Coal Ridge rolls Panthers 52-8

RANGELY I At least the Panthers can say this: They won the second half.
Rangely outscored Coal Ridge 8-7 in the third and fourth quarters last Friday in a home game. However, the Titans dominated the first two quarters, outscoring the Panthers 45-0.
For the second week in a row, Rangely gave up more than 50 points in a game. Two weeks ago, the Panthers lost to Basalt 51-0. Both Basalt and Coal Ridge are 2A schools; Rangely is 1A in football.
Despite another lopsided loss, coach Tim Galloway still found reason for optimism.
“We did some positive things,” Galloway said of the 52-8 loss. “But it’s pretty safe to say we beat ourselves. The referees even said that at halftime, they were like you guys should be right in the middle of this game, but the dropped passes, the missed executions …
“I think the biggest thing is I don’t think the kids have any confidence in themselves,” Galloway said. “I think these guys have been beat down for so long. It wouldn’t have mattered if it had been against Coal Ridge or somebody else. We were pretty much beat when they showed up. We weren’t ready to play.”
Rangely suited up 20 players for last Friday’s game and lost two of them to injuries. Jake Smith hurt his knee and JoD Stults suffered a wrist injury.
“Jake is going to have an MRI to find out the extent (of the knee injury),” Galloway said. “We think possibly JoD has a broken wrist. We’ll find out after the radiologist looks at it on Wednesday. But that was two key losses.”
Senior co-captain Cole Barlow had a good game for the Panthers, rushing for 112 yards on 20 carries.
“Cole had an outstanding game,” Galloway said. “He really did, both offensively and defensively. He wants to win. We need all of ‘em to have that fire in ‘em.”
The Panthers’ only touchdown Friday came on a 15-yard pass from Kody Denny to Tobie Gasper. The pair combined again on the two-point conversion.
Rangely, 0-3, will play a Saturday home game at Yaeger Stadium, taking on the Grand Junction junior varsity at 1 p.m.