After an outstanding second half adjustment was made, FHC outlasted Cedar Springs and the wing-T to give the Rangers their first conference title since 2011. After a shaky first half of defense, the time in the locker room proved to be an enormous swing for FHC.

In the first possession of the second half, FHC down 20-14, Cedar put together a ground and pound drive all the way into the Ranger red zone. After three fake handoffs, the Red Hawk quarterback spun and threw the ball up for his tight end to catch in the end zone. Around him, however, was a platoon of Rangers.

In that group was senior linebacker Andy Trapp, making a leap in the air and intercepting the pass and giving FHC the ball back.

“We were slacking the whole first half on defense,” Andy said. “I think that was a big turning point and I think that helped push us to get more scores and win the game.”

After that interception from Andy, it was all FHC from then on out. With Cedar still holding a six-point lead, the Red Hawk defense was flying and playing with high energy. The Rangers, however, were too much.

Junior quarterback Luke Majick and FHC’s offense took the field with a pass-heavy mentality in the second half. After a string of downfield passes from Luke to his receiving core, the Rangers called on senior captain Bryce Clay for a bubble screen.

Sarah Obermeyer

Immediately after the pass was caught, Bryce was hit by a Cedar defender who was unblocked from the corner position. Incredibly, Bryce was able to bounce off and spin around another defender, taking it 29 yards for a Ranger score.

The defense came out with another stop on the tricky Red Hawk offense, putting the potent second-half FHC offense back on the field. With the treat of Bryce’s play-making abilities so pertinent, especially following a touchdown, FHC dug down into the playbook and found the perfect play to deceive Cedar’s defense.

Sarah Obermeyer

With senior tight end Michael Peliotes having cramps, senior safety and makeshift tight end Jace Thornton was in the game for the Ranger offense. With Bryce in the slot and Jace out wide, FHC faked a bubble screen to Bryce and sent Jace deep. With Cedar’s cornerback respecting Bryce’s speed, he lost track of Jace and left him wide open down the sideline for a 32-yard touchdown.

“I knew that play was designed for me,” said Jace, who had to get six stitches in his chin at halftime from a first-half injury. “This was one of the first plays I got tossed in at tight end, so I just kept saying “I can’t drop it, I can’t drop it.a�� The corner bit on the bubble, and then I was just wide open and Luke made the throw.”

Luke, on top of the touchdown passes to Jace and Bryce, had two more huge touchdowns throws in the first half. Junior Tate Hallock was on the receiving end of the first, going for 62 yards. Senior Kyle Basch caught the other, this one going for 68 yards.

Sarah Obermeyer

Luke capped off his night with a 12-yard touchdown run with 3:01 left in the fourth quarter. This put FHC up 35-20.

With limited time and down two scores, Cedar Springs was forced to pass the ball. On third and long, Cedar’s quarterback again made a poor decision downfield and found the hands of senior cornerback Kade Shomin.

This clinched FHC the OK white conference title.

“It’s a great reward for our senior class,” head coach Tim Rogers said. “They’ve worked their tails off here for four years, and they’ve been through some low points and now some high points. I’m really happy for them that they hung around and got it done.”

Sarah Obermeyer

FHC also finds themselves at 8-0 for the first time since 1992, with home-field advantage becoming more and more attainable for the playoffs. What is happening on the football field right now is nothing short of surreal.

Sarah Obermeyer

“It feels so good,” Jace said. “We’ve put in a lot of work, our program was really down, but we’ve come back and this is definitely the highest point. This is awesome. It’s really worth the grind.”