Friday, November 04, 2011

Rangers come back to beat Carpinteria, 34-24

The Nordhoff Rangers saw their league championship hopes slipping away tonight against the Carpinteria Warriors, but then NHS rallied back to win 34-24 and claim at least a share of the Tri-Valley League title.

After jumping out to a 14-6 first half lead, the Rangers then began to implode and the Warriors took advantage. Carpinteria returned a punt for a touchdown and converted the two-point conversion to tie the game at 14-14. The Warriors then kicked a field goal to take a 17-14 lead and then made a huge play on defense, returning an interception for a touchdown to extend their lead to 24-14.

With the Rangers seemingly on the verge of defeat, they stormed back when Andy Drifka found Micah Thornton for a touchdown in the fourth quarter making the score 24-21. NHS then took the lead when Drifka found Luis Espinoza for a touchdown with 1:32 to play in the game. Leading 28-24, the Rangers put Carpinteria away for good when Connor O'Malley forced a loose ball and Kevin Crane recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

See Wednesday's OVN for more information in the Rangers' thrilling comeback win over rival Carpinteria.