Rangers run away from Amanda-Clearcreek
By: Andrew Woods
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOUB) — Even though the Amanda-Clearcreek Aces came into their Week Five game 0-4, Hamilton Township Rangers head coach Tennyson Varney knew his team could not afford to underestimate their opponents.
“The message to our kids is that we’re going to have to play four quarters every game. There’s not going to be anything easy,” Varney said.
The Rangers (3-2, 1-0 MSL-Buckeye) responded to Varney’s challenge, rushing for 353 yards and defeating Amanda-Clearcreek (0-5, 0-2 MSL-Buckeye) 26-6.
Hamilton Township got the ball first and immediately got its rushing attack going. In a sign of things to come, the Rangers started the drive with a 15-yard Dez Branch carry and a 20-yard Lance Reynolds rush. Branch then finished off the opening drive with a 21-yard rushing score.
Amanda-Clearcreek got tricky on their next drive when quarterback Conrad Carpenter tossed the ball to running back and backup quarterback Carter Madison, who completed a pass to midfield. However, the Aces’ drive stalled, and Hamilton Township got to work again.
The Amanda-Clearcreek defense showed signs of promise on the next drive, forcing a fourth-and-two on the Amanda-Clearcreek 33-yard line. However, the Aces’ defense broke under the Rangers’ relentless rush attack. Hamilton Township converted the fourth down. A few plays later, Suge Brown capped off the drive a few plays later with a 13-yard rushing touchdown to make the score 14-0 Rangers at the end of the first quarter.
After allowing 152 yards rushing in the first quarter, the Amanda-Clearcreek rush defense began to clamp down, forcing a three-and-out on the Rangers’ next drive. This set up the Aces up with a promising scoring drive that made it all the way to the Hamilton Township 27-yard line. The Rangers’ defense did not break under the pressure, as they forced a fourth-and-four and denied the conversion.
Hamilton Township’s next drive was marred by unusual circumstances. Amanda-Clearcreek seemed to have forced a three-and-out. The Amanda-Clearcreek returner muffed the ensuing punt, which the Rangers seemingly returned for a touchdown. However, that play was called back for an inadvertent whistle.
After some consideration on the sideline, Rangers coach Varney decided to go for the fourth down on his own 33.
Hamilton Township made the conversion, then quarterback Drew Kasprzak thew his only completed pass of the game, a 41-yard pass to Wyatt Mathias. After a short run, the Rangers field goal unit rushed on to the field and converted a 29-yard kick with no time left in the half to give the Rangers a 17-0 lead.
Hamilton Township kept rolling out of halftime. Brendan Locke forced a fumble on the Aces’ first drive. A 47-yard Lance Reynolds rush on the Rangers next drive set up Suge Brown, who punched in a five-yard touchdown.
As soon as things looked like they were getting out of hand, Amanda-Clearcreek’s offense kicked into high gear. Carpenter completed a 52-yard pass to Evan Kern, who totaled 136 yards receiving on four catches. Then, Amanda-Clearcreek drove with a mix of passes and rushes, including a three-yard Carter Madison touchdown. Hamilton Township blocked the PAT though, making the score 24-6 Rangers.
The Aces’ hopes for a comeback continued into the fourth quarter at the beginning of the thanks to two big passes by Conrad Carpenter. Carpenter set Amanda-Clearcreek up at the Hamilton Township 46 with a 32-yard pass at the end of the third quarter, then a few plays later, he found Evan Kern along the sideline to move to the Rangers’ 23-yard line.
However, the Hamilton Township defense held strong, making two tackles for loss and forcing a 47-yard field goal attempt, which landed well short of the goalposts. The Rangers offense then drained the clock all the way down to five minutes to go before giving the ball back to Amanda-Clearcreek on their own seven-yard line.
The Rangers’ defense sealed the deal on the next drive by forcing third down on the Aces’ five-yard line. On the next play, Hamilton Township brought the blitz, and Carpenter folded under the pressure, committing an intentional grounding penalty in his own end zone for a Rangers safety.
Hamilton Township’s run game led the Rangers to victory. In total, Hamilton Township rushed for 353 yards on 49 attempts, averaging 7.2 yards per carry. Suge Brown and Dez Branch proved to be a two-headed monster in the backfield, rushing for 136 and 112 yards respectively. However, after the game, Varney attributed the rush attack’s success not just to Brown and Branch, but to the Rangers’ veteran offensive line.
“We put a lot of pressure on them to perform every night,” Varney said. “Tonight, they did a really good job.”
Hamilton Township will continue conference play next week at Circleville (4-1, 1-0 MSL-B), while Amanda-Clearcreek will visit Marietta (0-5) in nonconference action.