The 2023 football season could not have started any better for the Roland Rangers, knocking off the archrival Muldrow Bulldogs 21-14 in the annual “Battle of 64” at Ranger Stadium.
Unfortunately, that ended up being the only game the Rangers came out victorious in for the campaign.
A new year and a new coach are bringing a more enthusiastic approach to the 2024 season, which will begin against the ’Dogs in the latest installment of the “Battle of 64” at 7 p.m. this Thursday at Muldrow’s Marty Rogers Field.
“We’re ready to get started,” new Roland football coach Greg Wise said. “We (coaches) are excited. The kids are excited. I feel like the community is excited. We’ve had tremendous bye-in from the players and from the community. Regardless of last year, one thing I keep telling the kids. I don’t care what happened last year. The past is the past. I don’t think about the record. All we need to worry about doing is moving forward. What matters to me is we move forward in the right direction. We’re going to do everything we can this year to improve. We need to learn how to execute, and we need to learn how to execute as a program. Regardless of what’s happened in the past or whoever we have scheduled this year, it makes no difference to me. We’re moving forward, and we’re going to learn how to execute. I have full confidence that we will, and I have full confidence that we’re going to have a better season due to that.”
The Rangers have two candidates at the quarterback position.
“Right now, we have Dalton Crossno that’s going to be getting some looks at quarterback,” Wise said. “We have an incoming freshman, Austin Benham. We’ve been giving those guys the reps in our practices. We feel confident with both of them right now. I have full confidence that we’ll be able to rely on both of those guys at any point during the season. I think we’re in a good spot at quarterback for now.” The rest of the offensive backfield is going to have a unique look to it.
“We’re going to mix things up a lot this year,” Wise said. “We’re going to have a lot of different formations, motions and a lot of misdirection type of stuff. We’re going to try to keep defenses off balance. We’re going to look to have interchangeable parts in the backfield. We’re not going to have one guy we’re going to say will be tailback. We’re going to move them around. We’re looking at Lucas Younger. He’s a tremendous asset back there. We’re going to have Nate Criswell and Cash Bobbitt. Of course, we have Crossno, our quarterback who can run. He played at quarterback about a half of the season for us last year. He’s used to (the position of QB). We’re going to have Paul Johnson. We have several guys that we’ll be able to get the ball into their hands. We have full confidence that any one of those guys can take it to the house. We feel comfortable with the guys we have back there.”
Wise likes his receiving corps.
“We’ve got Uriah Phillips, who’ll be outside,” Wise said. “Then, we have Asa Ulrich. We have Billy McElhaney, who will be on the outside. Coach (Rashawn) Eubanks is our wide receiver coach, and he is feeling very confident this year. He’s saying this is the best group (of wide receivers) he’s had since he’s been here. So, we’re going to have a little bit of depth there. I’ve seen them play. They have tremendous athletic ability. They can go get a football and run great routes. That’s one thing I’ve tasked Coach Eubanks with is make sure these guys’ footwork is sound, they run good routes and get open. What I’ve seen so far in our practices is just that.”
The Rangers’ offensive strength actually likely is in its offensive line.
“The (offensive) line is vital,” Wise said. “I’m a line coach. When I haven’t been a head coach, I’ve been an offensive line coach. We have to make sure we shore things up in the front (line). The luxury this year, if we have a luxury, is the (offensive) line play. We’re going to be able to rely on a lot more kids. We’re not overly big by any stretch of the imagination — especially against the teams we’re going to be playing against. We’re going to have some leadership up there from guys who have been in the system for three years already. This will be their fourth year, so we’re going to have several seniors up there, get some playing time and lead these young ones. (Senior) Joseph Stone will be a four-year starter for us. He was a freshman my first year at Roland. I’ve had him with me on the line play every year I’ve been here. He’s just a great athlete up front for us. He understands the schemes we’re trying to do. Another senior we have is Colton Peters, who is joining us again this year. His leadership is one of the best up front. He provides a good, sound voice for those guys. We have several guys. We have Josh Stone. Josh is in the running to be out center. We have two guys I feel comfortable we can play there. Jeremiah Peters is another guy we’re going to have at center. I feel comfortable with both of those guys. We have some talent up front. Talen Reese is a good kid. He’s a bigger kid. He has good footwork and good hands. We have Braxton Prewett. He’s another one we’re looking at. I think we can go eight deep on the offensive line side of things. We have the talent that we can do that. I feel comfortable with those guys. I feel we can play eight guys at any time and be able to run our offense effectively. We haven’t had a lot of it (depth) since I’ve been here, up front anyway. It’s kind of improved last year, and now this year it’s improved a lot more. I see what team we’ve had in the past. I see improvement. I see potential coming up, and I see guys who have been in our program for a while. That’s what I see. With another year of football under their belt from last year and more experience, I feel comfortable with those guys. A lot of the guys that we’re going to play this year played last year. They were thrown into the fire. I saw the potential, and I’ve seen how well they’ve come along this summer. I think we have a chance to make some noise this year.”
At least early on, there are some holes to fill among the defensive line.
“Joseph Stone is going to be one of our anchors up front,” Wise said. “We’re probably going to rotate tackles. Those offensive lineman we’re comfortable with, those guys can play defensive line, too. If there’s any question mark up front with those guys, it’s at our (defensive) ends. We do have some guys who can play ends for us. Lucas Younger is going to be a guy who will play (defensive) end for us. We’re looking for some other guys to step into that position. At our interior tackles, I feel comfortable with whoever we have up front. We’re just trying to find another end right now to fill that spot.”
The strength of the Rangers’ defensive unit will be among their linebackers.
“We have Dalton Crossno,” Eubanks said. “He’s a three-year starter. Alex Brant, a sophomore, is coming back. He played some games for us last year. We have Cash Bobbitt, a senior two-year starter, is coming back for us. Our linebacking group is a pretty experience group. Last year, they carried the load for us. Hopefully, with three returning starters at linebacker, they can carry (the load) for us again.”
On the other hand, the defensive secondary will be comprised of new faces.
“We have no returning starters in the defensive secondary,” Eubanks said. “It’s going to be a bunch of new, younger guys. We have Uriah Phillips. He’s going to be a sophomore. I have high praise for him. He’s going to be a good one for us back there. We have Paul Johnson. He’s another guy who played a little bit for us a couple of years ago. I think he’s going to have to be another one to carry the load for us. He doesn’t have a lot of experience, but he’s going to be one of the older guys who will take control.”
