New coach, no problem for Cass
Published 9:50 pm Monday, September 21, 2020
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CASSOPOLIS — It took all of one series for the host Cassopolis Rangers to look like nothing had changed from the 2019 season.
The reality of it though is that a lot has changed in Cassopolis since it last took the football field.
The Rangers have a new head coach in Steve Green, the long-time assistant coach who replaced the retired Dan Purlee this past winter.
Cassopolis has some new personnel, including a new starting quarterback in Mason Polomcak, who missed much of last season after suffering an injury. Polomcak was a running back for the Rangers in 2019.
Then there was the roller coaster ride the Rangers and the rest of the state of Michigan took waiting to see if football would even be played in 2020.
Nothing seemed to faze Cassopolis, as after an initial three-and-out, the Rangers scored 35 unanswered points en route to a 41-14 win over Cassopolis in the Southwest 10 Conference opener for both schools.
“We were treating the first half like a scrimmage,” Green said. “Let’s run a little bit of everything and figure out what is working.”
The Rangers scored on offense — Daishean Jamison opened the scoring with a 2-yard run before returing an interception 59 yards to make it 14-0 early in the first quarter.
The Rangers (1-0) would get another 2-yard run, this one from Polomcak and a 3-yard run by Ahsan Hart, before returning another interception 38 yards for a touchdown.
Hartford was able to get on the board before halftime when Dylan Voss caught a 13-yard pass from Donovan Sikes for a touchdown.
The only score of the second half for the Rangers was a 14-yard Kasmir Buck pass reception from Polomcak.
Hartford (0-1) capped the scoring on a 24-yard run by Aaron Sinclair.
While a big win was nice in his debut as a head coach, Green is already looking ahead at what his team needs to do to improve.
“We need to get into better shape, and we need to sustain our blocks up front longer,” he said. “I thought we came off the blocks a little too early.”
Green said he was worried about his extra point unit.
That seems to have been answered by Logan Pflug, who is a member of the Ranger soccer team.
“We just found that kid last week,” Green said. “We asked him if he could do it and it is really amazing what he put forward tonight because in practice he was about 25 percent. Tonight, he really focused and his one week of hard work really paid off.”
The Rangers are back at William F. Scott Field Friday night when they host rival Decatur in another Southwest 10 Conference contest.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.