfectly in the flat for a gain.

They pouch kicked the ball to our 26. On 2nd down Reed Huskey faked the option to the right and connected with split end Billy Simpkins for a 34 yard gain. We marched down to the 20, but a fumble on 3rd down and an incomplete pass on 4th stalled that drive, and we turned the ball over to them. In all the years I have coached here in Estacada, I cannot remember a game where we turned the ball over more than the 8 times in this game: 2 on downs,, 3 fumbles lost, and 3 interceptions. It is very difficult to successfully come back from so many major errors against any team, much less the number one ranked team in the state. "When you're hot; you're hot! And when you're not; you're not!"

They drove the ball out to midfield where the tried a fake punt on 4th down only to be stopped by the Ranger defense. Another pass to Simpkins and a 25 yard run by Huskey put us on the 15 quickly. Some fine running by Gordy Grochowsky took the ball to the one yard line from which Huskey scored on an option run to the right. Ben Cogdill's PAT narrowed the score to 14-7 and the Rangers had new life it seemed.

The next Wildcat drive, however, sucked whatever air we had in our balloon. The superior speed that they had this night was clearly demonstrated as they marched down the field to score and go ahead 21-7.

On our next series, we moved the ball well taking it down to their 24 yard line where an interception stopped that drive. We stopped their drive and the half ended.

We opened the 2nd half driving the ball out to midfield where Reed set to throw and as he threw the ball, it slipped awkwardly out of his hand. It was clearly an incomplete pass, seen clearly in the video of the game but missed by all the officials who declared it a fumble and gave the ball to them.

Giving the ball to them with a short field to drive was definitely not in the game plan. They scored quickly in 5 plays and were up 28-7. This was a crucial time in the game. If we had continued to march and narrowed the lead to 21-14, the game would have a whole different color.

Our next drive quickly took the ball down to their 2 yard line where we turned the ball over on downs. That really hurt.

We exchanged punts and had the ball once again only to have another interception to stop another drive at mid field. They scored in three plays to go up 35-7.

Our next drive ended with yet another interception as we were trying to move the ball downfield quickly to score. Six plays later they scored on a pass play to go up 43-7.

Another fumble stalled another Ranger drive at mid field, but Ben Cogdill intercepted on of their passes and returned it 45 yards to their 40 yard line. Jacob Weston kept this drive alive with a pass reception to the 20 and a first down. The drive ended with Mark Stafford scoring from 5 yards out. Cogdill's PAT ended the scoring on the night at 43-14.

One of the differences of football from the other sports is that you only get one shot at each opponent, no so in volleyball, basketball, baseball, track where you see teams on several occasions perhaps. We cold play them another 10 times and not play as poorly as we did. But you get just that one chance and then it's gone.

I told the plays before the game that the season did not end with last week's game. Win it and there would still be games to play; lost it and their still would be games to play. One game does not a season make.

This week we travel to Madras. They were one of the 4 undefeated Tri Valley teams going into the league season. Last week they lost a close game to Sherwood 14-7. They are a much improved team and will be a big challenge for us, especially playing there.

Game #6: Madras

Last Friday night the Rangers traveled to Madras to play their 5th playoff team in a row and another ranked team. Not only did our team win, they did so in convincing fashion 29-0. The victory meant that the team is 4-1 against 2003 playoff teams and 5-1 overall guaranteeing another winning season for Estacada. That makes eight consecutive winning seasons for the Rangers.

There was a slight breeze on the night, but certainly not enough to warrant them choosing to defend a goal, but they did which meant we would start both halfs on offense. Michael Cole returned the ball to the 26 where the Rangers went to work. Hard running by Tailback Gordy Grochowsky and Fullback Nate Nicholson picked up 2 first down to midfield where some miscues led to a punting decision. Madras started on their 16 and drove out for 1 first down and were forced to punt as well.

Starting from our 27, we drove into Buffalo territory on a pass form QB Reed Huskey to Split End Jacob Weston. A typical Ranger drive finished out the quarter with the option play and some nifty scrambling by Huskey took the ball down to their 16 where another miscue led to an interception. Last week flanker Jason Warren suffered an injury to his elbow which necessitated some shuffling in the receiving corps. Not all of the flanker's assignments and routes can be easily picked up which in this case led to incorrect pass patterns and the pick.

Starting from their 6, Madras put together a good drive of their own mixing the pass and the run. On 4th down on our 45 however, the Ranger defense stiffened and threw a Buffalo runner for a loss and they turned the ball over on downs.

Again the Ranger offense geared up for another drive which stalled after 2 first downs and we punted to maintain field position. During this first half we were able to drive the ball, at times, deeply into their territory, which meant that we maintained good field position for just about the entire half.

Madras took the ball down the field to the 2 yard line for their most serious threat of the game, but they were denied paydirt by the left side of the Ranger goal line defense led by Jordan Myers and Joel Elliot. On 4th down and only 3 seconds left in he half, Madras aligned for a field goal which was hooked wide left and the half ended in a scoreless tie.

During half time we discussed our lack of intensity and how we needed to step it up for the second half. Michael Coyle and the kickoff return team must have paid close attention because an electrifying 60 yard return put the Rangers in business on the Buffalo 30 yard line. Fullback Nate Nicholson owned this 6 play drive carrying the ball on all six plays and scoring from 1 yard out behind the blast blocking of the tandem of Myers, Elliot and Alan Noble. The PAT was wide left; the Rangers led early in the second half 6-0.

A nice return was negated by a huge sack notched by Jordan Myers. The teams exchanged punts quickly. On their first play an errant pitch was recovered by Ranger Ben Cogdill and we were in excellent position on their 25. Three plays later QB Huskey optioned to his left, read the defense over pursuing to the outside, cut square up to the goal line to tally the second Ranger TD. The option play for the extra points was beautifully executed and Huskey scored easily to he left. The Rangers led 14-0.

Following the kickoff on Madras's first scrimmage play, they decided to pass. It was tipped into the air by a Buffalo receiver. We teach our deep secondary to "Stay deep, keep your feet, keep everything in front of you" which Free Safety Andy Loehr did. He was able to intercept the tipped ball at the 39, break to his right picking up blocks along the way (the best one being made by Mark Stafford and Nate Nicholson), broke a tackle at the 10 and waltzed into the end zone. Again Huskey option left and found yet another seam to explode through for the conversion to put the Rangers up 22-0.

Madras drove the ball out to the 36 yard line where on 4th down, they tried a fake punt. Linebacker Mark Stafford read the fake well, blasted by a blocker to haul down the ball carrier before he could make the first down marker. This gave the Rangers another short field to drive.

After a first down run by Fullback Mark Stafford, QB Huskey optioned to his right, kept the ball and pitched off the corner back to committed to tackling Reed, which he did, but nor till after he had pitched it to Tailback Grochowsky who accelerated by all defenders to score form 20 yards out. Cogdill's PAT put the Rangers up 29-0 which has to be our best all around quarter of football so far this year.

The defense, especially the secondary, matured during this game scoring a TD, forcing turnovers, giving the ball to the offense in favorable field position.

Madras's next series of downs, in fact, ended with a Coyle interception on our 1 yard line from where we punted 3 plays later and Loehr interception his second pass of the evening just 2 plays later.

The rest of the game would see the Rangers eat up clock time whenever they would get the ball. Madras would have a couple more series of incomplete passes and the Rangers took over, marching the ball down the field, eating up the clock. The game ended with the Rangers in Madras territory on the 5 yard line about to score again.

This week the Rangers play Sherwood who is always tough. They are ranked in the top 3 AAA teams. Two weeks ago they beat Madras 14-7 on their field. It promises to be a barn burner of a game. Make plans to get to Randall Stadium early, grab a Booster urger and enjoy the game.

Game #7 - Sherwood

The Sherwood Bowman came to town last Friday night and showed why hey are ranked number two. The Rangers kicked off to the Bowmen to start the game. They promptly put together an 8 play drive to take an early 6-0 lead.

Estacada put together a 10 play drive into Bowman territory following the kickoff, But the drive stalled and we punted deeply into Sherwood territory to maintain good field position. Three plays later they punted back to us near midfield.

We noticed they were overplaying the strong side of our formation so we called for tailback Gordy Grochowsky to runt he ball to the weakside. Behind an excellent block by Fullback Nate Nicholson, Gordy broke loose and raced 65 yards to score. Jacob Seal and Joseph O'Meara also had particularly good blocks on that scoring play. Ben Cogdill's PAT put the Rangers up 7-6 nearing the end of the first quarter.

Sherwood tried a reverse on the kickoff and fumbled the ball turning it over to us on their 17 putting us in terrific scoring position. On 4th down Quarterback Reed Huskey connected with Split End Billy Simpkins for a first down at the 4 yard line. Nate Nicholson took the ball down to the 2 yard line where the Bowman defense stiffened and we were unable to execute and score. This goal line stand was a big momentum changer.

After gaining a first down, Sherwood cranked off a long running play of their own, an 80 yarder. They didn't score but had a first down on the Ranger 4. Two plays later, they scored on a pass but missed the PAT to go up 12-7.

Once again the Rangers drove into Bowman territory only to down out and turn the ball over on downs.

The first half ended with a goal line stand by Estacada to maintain the 12-7 score. The first half was fairly evenly played. They had a long run, we had a long run. They had a goal line stand; we had a goal line stand. They had one more possession than we did in the first half and scored on it to lead 12-7. The difference in the first half and the game proved to be the effectiveness of their passing attack.

After the half we could not get a drive started and punted the ball. Andy Loehr did an excellent job punting Friday filling in for our injured regular punter. Six plays later Sherwood scored to take an 18-7 lead.

We could not move the ball on our next possession and the teams exchanged punts with Sherwood maintaining good field position when their punt went out on our 4. We did move the ball out to the 25 and a first down, but a third down pass was just off the finger tips again. We were so very close to converting on some big plays this game but were not able to covert while Sherwood did.

The Bowmen scored on 2 other drives here late in the half to go up 32-7. The second drive proved to be a long time consuming drive which kept the ball out of our hands.

The Rangers did put together the final scoring drive of the night. The score came quickly set up by a 25 yard pass caught by Jacob Weston and followed with a 24 yard scoring draw play. Reed Huskey added the 2 point conversion to make the score 32-15.

This week is Homecoming and Gladstone is the opponent. They lost to Madras last week and will come to town fired up. This game always has special meaning for Coach Nimz as he is a Gladstone grad and Coach Webber, their head coach, was Nimz's coach. The Rangers playoff destiny is in our hands. Win out and qualify for the playoffs. Come out and cheer the team onward to victory.

Game #8: Gladstone

With their 28-12 Homecoming victory over Gladstone last Friday night, the Estacada Rangers qualified for the AAA Playoffs once again. That makes 6 times in the last 7 years the Rangers are in.

The game started out slowly as both teams exchanged punts throughout the first period.

Michael Coyle intercepted the his first of 3 passes on the night near the end of the first quarter and the Rangers started a drive that got inside their 10 but got stalled by penalty. This drive featured strong powerful running by Tailback Gordy Grochowsky and Fullback Nate Nicholson. Good field position was established and the Ranger defense forced a punt in 3 plays. It was not a particularly good punt and Estacada's next series started on the Gladstone 40. Seven plays later, Grochowsky swept right behind some really good blocking to score. Ben Cogdill's PAT put the Rangers up 7-0 at the half.

Estacada kicked off to start the second half, forced a punt but a muffed catch gave them the ball on our 25. Coyle's second interception on the 5 yard line stopped this drive and the Rangers mounted a long 95 yard, time consuming march to the end zone. This was a time consuming 15 play drive that ended with Nicholson powering his way into the end zone from four yards out. Cogdill's PAT put the rangers ahead 14-0.

Alan Noble recovered a Gladiator fumble on our 42 to thwart another Gladstone drive at the end of the 3rd period. The Gladiators forced a fumble themselves on the next series and took over at our 36. They drove the ball in to score and narrowed the lead 14-6.

The Rangers went right to work answering that score with a drive that ended with a spectacular 48 yard scoring run by Grochowsky that featured at least 3 broken tackles. Gordy had a great day, being named King of Homecoming earlier in the day, scoring 2 TDs in the Homecoming game and leading the team in rushing with 185 yards on 21 carries. Rumor has it that he had energy left over to dance the night away with Queen Mia.

On the first play following the kickoff, Gladstone connected on a long scoring pass to make the score 21-12.

Following their unsuccessful onside kickoff, the Rangers set about running the remaining 4:30 off the newly installed scoreboard that's been donated by a number of community patrons. The team and athletic department are most grateful for your generosity.

This drive saw the Rangers deeply into Gladiator territory only to have the team penalized 25 yards back toward midfield. That mattered not to the Rangers as they opened a hole on a trap play big enough that Nicholson could power through and break away on a 46 yard scoring run. Nate had a really good night running the ball also gaining 130 yards and scoring 2 TDs.

This week the team travels to LaSalle to close out the regular season. The Falcons have won but 1 game this year but have showed flashes of good play scoring over 20 points against Wilsonville and being ahead of Sherwood.

Journey on up to support the team.

Game #9 - LaSalle

With a 42-27 victory over LaSalle, the Rangers finish the regular season with a 7 - 2 record, eight consecutive victories over the Falcons and a berth in the AAA Playoffs against Phoenix of the Skyline conference Friday night, 7:00 PM game time.

The Rangers kicked off to LaSalle and they mounted a serious drive taking the ball deep into our territory. But they turned the ball over on downs and the Rangers went to work.

Whenever one begins a game, you just never know what defense they will be in so the first few plays are called with the intent of skipping out their defensive game plan. On our 3rd play from scrimmage fullback Nate Nicholson took the ball over left tackle and broke into the secondary for a 22 yard gain. Tailback Gordy Grochowsky added his own 20 yard gain on a counter play. On the next down from the 35 yard line, Nicholson once again broke into the clear and outran everyone to the end zone for our first score. The Rangers led early 6 -0.

After the kickoff LaSalle managed just one first down on a QB scramble, the defense stiffened and they were forced to punt which Michael Coyle returned to our 43 yard line. Three of the next four plays resulted in Ranger first downs as we were picking up huge gains on each carry. On first and 10 at the Falcon 37, Nate Nicholson broke free again for our second touchdown. Nate had his career best night gaining 180 yards on 11 carries scoring 4 TDs; Gordy was not far behind with 160 yards on 11 carries scoring 2 TDs and 2 PATs. The Rangers led 12-0 near the end of the first period having scored easily on their first 2 possessions.

Again LaSalle punted after but one first down and the Rangers began another drive. In previous play we noticed a hole in their secondary alignment, so we called for a pass play to that area resulting in a 15 yard gain. But a stiff tackle resulted in a fumble recovered by the Falcons. LaSalle scored on this possession cutting our lead down to 12-7.

All year long we noticed LaSalle chose to on side kick a great deal and they were very good at it recovering 75% of them which is remarkably high. They did not recover this one, however, and the Rangers began their next drive at midfield.

Again Estacada runners picked up large chunks of yardage on this next drive. A 3rd down play action pass to Billy Simpkins for 15 yards keep the drive alive so that Gordy Grochowsky could take an option pitch left for a 25 yard gain to inside the 5 where Nate Nicholson scored on the next play. Gordy added the 2 point conversion and the Rangers increased their lead to 20-7.

On our next possession, Gordy scored on a 60 yard run but a penalty negated the score and some of his fine gain. Later a fumble was recovered by LaSalle but they could not mount a drive. With time running out in the half, we got a good drive going but the clock ran out on us deep in Falcon territory.

We got the ball to start the 2nd half and picked up right where we left off notching huge gains on every play. Grochowsky scored on a 25 yard sweep on just the 4th play of the second half. He also added the conversion to put the Rangers up 28-0.

These huge gains were made possible by the fine efforts of the offensive line. Their efforts for the entire season were recognized by the league coaches at the All Conference voting this past week. Joel Elliot was named first team tackle for the second year and Jordan Myers, Alan Noble, and Joseph O'Meara were named to the 2nd team offensive line. Their fine blocking all year long led to both Nate and Gordy being named 2nd team Tri Valley running backs.

LaSalle scored on their next possession featuring some fine passing. They then recovered an on side kick and they kept on passing deep into Ranger territory. Our defense stiffened, however, and we took over on our 35 yard line. This drive was once again kept alive with a 3rd down pass to Simpkins. Quarterback Reed Husky had a good night completing 4 of 5 passes at just the right times. Nicholson had another huge run to the 4 and scored easily on the next play behind excellent line blocking. Ben Cogdill added the PAT and the Ranger were up 35-14 at the 2:30 mark of the 3rd.

LaSalle downed out on their next series and the running chores were turned over to Ben Cogdill and Josh Theander. They added more large yardage plays to the stat book with Josh scoring on a 15 yard trap play set up by a Jacob Seal interception.

The Falcons were able to score 2 additional touchdowns in the 4th quarter to make the final 42-27, but the final outcome was never in question.

This week the conference coaches voted their all league selections. In addition to the offensive selections already mentioned, First Team Defensive honors went to Jordan Myers, Joel Elliot, Gordy Grochowsky and 2nd Team went to Nate Nicholson. honorable mention honors were awarded to Reed Huskey, Billy Simpkins, Michael Coyle, Jacob Seal and Ben Cogdill.

This week starts the playoff run to the championship. We open with the Phoenix Pirates Friday night down there. They are always a tough team with hard nosed, hard hitting, physical players. Come and cheer the Rangers on to a victory.

Game #10: AAA Plyoffs: Phoenix

The Estacada Rangers opened the AAA Playoffs with a big 44-21 victory over the Phoenix Pirates last Friday night. Since Phoenix finished 2nd in the Skyline Conference, they won the right to host the game. They also mandated the game be played on Friday giving us the long, long day. Have to give our players lots of credit for how well they played considering the travel time to the game and all that goes with it. This very thing is one of the major reasons we did the Canada trip - to get the experience of a long road trip to an away game at a strange place. Come to think of it, the Canada game was closer than Phoenix!

For once in a long while we received the opening kickoff to start the game. A short kickoff was returned by Nate Nicholson to our 41 yard line to begin play. Both Gordy Grochowsky and Nate Nicholson picked up large chunks of yardage with 3 first downs generated in the first 4 carries. On that 4th carry the team gave the fans a glimpse of what was in store for the evening when Tailback Grochowsky swept to the left for a 20 yard gain. This play demonstrated excellent teamwork as fine blocks were turned in on this play starting with Jacob Weston at Split End, Flanker Jason Warren, Fullback Nate Nicholson, and pulling Guard Alan Noble. All these blockers executed really good blocks keying the big gain down to the Pirate 24. Two plays later on another sweep, this time to the right, Gordy was sprung to the 11 where he broke a tackle and went on to score. Ben Cogdill's PAT put the Rangers up early 7-0.

After a roughing the punter penalty kept Phoenix's first drive alive following several incomplete passes, Middle Linebacker Nate Nicholson recovered a Pirate fumble at our 46 setting up a nice 8 play drive with Nate scoring on a trap play from 11 yards out.

Did you now that the average scoring drive is 8 plays long in high school football? Drives longer than 8 plays generally fall apart due to turnovers, penalties or a major mistake of some kind. This drive featured a fine bootleg pass form Quarterback Reed Huskey to Billy Simpkins and a nice option run by Reed to set up Nate's TD from the 11 which featured a fine trap block by Noble. Cogdill's PAT put us ahead 14-0.

Phoenix had a big kickoff return extended by a face mask penalty setting them up on the 16. A pass to their split end right away scored and cut the lead in half 14-7.

They unsuccessfully tried an on side kick which we recovered on our 42. After a good gain on an option was negated by penalty, Huskey completed a play action pass to Simpkins for a first down at their 33. Several plays later Grochowsky too the ball down to the 10 on a 15 yard counter play followed by a touchdown on another sweep play. The Rangers upped their lead 20-14 to end first Qtr scoring.

Andy Loehr intercepted a pass on their first scrimmage play and returned it 35 yards to the Pirate 40.

From there the Rangers mounted another scoring drive. Big plays on this drive were a 15 yard pass to Jason Warren and fine option running by Huskey who scored form a yard out. The Rangers were up 26-7.

Phoenix drove the length of the field on their next series only to down out at our 10 late in the 2nd period.

With time running out in the half, Gordy cranked off a 30 yard gain and the Rangers went into their hurry up offense. A halfback pass form Grochowsky to Simpkins put the ball on their 40. Nicholson too the ball down to their 4 on a screen play, but it was called back due to a penalty and time ran out in the first half.

Loehr's second interception of the night stopped their opening drive of the second half. We gained some yardage but the drive stalled and we punted. They put together a drive that scored and cut our lead to 26-14.

This time they successfully recovered the on side kick and scored on the first play on a pass from the 49 narrowing the lead even further 26-21.

One of the things successful teams must do is to answer the other team's score which we did on our next drive. The Rangers had their own version of Mr. Inside (Nicholson) and Mr. Outside (Grochowsky) on this drive with each runner picking up huge gains behind excellent blocking on every carry. Nate scored form the one and we led 32-21.

Whenever runnings backs have the kind of night ours had last Friday, you can be sure that the line was doing an excellent job. Only one man gets to carry the ball on a given play, but everyone must do their job for the play to be successful. In an interview with the Medford paper, the Pirate coach said that our line dominated the line of scrimmage and was just too strong and physical for them to handle which was something they were unaccustomed to. Everyday for the past several years Jordan Myers, Alan Noble, Joel Elliot and Joseph O'Meara have been in the weightroom (along with Nate and Gordy), before school at 6:06 AM lifting and preparing for this, the playoffs. Once again, the team and athletes from the other teams as well would like to thank all those who have made our weightroom one of the best around. The work done there certainly paid off last Friday night.

On their next drive the Pirates went for it on 4th down from their own 35 unsuccessfully. So with the ball in great field position, Nicholson took the handoff, accelerated through the hole, ran over a would be tackler at the 27 and outraced everyone to the end zone. The officials said Gordy was not in for the extra points, so we led 38-21.

The Pirate's next dive was stopped when Mark Stafford stripped and recovered the ball from a Pirate runner at our 10. We drove the ball out to midfield where a mishandled punt snap set them up with good field position at our 47. This time Reed Huskey alertly intercepted a long, tipped pass at our 10.

On this our final scoring drive, Gordy Grochowsky scored on a 51 yard run putting us ahead for good 44-21. Gordy had an exceptional night running the ball 16 times for 231 yards. That's over 14 yards a carry. Nate Nicholson also had a good night running the ball for 120 yards himself. The Rangers had one of our best nights rushing ever with 500 yards gained rushing.

This week the Rangers will play Sweet Home who won their conference. The only teams they have lost to were Wilsonville and Sherwood, same as us. They feature a big line, same as us. Should be an interesting game.

A victory would put us back into the Quarterfinals. Come cheer the team on to a great effort Friday night in Sweet Home.

Game # 11 Sweet Home

Another fine season for the Ranger football team ended abruptly last Friday at Sweet Home just a step away form the Quarterfinals. The Huskies proved to be too tough on this night and outplayed the Rangers in just about every phase of the game winning 35-7.

Due to circumstances we do not have the video of the game as we normally do to recap the play by play as we normally do to write this article, so we will do our best from memory.

The Rangers kicked off to begin the game. Sweet Home drove the length of the field (65 yards) in just six plays to take the early lead. After the kickoff, we began our first drive. On third down an unobserved underneath defender leaped high to intercept a Ranger aerial and ran it in to score. They were now up 14-0.

On our next series, we broke off a big 50 yard run into Huskie territory only to lose the ball on a fumble. They marched the field again scoring on a breakaway run of their own to go up 21-0 just past the halfway point in the first period. That pretty much set the tone for the whole game.

We were able to drive the ball deep into heir territory on several occasions, even inside their 10 yard line, but could not convert. We wither fumbled, had an interception, or turned the ball over on downs. To win the game, you have to convert which we did not.

For whatever reason, we did not have our "A-Game" with us on the night. Sweet Home did prove they had superior speed when their tailback broke loose for two more TDs along the way.

Reed Huskey scored the Rangers only TD late in the 4th quarter on an option to the left from 5 yards out capping a 75 yard drive. Ben Cogdill's PAT closed out the scoring on an 8-3 season that saw the 2004 Ranger team add their own mark to the growing tradition of excellence exhibited by the team. Who could forget our first international victory over Terry Fox high school of Canada, the great first half effort against North Marion, the dominating 3rd quarter at Madras, the 8th consecutive victory over LaSalle and the tremendous team effort against Phoenix in the playoffs.

We congratulate the boys on a fine season and look forward to their competing in other sports throughout the year. We wish to thank all our loyal fans and boosters for your continued support. Come on out and cheer our winter sports teams on to victory!

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by Roger A. Freeborn
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