It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but the Riverside Rangers had no problem doing just that on Thursday. They blew past Big Spring, posting a 49-20 win on the road. The win was familiar territory for Riverside who now have five in a row.
Derek Vasquez continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 103 yards and four touchdowns, while also throwing for 206 yards and two touchdowns on only 16 passes. Riverside also got a significant boost from Noah Ramirez, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 155 yards.
Several Steers players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Kavien Ford, who rushed for 148 yards and a touchdown. Ford hasn't dropped below 100 rushing yards for three straight games. Zeyire Franklin was another key contributor, picking up 84 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Riverside's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-2. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 1-9 Horizon and 2-9 Big Spring (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 26% over those games). As for Big Spring, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 2-9.
Riverside will head out on the road to face off against Springtown at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Springtown is also coming in off of a big victory, so somebody is in for a big reversal of fortune. Big Spring does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
