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RUDDER RANGERS MOTIVATED TO PLAY FOR INJURED TEAMMATES

Rudder Rangers motivated to play for injured teammates

MARIA MCILWAIN

The Eagle | 9/6/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Laura McKenzie

Desmond Murphy wanted to be sad upon hearing the news that his Rudder teammates, quarterback Brant Roberts and safety Gage Schwartz, were in a car accident Sunday night. Murphy, a captain and senior defensive end, said he had to rally his teammates, no matter how hard it was to put his emotions aside.

“I just had to put my feelings aside and tell them if they weren’t in the hospital, they would be at practice just like us,” Murphy said. “We had to do this for them. It’s going to be tough, no doubt in my mind, but we’ve got to do this for Brant and Gage, because they’re brothers, and they’re going through much more adversity than we are right now.”

Monday’s practice was subdued, but the Rangers were motivated throughout the week to prepare for their matchup against Elgin at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Merrill Green Stadium.

“I think teenagers and maybe even adults sometimes we don’t see the finality of life, that it can end in just a flash,” Rudder head coach Eric Ezar said. “They were very lucky just really to be alive because as they got out of the car, the car burst into flames. It could be a real tragedy this week. We count our blessings and our prayers that they’re going to be OK. In the short term, they won’t be playing this year, but in the long term, they’re alive, which is the big thing.”

The Rangers will wear helmet stickers with Roberts’ and Schwartz’s numbers to honor their teammates.

Rudder is coming off a 28-27 loss to Bastrop in its opener, but to Ezar, there were a lot of encouraging signs for the Rangers. After they took a 21-7 lead, Bastrop rallied to go ahead 28-21, but Rudder didn’t give up and scored again. The Bears blocked the extra point to seal the victory.

The perseverance is what Ezar and Murphy really liked.

“Last year it was more of we noticed we were down, so we gave up,” Murphy said. “This year, yes we lost, but we know exactly where we’re at and where we’re supposed to be, so we’ve been preparing for this week off of last week.”

Last Friday’s game was a good starting point for Rudder, and Ezar said this week he wants the Rangers to stay aggressive if they have the lead, and if not, have the same perseverance as last week.

“[The loss to Bastrop] kind of shows everybody that we are close to being really good, but we can’t just mail it in either,” Ezar said. “I think we still have a lot of confidence for the kids. I’d love to see them get a big win, because they’ve been working really hard.”

Murphy liked what he saw out of Rudder’s aggressive defense last week as the Rangers held Bastrop to 268 total yards. He and Ezar agree defensive coordinator Jarry Poth and the team philosophy suits Rudder’s personnel.

“Offense does a tremendous job of doing their job, too, but I feel like also defense is probably the bread and butter of this team,” Murphy said.

Ezar also saw improvement this week in his young offense, which is led by sophomore quarterback EJ Ezar, his son. Junior wide receiver Keithron Lee also looks to be a playmaker for the Rangers after racking up 149 all-purpose yards and scoring three of Rudder’s four touchdowns last week.

“We’re young on offense still, and we made some mistakes, but we had 59 plays and scored four touchdowns,” Eric Ezar said. “Once we start tuning that up, I think we’re going to be a really good ball team, because I think we’re going to stop people defensively, and I think it’s going to be hard to stop us because of our offense.”

Roberts and Schwartz will be in the players’ minds Friday night and vice-versa. Ezar spoke with Schwartz’s mother, who said Schwartz was concerned Rudder would struggle after the one-point loss.

“He’s not the fastest. He’s not the tallest, but he’s the one that’s got the heart and works hard,” Ezar said of Schwartz. “He was upset that he wouldn’t be on the field to pump them up.”

But Ezar said he is confident Murphy and his teammates will step up as soon as they see their helmets adorned with No. 2 for Roberts and No. 34 for Schwartz on Friday.
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