Rush City Takes Down Rangers on Homecoming

Rush City hosted Crosby-Ironton on Friday night.

The Tigers came in off a two game losing streak in which they had trouble hanging onto the ball. But it was time to turn the page and move forward. While homecoming is a busy week, the Tigers were able to keep their focus on the things they needed to fix and improve on. And as the lights came on it was time to prove to themselves they had done just that.

It didn't take long for the Tigers to get on the board. They had the ball first, and while the first two plays went backward and then picked up minimal yards it was the third play that got the crowd going. QB Braylon Nihart found his TE Kyle Haugrud on a short pas over the middle. Haugrud made one defend miss then had nothing but green grass in front of him and he scored from 69 yards out, and after converting the 2 they were up 8-0.

Then it was their defenses turn and they came out firing on all cylinders, forcing a 3 and out from the Rangers. The Tigers would get the ball back offensively and once again score quickly. Lukas Diedrich would help set his team up in the redzone after a 43 yard run, following his blockers then using his speed. After a few short runs, the Tigers decided to go back to Diedrich this time through the air, hitting him on a 9 yard pass to extend the lead 14-0 heading into the 2nd quarter.

The Rush City defense again would keep the Rangers offense hemmed in and quickly and forced a turnover on downs after a sack from Devin Krahmer. This time though the Tiger offense would have to drive the length of the field. But this is where they decided to rely on the offensive line and the run game. Tyler Monson did most of the work getting them down inside the redzone. A short pass from Nihart to Diedrich would get the offense to the one, and Monson would finish off the drive plunging in for the touchdown. After the successful 2 point conversion their lead was now 22 points. This time the Rangers offense not only found success but found the endzone. They took a good chunk of time off the clock but scored no less, making it a 22-6 difference. Both squads had the ball again before the half, Rush City had it twice more but were forced to punt, and their last drive ended the half. The Rangers last drive was a quick turnover on downs.

The 2nd half saw scoring come to a lull with only 8 points being scored, but that's exactly what the Tigers wanted to do. While on offense they took the play clock all the way down and ran the ball. They were able to score on their first drive of the 3rd quarter, Monson would score from 11 yards out, and after another 2 point conversion they were up 30-6. While there was no more scoring the rest of the game, there was still plenty of action. The Tiger defense was flying around and stopping the Ranger offense. And all the Tigers offense had to do was run the ball and the clock. They did just that winning on homecoming 30-6.

The win for the Tigers ends a two game losing skid and get them a game above .500 at 4-3.

They'll finish the regular season hosting Hinckley-Finlayson on Wednesday.

Our Pine Insurance Players of the Game were Rush City's Tyler Monson and Devin Krahmer!