Playing 10 games in a row does not happen very often anymore for high school teams, but it did for Riverside, and the Rangers just took it in stride, hosting the Clint Lions in their regular season finalé.
Clint took the opening kickoff, and literally looked like they came to play, as Manual Holguin broke free from 24 yards out, got the scoring started with 7:42 in the 1st quarter, and after Carlos Arreola extra point, the Lions led, 7-0. Not to be outdone, the Rangers capitalized on the ensuing drive, and on a 1 yard run by Jose Guardado, along with a Jonathan Reyes’ extra point, we were knotted up at 7-7, with 5:01 in the 1st.
Jose Guardado continued the scoring as he got into the painted grass from 10 yards out, and after the Reyes extra point, the Rangers took the lead, 14-7, with 11:45 in the 2nd quarter.
After a defensive stand, Riverside’s “Speedy” Muñoz hooked up with Frank Luna on a 36 yard pass play, and after the extra point, 21-7 with 7:15 to go in the 2nd. That’s when Ranger “D” stepped up, and was able to get the ball back for the offense, in which Guardado took advantage and broke free, 30 yards for another Ranger TD and his 3rd touchdown of the night. Before you knew it, it was 28-7 with 2:04 remaining in the 2nd quarter.
Clint tried to get some points on the board before going into the locker room, but Arreola’s 39 yard FG was no good and at the half, it was 28-7.
The score would stay that way for a while, as there wasn’t any scoring in the 3rd quarter, but Riverside would fix that in the 4th. At the 10:39 mark, Frank Luna took the reverse hand-off, and with an outstanding block by “Speedy” Muñoz leading the way, he scored from 33 yards out, and after the PAT, it was 35-7 as Luna has 2 touchdowns on the night.
Almost 5 minutes later, at the 5:45 mark, the Rangers finished their run with a 15 yard scamper by Muñoz, who spun into the end zone for the TD, and with the Reyes kick, that put on the finishing touches, to make it 42-7, and it stayed that way….in which Gary Recoder and his, Riverside Rangers, in front of the legendary Coach Tom Work, became the 2021 1-4A District Champs.
The Rangers move to 9-1 overall, 4-0 in District 1-4A, and will finally get a week off with the bye next Friday and prepare for the state playoffs. The Lions fall to 4-5 overall, 2-1 in District 1-4A, and will host San Elizario who lost in their final home game today to Mountain View, 55-14.
Paul Torres Reporting