Guerin senior Andrew Rangel started at quarterback and threw two touchdown passes and later switched to wide receiver and caught two more as the Gators downed Juarez 34-7 Saturday in River Grove.
Rangel was rarely off the field since he also plays defensive back and holds for extra points, and appeared to barely break a sweat while putting up some impressive numbers.
“I’m used to it, I’ve been playing on varsity since my freshman year,” said Rangel, an honor student who is set to attend Air Force. “I’m a senior leader now, so you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do for your team.”
Rangel played about half of the first period at QB and was 5-for-7 for 52 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 67 yards on six carries and when he went to receiver he had four catches for 118 yards and two scores. He hit senior Keven Kross (four catches, 48 yards, TD) with a 15-yard toss on the Tigers’ first drive for a 7-0 advantage at the 7-minute mark.
On Elmwood Park’s third possession, Rangel had back-to-back runs of 19 yards to set up his three-yard scoring pass to senior running back Kevin Doyle at 7:21 of the second quarter. A missed extra point made it 13-0.
Next it was junior quarterback Gavin Byrne’s turn to show what he could do and decided Rangel would be a good choice for his go-to guy. Byrne (5-for-8, 128 yards, two TD, INT) found Rangel open for a 17-yard scoring strike with just eight seconds left before halftime to increase the lead to 20-0.
The Eagles scored their only points on a 16-play, 83-yard march that chewed up 10:35 to start the second half, culminating with a seven-yard scoring pass from Giovanni Diaz. Byrne then hooked up with Rangel on the first play of the fourth period for a 56-yard TD.
“We’re a dual threat, and I don’t mind playing either position,” Rangel said. “Thing is, we really haven’t shown our offense at all, yet. I like playing this new offense at quarterback, but playing wide receiver isn’t too bad either. But it doesn’t matter to me (where I play), as long as we’re scoring and winning I’m happy.”
Guerin coach Tony Pecoraro said he really liked the way his offense controlled the ball, and admitted opponents won’t know week to week which quarterback will line up over center.
“We started out conservative on offense, but ended up making some big plays, and we have a dual threat at quarterback so you never know what you’re going to get with us,” Pecoraro said. “Rangel does a heck of a job running the offense and Gavin is learning it, but Andrew is my leader offensively. So when he’s on the field he’s helping Gavin out, and he’s my top receiver from last year, so I need him out there.”
Sophomore running back James Cockrell rushed for 78 yards on 13 carries for Guerin, which faces rival Elmwood Park at home in “The Swamp” beginning at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
