Unaka bounced back in a big way Friday night.
The Rangers scored early and often in a 56-16 rout of Hancock County in nonconference action in Sneedville behind five touchdown passes from Landon Ramsey to Devon Ramsey.
The 56 points scored were the most for a Unaka football team dating back to Sept. 2, 2016 in a 56-33 win against Concord Christian.
With the win, Unaka improves to 3-3 overall.
The performance also put D. Ramsey into the state record book as his five touchdown receptions is fourth in state history. His four touchdown catches in the first half is tied him for second in the state record books.
For the game, D. Ramsey finished with 14 catches for 280 yards.
The Rangers jumped out midway through the first quarter when L. Ramsey found D. Ramsey for a 32-yard touchdown. L. Ramsey added the two-point conversion to give Unaka an 8-0 lead.
After Hancock evened the score on the ensuing drive, Unaka wasted no time getting back on the board as L. Ramsey connected with D. Ramsey again for a 43-yard touchdown.
The sophomore signal caller added the two-point conversion to give Unaka a 16-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Indians evened things up again early in the second. However, Unaka hit the pedal midway through the second and never looked back.
Caleb Lydick jumped on an Indian fumble and the Ramsey duo connected for a 40-yard touchdown to give Unaka the lead.
The Ranger defense came up big later in the quarter as Mark Nealon rumbled 60 yards for a touchdown off a fumble-return and the ensuing two-point conversion gave the Rangers a 32-16 lead.
Unaka, however, wasn’t done scoring in the second quarter. After D. Ramsey recovered a Hancock fumble at midfield, L. Ramsey found D. Ramsey for the fourth time of the night for a 15-yard touchdown.
Ryan Peters added the two-point conversion to give the Rangers a 40-16 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Peters and the Rangers picked up where they left off as Peters scored on a 57-yard run on the first drive of the half.
The final score of the night came midway through the third as L. Ramsey and D. Ramsey scored for the fifth time of the night – this one a 26-yard run. Peters added the two-point conversion to account for the final score.
Unaka is slated to travel to Cosby next Friday night.
