As the clock wound down on the fourth quarter, sophomore cornerback Evan Van Artsen caught the ball straight out of the receiver’s path at the 33-yard line as he took a pick-six to the endzone to seal the Rangers’ 35-17 win over the Northview Wildcats, moving the team to an overall record of 2-3.

“The pick six felt amazing,” Evan said. “The other team was trash-talking a bit to me and it was nice to show them what we were made of.”

Coaches and players alike were very pleased with the win. The Rangers played tough defensively, especially in the second half, and dominated offensively all four quarters.

“Our first half was not as good as we would like,” Head Coach Ty Hallock said, “but in the second half our guys stepped up and made some plays.”

The first half was very back and forth between the Rangers and Wildcats. Sophomore quarterback Carson Mocherman played a fantastic game, which started off with a 2-yard run into the endzone to give FHC the lead. Northview fired back within the first quarter, with a similar 2-yard run with 53 seconds to go in the quarter.

Sophomore running back Sawyer Bosch dominated once again in the middle of the gridiron, where his speed combined with good blocking from sophomore offensive linemen Sam Tuori, Aidan Paciorek, and Jason Downey to produce a nice drive. The drive was capped off with a 4-yard touchdown run by Sawyer to make the score 14-7 at the end of the half, which was a huge momentum boost for the Ranger offense.

Coming out of the locker room, the Rangers kicked the ball off to the Wildcats. The Wildcat kick returner caught the ball at his own 15-yard line and took it back all the way to the house. Things looked a little concerning for the Rangers at the time, but they would soon fire back.

Later in the third quarter, Carson showed off his mobility as he took yet another short run into the endzone. After the touchdown, the Northview offense started to slow down and struggle. The Ranger defensive line got pressure on the Wildcat quarterback constantly and forced some turnovers. The Wildcats also shot themself in the foot a bit, as penalties were hurting them throughout the second half.

Entering the fourth quarter, the Rangers led 21-14. The offense took over the game from here and continued running the ball through the holes at the line of scrimmage. Carson took a snap from the shotgun and ran to the left edge where he saw a gap of space. As he went on his run, he realized there was a wide-open ahead of him. Carson beat multiple defenders near the sideline, as he cut in towards the middle of the field and took the ball for the 67-yard score.

“[The touchdown] felt great,” Carson said. “It added to our lead and put us in a very comfortable position to close out the game.”

Moving into week six, the Rangers will be facing the Cedar Springs Red Hawks. Last year, this FHC team defeated the Red Hawks 30-16, but the team is expecting a tough game and has a lot to work on.

“Our ultimate goal is to win every game,” Hallock said. “These guys are working hard and trying to do that, but like anything in life we have a lot of work to do.”