Top 5 Toughest Losses
Boys Varsity Soccer vs. Okemos
After a 4-1 win in the opening round of districts against Ottawa Hills, the FHC boys varsity traveled to Grand Ledge to take on the #1 ranked Okemos Chiefs. The team hung around for a bit with the solid play of the defense. Senior defender Ethan Hale and goalie Kyler Williams played solid and stopped lots of balls from the Chiefs to get some momentum going. The Chiefs eventually opened up the lead late in the first half, and they scored three total goals throughout the game on FHC. Senior Richie Alvarez would put up a goal for the Rangers, but it would not be enough and the Rangers fell to Okemos 3-1. For the team, this was definitely the hardest loss of the season.
“It was definitely the hardest loss of the year for sure,“ senior Sammy Postlewait said. “Just because it was the final game of the season. It definitely made it a little better that it was, in fact, Okemos and they have some very good players.“
Varsity Football vs. Grandville
Coming off a convincing win against West Ottawa 30-6, the varsity football team focused its attention on its toughest game to date, the Grandville Bulldogs. FHC found itself down 32-7 early on and stormed back to eventually cut the lead to three points. Senior quarterback Jimmy Scholler came up huge both running the ball and finding receivers downfield for some monster completions Junior Jonah Spates came up with some huge receptions late in the game to help the Rangers march down the field. Unfortunately, Jimmy threw an interception with two minutes left in the game and the Bulldogs defeated the Rangers in a nailbiter 32-29. This loss put FHC in some adversity, as the Rangers were close to pulling off a season-defining win.
“It was tough for a little [while],“ Jimmy said. “But they were undefeated and highly ranked, so it gave us a boost of confidence because it really showed how good we could be.“
Girls Swim & Dive vs. EGR
With a big win over the Catholic Central Cougars the week before, the FHC girls swim and dive team took its confidence into a huge meet against the East Grand Rapids Pioneers. EGR started out hot, winning 8 races in a row and putting the Lady Rangers in a place of adversity. But FHC fought back, as junior Olivia Hooper claimed a huge first-place win in the 100-yard backstroke. The meet went back and forth, as the Pioneers and the Lady Rangers exchanged wins in multiple events. But EGR would pull away at the end and defeat the Lady Rangers 103-76. For the team, the toughest part about this loss was the morale of the team took a drastic downturn.
“The feeling of disappointment and dissatisfaction in ourselves was pretty upsetting,” senior Olivia Jeong said. “It was pretty clear by the fourth to the last event before the very end of the meet that we weren’t going to be able to win that meet and the atmosphere of the team just changed.”
JV Football vs Lowell
Coming in off of a thrilling 21-19 win over South Christian, the Ranger JV football team took its undefeated streak into Red Arrow Stadium in a matchup with Lowell. FHC started out hot with a touchdown from sophomore Benny Scholler and a field goal from sophomore Luke Gustafson. The Rangers dominated on both sides of the ball, but only went into the half 10-0 against a Lowell team searching for its first win of the season. The Red Arrows started out the second half with a touchdown on their opening drive. The Lowell defense was able to feed off the energy from the offense and produce some pressure on Ranger sophomore quarterback Pierson VanGorp. Late in the game, the Red Arrows would find the endzone to take the lead for the first time in the game. The Rangers failed to respond with points of their own, and the team suffered a heartbreaking loss to Lowell 14-10
“[The toughest part] was knowing that we weren’t going to be undefeated,” Pierson said. “Also that we were only two games away from an undefeated season, including the game against Lowell.“
Varsity volleyball vs. Lowell
After defeating arch-rival Forest Hills Northern in the district semifinals, the Ranger varsity volleyball team took on the Lowell Red Arrows in the district finals. FHC had lost its previous two games to Lowell, so they hope to get some sweet revenge and defeat to the Red Arrows the third time around to win a district championship. The Lady Rangers started out hot and kept in close with Lowell to start the first set, but Lowell would edge out FHC in the first set and win it 25-22. Junior Julia Bouma would help the Lady Rangers jump out to an early 21-13 lead against Lowell in the second set, but the Red Arrows would storm back and eventually steal the set from the Rangers, winning the set 25-21. Knowing they needed a win in the third set to keep their season alive, FHC fought hard to keep pace with Lowell. Senior Lauren Schofield had 10 kills and 13 attacks in the game to help the Rangers stay alive. But unfortunately, FHC fell to Lowell 25-23 and the Rangers’ season came to a close.
“The hardest part [about the loss] was definitely knowing that we could have beaten them, and we went down in only three sets.“ junior Morghan Tilton said.