TAHLEQUAH — There were two things Roland Rangers football coach Greg Wise wanted to see out of his team in last Friday night’s four-way scrimmage with the host Sequoyah-Tahlequah Indians, the Vian Wolverines and the Tulsa Holland Hall Dutch. Those two things were his team’s physicality with the opposing teams and the players’ mindset. For the most part, Wise was pleased with what he saw in both areas.
“We moved the ball pretty well,” he said. “The point of going up there was to see how physical we would be and how our mindset was. I wanted to see from our standpoint has our mindset gotten to the point where we can be competitive with teams in our district. The other night, I felt like it was, but at times we still lapsed to where I don’t want to be. We saw glimpses of what were trying to instill in these boys to where their mindset will shift and be able to compete in this tough district we have. We played hard. We had mistakes, and for the first scrimmage of the year we’re going to have that. Overall, from an effort standpoint, from being able to move the football and from being able to play defense, I thought we did OK. It wasn’t stellar, but it wasn’t horrible. Scrimmages are just learning opportunities anyway. I thought we got a lot of good work out of it. We got a lot of kids some playing time. We will have a lot of opportunity with our kids on film to go over some things we have to correct.”
The Rangers will not have a scrimmage this week, which means they will have two weeks to prepare for the 2025 season opener at 7 p.m. Sept. 5 when they entertain the archrival Muldrow Bulldogs in the annual “Battle of 64” at Ranger Stadium. Wise said these two weeks very well could be the most important two weeks of the entire season.
“We have two weeks, and I’m excited about that,” he said. “We have two weeks to get this stuff done (corrected). We don’t have a scrimmage Friday night, so that’s going to give us two weeks or preparation for Muldrow. I’m thankful to have that (twoweek period to prepare). These are the two most important weeks so far this season. We’re going to have these two weeks to not only get prepared for Muldrow but for the rest of our season. It’s more of a preparation thing for us. I worry about us more than anything else. What we worry about is what we do, and our plays — do we understand formations and coverages. That’s what is more important to me than anything — making sure our guys are on the right page. These two weeks will give us an opportunity to not only prepare for Muldrow but for rest of those teams (on the schedule).”
The third annual “Meet the Rangers” Community Pep Rally will begin at 6 p.m. Friday at Ranger Stadium.
