The St. Paul High School football team got what it wanted Friday.
Buckaroos coach Jay Phillips said he wanted to see how his team would stack up against a known quantity in Dufur. On Friday, he found out in a 42-6 loss to the No. 2-ranked Rangers.
   “We’re not going to base the success of the season on one game,” Phillips said. “We’re young and we’re going to learn from this and grow. We’ll watch film, see where we need to improve and go from there. This game saw where we’re at.”
   The game was relatively close in the first half. The Rangers assumed a 20-6 lead before St. Paul’s final possession of the first half. With the Buckaroos driving down the field at the 28-yard line, quarterback Jeff Annen (14 for 35 for 210 yards) tossed a pass to receiver Ryan Pierson in the end zone, but Pierson bobbled the touchdown pass. Instead of potentially pulling within 20-14 at halftime, the Bucks were in a 14-point deficit.
   The Rangers did nothing but extend their lead in the second half. An Annen pass was batted down and intercepted by Tyler Tibbets who ran the ball back for an 11-yard touchdown with 5:20 remaining in the third.
   Dufur’s Matt Hammel scored on a 1-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter to give the Rangers a 34-6 lead and put the game away.
   “At times, we did all right,” Phillips said. “We have to play for four quarters and not have any letdowns. At times, I think that we let down. We did, but that’s OK.”
   Still, St. Paul had four turnovers in the loss.
   “That will beat you in any football game, let alone against a good football team,” Phillips said.
   The Bucks have a chance to rebound Friday in a 7 p.m. nonconference home game against Cove, led by former Powers coach Todd Shirley. The Leopards are 2-1 on the season with a 26-20 loss to Ione (a team St. Paul defeated 58-14), a 22-20 win against Echo and a 26-20 win against Greenleaf, Idaho.
   “We’re anxious to get back on the winning track,” Phillips said. “We’re going to work hard on fixing some things and we’re looking forward to a good game on Friday.”