It was going to take more than lightning and rain to keep the Rudder Rangers from getting that first varsity victory.

Fans waited 45 minutes in a driving rain for kickoff, but for the Rudder faithful, it was worth every minute to see quarterback Kyle Danford take a knee to run out the clock on a 21-19 victory over Brookshire Royal at Merrill Green Stadium.

When the final clock hit zeros, the scene on the field was pandemonium as Rangers and their fans enjoyed their first taste of victory. Head coach C.M. Pier, already soaked by a full game's worth of rain, was treated to a Gatorade shower and players congratulated each other all the way back to the locker room.

Pier said his team will celebrate this victory but will have to get back to business as usual come Monday.

"This win means everything," Pier said. "What these kids have been through last year and starting this year with a loss, it means a lot. Now they can see what I've been telling them about. We're going to accept our pats on the back tonight ... and then we've got to get ready because we've got another bird coming to town next week."

Rudder will host the Hearne Eagles next week at Merrill Green Stadium.

While highlights were plentiful Friday night, none were bigger than Matt Fritsche's interception of Falcons quarterback Eric Matthews with a minute left to play to seal the deal for the young Rangers (1-1).

In its second season of varsity football, Rudder took a 21-19 lead with 2:18 left. The Falcons (1-1) got the ball back, but quickly found themselves in a fourth-and-10 hole. Matthews connected with Davion Richard for a 30-yard pass that put the Falcons in Ranger territory. But when Matthews dropped back again for another long pass attempt, he missed his target badly and floated the ball right to Fritsche.

"It was like everything was in slow motion," Fritsche said. "I saw it and I just concentrated on it. I caught it and just started running."

Fritsche caught the ball at his own 36-yard line and carried it into Royal territory, punctuating the play with a tough stiff arm on Matthews as he was tackled at the 39.

"That looked sweet," Pier said. "The best part was [Fritsche] had [given up a big] play earlier in the game, so he ended the night by balancing it out with a big play of his own."

The interception capped off a fourth quarter that Rudder fans will be talking about for some time.

Royal led 19-8 to open the final period. Rudder drove to the Falcons' 12, but Danford had a pass picked off in the end zone. Instead of folding, the Rudder defense held and kept the Rangers in the game.

"At first, everyone was down," Fritsche said. "But our defense came out to play."

After giving up an 18-yard run to open the drive, Rudder buckled down to force the Falcons into a fourth-and-10. Royal elected to punt, but the punter mishandled the wet ball, resulting in botched kick of 2 yards. The Rangers responded with an 8-play, 42-yard drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Danford. Royal picked off the two-point pass attempt, but Rudder had cut Royal's lead to 19-14.

The Falcons got the ball back with 5 minutes left, but Rudder's defense again stepped up and prevented the Falcons from running out the clock. Royal gained just 2 yards on three runs and was again forced to punt. The 22-yard punt left the Rangers just 31 yards from the lead with 3 minutes left.

The drive opened with a 1-yard run by Restevin Anderson, but Tre Hammond followed it with a 30-yard dash on the next play to give Rudder the lead. It was the second touchdown for Hammond, who also scored on a 20-yard run in the first quarter. He finished with 56 yards on six carries.