After two weeks off, the Rangers came to play, traveling to Pampa to take on the Harvesters Friday night in a road game. Perryton played tough on defense, and the offense shined at times, particularly the ground game, but the Rangers fell to Pampa 41-35 in a hard fought battle.
Pampa took the opening kick off, and ate up almost half the clock in the first quarter on their first scoring drive. The Harvesters’ prolific quarterback Jack Studebaker completed 7 of 12 passes in the drive, ending with a 17 yard completion to Hunter Dwyer for the score. The extra point kick was good, and Pampa took a 7-0 lead.
The Rangers went three and out on their first possession, and Pampa started with a short field, at the Ranger 40 yard line. The five play effort ended with a touchdown pass from Studebaker to Jessie Alvidrez. Again, the extra point was good, and Pampa increased its lead to 14-0.
But the Rangers answered with a scoring drive of their own. Quarterback Abraham Hernandez completed a 15 yard pass to Isaac Gabriel on the first place, and Brenton Heeter and Jahir Romero had gains off 10 and 5 yards to put the ball at the Pampa 24. Heeter got the hand off and scampered 24 yards into the end zone. The extra point was good, and Perryton narrowed Pampa’s lead to 14-7.
The Harvesters found the end zone again early in the second period, in a drive that began at the end of the first. Running back Cornelius Landers scored on a 2 yard run, the extra point was good and Pampa went up 21-7.
Another three and out for the Rangers sent the ball back to Pampa. On the Harvesters’ second play, Ranger Pablo Perez picked off Studebaker’s pass around the 50 yard line and ran it back for the score. The extra point was good, and it was 21-14, Pampa.
The Pampa drive stalled when they failed to convert on a fourth down conversion, and the ball went back to Perryton. Unfortunately, on the first play, Hernandez’s pass was intercepted by Pampa’s Erick Hernandez. But the Ranger defense toughened, and Pampa had to settle for a field goal with 4:59 left in the first half, to take a 24-14 lead.
The Rangers made short work of their next possession. Starting at their own 18 yard line, Heeter had a 5 yard run, then Pepper Haley exploded down the field, running 68 yards to set Perryton up at the Pampa 9 yard line. Heeter took it from there, running into the end zone. With 3:22 left in the first half, the Rangers were in striking distance, narrowing Pampa’s lead to 24-21.
Late in the quarter, the Harvesters attempted a field goal, which was good, and they went into the locker room with a narrow 27-21 lead.
Opening up the second half, the Rangers got no-nowhere on their first drive. But the Ranger defense stiffened and Pampa had to try for a field goal. An alert Gabriel blocked the attempt, and the ball went back to Perryton.
In one of their longest drives of the night, the Rangers marched 75 yards down the field for the score. The drive was aided by a 13 yard run by Heeter and a 32 yard effort by Romero before Haley scored from the 1 yard line. The extra point was good, and the Rangers took a 28-27 lead for the first time in the game.
Unfortunately, Pampa’s Jordan Lacy took the kickoff and ran it back for the touchdown. The 2 point conversion, a pass to Jessie Alvidrez was good, and Pampa took the lead back, 35-28.
The Rangers took four plays to score again with a little over 2 minutes in the third, capped by a 55 yard run by Haley. From the Pampa 18 yard line, Hernandez scored. The extra point was good, and the Rangers trailed 35-31 going into the final period.
Pampa scored on their first drive of the final period, aided by the speed of running back Cornelius Landers. After a 29 yard run, Landers scored on a 15 yard effort. The extra point was no good, but Pampa was ahead 41-35.
The Rangers had a chance to win the game, but an unfortunate fumble on the Pampa 4 yard line ended that hope late in the game. From there, the Harvesters made enough gains to run out the clock.
Next Friday, the Rangers will travel to Sundown to take on Alpine. Oct. 9 was originally an open date, but Coach Kurt Haberthur filled the spot with Alpine since the Rangers had already had to miss two games. Game time is 6 p.m.