The Riverside Rangers and Horizon Scorpions each are known to have high-octane offenses and that is the type of show they brought to the fans at Tom Work Riverfront Stadium on Friday night.
The night started the Scorpions’ first drive ending short, as they turned the ball over giving the Rangers the momentum first. Riverside capitalized on the turnover by getting on the board first in the middle of the first quarter with a 3-yard Rudy Valenzuela TD run to make it 7-0.
The Scorpions turned the ball over on the very next drive, resulting in the Rangers taking a 14-0 lead with a 3-yard TD pass from Angel Munoz to Dominic Coronel with a little less than 4 minutes remaining in the 1st Quarter.
With 1 minute into the 2nd quarter, the Rangers had a spectacular 7-yard QB TD run by Angel Munoz to get the 21-0 comfortable lead. In the middle of the 2nd Quarter, Horizon’s Ernie Garcia began turning things around for the Scorpions with an 8-yard TD run to make it 21-7, Riverside.
With both defenses stepping it up most of the remainder of the 2nd quarter, the Rangers had a Jonathan Reyes Field Goal and were able to go into halftime with a 24-7 lead.
Reyes had another Field Goal for the Rangers in the 3rd Quarter to make it 27–7, Rangers. The Scorpions seemed to have a spark on their end starting with a 7-yard Jacob Quijas TD run to make it 27-14, Riverside with 5:33 remaining in the 3rd Quarter.
The Scorpions were able to get the ball right back from the Rangers and had a 4-yard Ernie Garcia TD run followed by an intercepted 2-point attempt ran all the way back by Riverside’s Frank Luna to make it 29-20, Riverside with 1:51 left in the 3rd Quarter.
The 4th Quarter intensified the game’s already palpable energy, as the Scorpions were next to get on the board with a 26-yard TD pass from Quijas to Angel Gutierrez to make it Riverside, 29-28 with 7:52 left in the game.
On the very next drive, the Rangers moved the ball with ease and it ended with an Angel Munoz 15-yard Quarterback keeper for a touchdown to make it 36-28, Riverside with 5:32 left in the game.
The Scorpions answered back in 56 seconds with a 34-yard TD run by Quijas to make it a 36-36 tie ball game.
With 3:54 left in the game, the Rangers had a monstrous run by Munoz followed by a 4-yard TD by him run to make it 43-36, Rangers. The Riverside defense held the Scorpions deep in their own territory on the next drive and it was ended with an Anthony Lopez sack on 4th down giving the Rangers the ball deep in Scorpion territory with 2:12 left in the game.
The Rangers capped off an exciting game with a Jonathan Reyes Field Goal to make it a victory for Riverside, 46-36.
Next Friday, Horizon(1-3) will travel to Bel Air to take on the Highlanders. While the Rangers (4-0), will look to keep their perfect record intact as they travel to Monahans next Friday.
After the game, Rangers coach Gary Recoder talked about the win:
Paul David Oliver Reporting