BENTON — Benton head football coach Justin Groves said his team was ready to play back after the fall limited contact practices. Fast forward a few months, and the Rangers showed right away they were ready for the new spring season.

“It is exciting, and it’s good to get off on a quick start like that,” Groves said. “We feel confident in our guys, and we just focused on ourselves, especially since everything started with being locked down at home back in March last year. The things we were doing remotely and were able to get kids doing on their own, that’s what led to where we are at now.”

Benton shut out West Frankfort 53-0 in last week’s season opener. The offensive outburst saw a couple of school records fall–junior quarterback Keegan Glover threw for Rangers all-time best 398 yards and six touchdowns. Two of those TDs went to Ayden Newcomb, who broke the school’s all-time record for career touchdown receptions.

“It’s exciting,” Newcomb said. “But it’s not that important to me, honestly. It means a lot, but I’d
rather just go out here and have fun.”

“I think it just takes a lot of getting on the field, working with each other,” added Glover. “Even if it’s not throwing into route running, just watching each other practice and seeing their speed and their mechanics help a lot.”

While the offense was piling up numbers, the defense was pitching a shutout, and that effort certainly got the coach’s attention.

“We knew our defense was going to be stingy and salty,” Groves said. “I didn’t realize it was going to be three first downs in the first game. That’s just a testament to how hard those guys have worked.”

There will be no postseason in the pandemic edition spring football season. The players say they are stoked to get back on the field, and that with no playoffs, each week means even more.

“It makes every game just as important as the first one,” said senior lineman Logan Williams. “Every guy here, especially the seniors, are trying to give these last five games all they have.”

“We’re gonna play each week like it’s a playoff game,” Glover said. “Every game is like that. We know when the season is going to end now. Before we had no idea, so now we’re gonna play every game like it’s our last.”

The Rangers will go for 2-0 Saturday afternoon when they travel to Harrisburg to take on the Bulldogs, who also won their opener.