The Rudder Rangers of Bryan ISD enter their 10th year of varsity football this fall. Aside from a 7-3 record in 2010, the Rangers haven’t been a force against their Brazos Valley foes.
Rudder in nine seasons has never made the playoffs, and they have just 19 total wins, including last year’s 2-9 mark. They started the 2016 season with a 39-21 win over Austin’s Del Valle, which made the playoffs. Rudder won its only district game against Waco University, which currently sits on a 36-game losing streak.
Administrators in the BISD knew a change was needed, so they hired Greg Morgan, who held Madisonville’s head coaching job the past 16 years. Morgan led the Mustangs to three district championships, 10 playoff appearances and one bi-district title. He’s had more than 25 players receive scholarships from places like Baylor, Texas, Rice and Nebraska.
Like Madisonville, Rudder has athletes walking the halls who can contribute, and the school district tapped Morgan to help correlate that talent to on-field success and possibly many more Friday night victory parties.
Other than getting Waco University on the schedule, District 18-5A is no picnic by any means. There’s a Ross Rogers-led Bryan team that’s always dangerous. Last year’s district champion, College Station High, has made deep playoff runs of late. Lee Fedora takes the reigns at A&M Consolidated. Waco is always a team to look out for and, oh yea, district runner-up Temple was the state runner-up last year.
Nothing is easy in this district, but the Rangers have nowhere to go but up from here.
Key Losses
DT Alex Arevalo, OL Bailey Reid, WR Ladarius Johnson
Arevalo was a first-team all-district player on defense and Reid was second-team offense. Johnson was the main target for the revolving Rudder quarterback door in 2016.
Key Returners
RB Devarion Guyton, QB Hunter Dobbins, WR Jaden Luna
Dobbins emerged as the top quarterback for a Rudder team that saw five different players line up and throw the ball in 2016. Dobbins showed he had a good arm, but he also got it done with his feet, like his 90-yard quarterback keeper for a touchdown against Waco on homecoming night.
Guyton was the team’s leading rusher last year, and he returns along with Jeremiah Manley.
Luna was the second-leading receiver, and he has a year of work with Dobbins, so the two should be even more polished in Morgan’s new offense.
The Verdict
Rudder starts 2017 with road trips to Austin and Hutto. They get Jasper at home before a trip to Houston to face St. Pius X. The Rangers travel to Waco twice for district games and get Temple and College Station at home. Rudder gets the home side of Merrill Green Stadium against crosstown rival Bryan and they travel down Hwy. 6 to face A&M Consolidated to close out regular season.
Coach Greg Morgan has turned around programs, and this might be his toughest challenge yet. But with other schools going through changes in the district, Morgan could have the Rangers closer to the playoffs than previous years.
The talent is there at Rudder. Now it’s just a matter of time before the wins are there as well.
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