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RUDDER FOOTBALL TEAM READY FOR CHALLENGE AGAINST NO. 8 LAMAR CONSOLIDATED

Rudder football team ready for challenge against No. 8 Lamar Consolidated

MARIA MCILWAIN

The Eagle | 10/4/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Rudder High School Athletics

While watching film of last year’s game between Rudder and Lamar Consolidated, Rangers first-year head coach Eric Ezar saw Rudder relax and play its game as it fought back from a 28-14 deficit to tie the Mustangs in the third quarter before losing 35-28.

The Rangers are big underdogs again as they host the No. 8 Mustangs in District 10-5A Division II action at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Merrill Green Stadium.

“I’ve been talking to the kids about that ... we’re playing the No. 8 team in the state, but what do we have to lose? Go out and have fun,” Ezar said. “Here’s the deal: If we go out and we get down, OK, we’ve been down before. It’s not a big deal.”

Playing from behind is not unusual for Rudder (3-1, 1-0), which earned each of its three victories this season in comeback fashion. Ezar said he hopes the Rangers’ athleticism will catch Lamar Consolidated (4-0, 1-0) off guard. Rudder’s offense features junior wide receiver Keithron Lee, who has a district-leading 21 catches for 428 yards and five touchdowns. Quarterback EJ Ezar has thrown for 687 yards on 42-of-77 passing, and James Ayers kept several drives alive and scored five touchdowns in last week’s 56-50 win over Montgomery.

The Mustangs counter with the district’s leading rusher, Taye McWilliams, who has 612 yards and eight touchdowns on 43 carries.

Two weeks ago, Eric Ezar might have said he wants his squad to come out stronger in the first half, but after a solid first-half performance against Montgomery and multiple comebacks, he said he is happy with the team’s overall effort. Ezar and senior wide receiver Malcolm Manley attribute Rudder’s second-half success to the long, hot practices and offseason work the Rangers put in, and Ayers credits a good locker room environment at halftime.

“This year, we don’t really feel like an underdog because we know we can play, and the coaches really have given us confidence,” Manley said. “So moving forward, we just play.”

Ezar and Ayers also said the younger players are shaking off nervousness as the game progresses, and Ayers tries to encourage his younger teammates when they look apprehensive. Ayers said he takes his dual role as a captain and member of the leadership council seriously and bought into Ezar’s message of forgetting past plays and working through tough situations. Ayers says members of the player council, including Manley, Desmond Murphy, RJ Rubio and Alvin Dunn, help project a unified message and a “good deed” chain to uplift other players on the sideline.

“It’s a young group, and I give them credit that they come out here and play hard,” Ay... Click here to read full article

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