[Opening Credits]
A set of chemicals that look
suspiciously like the Rangers from the previous episode are bubbling on the desk of Mr.
Wilton in chemistry class, one fine day at Angel Grove High School. Wilton walks around,
overseeing the various projects going on, while Billy (teamed up with Aisha, everyone's in
twos here) asks Rocky (teamed up with a boy named Alan) if he's sure his Uncle Joe is
going to speak to the football team after school. Rocky is sure, letting us know that Mr.
Kaplan asked his Uncle to give the team a few pointers before the big Stone Canyon game
today. Alan can't believe that Rocky's Uncle Joe (who's moving kinda slow, at the
Junction. Petticoat.... Junction!) is famous football legend Joe Haley (the same one who
wore those netted slingshot briefs?!). Even Aisha knows he's the best pro quarterback
around, but Rocky's always just known him as Uncle Joe, having done a lot for him when he
was a kid. Mr. Wilton finally cuts off their conversation, telling everyone to don goggles
and start mixing their chemicals! Everyone does so, including Rocky, who asks Alan to read
off the equation from the book for him to test out on his beaker of liquids. Alan reads it
as "C2, H-3 over O-2 O-H", and as Rocky follows those instructions, his
container comes to life with a large puff of smoke! Mr. Wilton has everyone exit the room
until the smoke clears, for fear the chemicals might endanger the students or something or
another. Alan doesn't have any clue what happened, but if that smoke IS dangerous, he's
going to be coughing up blood for a month from the length of time he's spent inhaling it!
Rita's watching through her Repulsascope, and can't believe her eye, remarking that if
those brats can't follow a simple chemistry problem, why can't they defeat them?! She
turns around to find Goldar, tossing a football to Lord Zedd, with Rito down between them,
trying in vain to catch the ball. Finster comes in, showing his queen his new mold for a
magic centipede monster he thinks she'll highly appreciate. She doesn't want any more
bugs, but does want something that'll really shake up the Power Rangers. Goldar tells his
"athleticness" to go long, which Lord Zedd attempts to do, but ends up fumbling
the football. It bounces off over behind the throne, and when Zedd goes to get it,
Finster, trying to be a good servant, rushes over to help him pick up the ball. Finster
bumps into Zedd, causing him to drop his magic centipede onto the foggy floor around the
football. Zedd calls him an oaf and shoves him off, just as the football & centipede
merge together, and suddenly create a large monster! He's called Centiback, he's part
centipede, part football player (his nametag reads the nickname of "legs"), and
he carries a large, spikey football with him. Zedd thinks he's impressive, so does Rito,
who is excited to have his own personal quarterback, telling the monster to toss one over
to him. Centiback throws his large football to Rito, who snatches it perfectly from the
air, calls it a touchdown, shakes his legs in a dance, and then suddenly Morphs into a
small white & green football on the floor! Goldar picks him up and says he's finally
made himself useful. Rita finds this quite amusing, and Zedd wants to play some Rito ball.
Goldar tosses the skull faced ball to him, and upon handling it, Zedd notes they don't
make these real monster skin balls like this any more! Zedd finally names the creature
Centiback, before punting the Rito ball across the throneroom for an extra point. Rita
laughs once more, but thinks fun time is over, as she lifts her wand up and uses its magic
to free Rito from his pigskin shell. Rito lies on the floor, rubbing his boney noggin and
asking if anyone got the number of that bus. Lord Zedd notes that by sheer accident he
created something he could never create on purpose, and then tells Centiback that he's
going to defeat the Power Rangers. Lots of evil chuckling is exchanged.
[commercials]
Meanwhile in the halls of Angel
Grove High, the students from Mr. Wilton's class stand around coughing as the smoke
continues to clear. Bulk & Skull, in their Junior Police uniforms, march down the
stairs, telling the teens to calm down as they have everything under control. The bumbling
duo rush over to the three Ranger teens near Mr. Wilton, telling them not to panic as the
Junior Police Patrol is on the case, and asking if anyone knows who's responsible for all
of the smoke. Mr. Wilton gives the all clear signal and tells everyone to get back inside
the class, Bulk & Skull screaming for the teens to move it! Wilton asks the inept cops
if they have anything better to do, and they inform him that they're on celebrity detail,
having been assigned to protect Rocky's uncle. Rocky's baffled that they've been chosen
for it, and Mr. Wilton goes back into militaristic mode, suggesting that they get to it!
Bulk & Skull, still fearful of him from previous shows, nervously run away, but not
before bumping into Alan and knocking his books on the floor. Aisha picks them up,
noticing the notes used to mix the chemicals and showing them to Billy to see if he knows
what he did wrong. Billy judges from the explosion and the equation, that Alan simply read
the elements in reverse. Alan feels like a goon for reading them backwards, and to make
things worse, Mr. Wilton tells him that until he gets his grades up, he's going to suggest
the coach suspend him from the football team. Alan whines about the Stone Canyon game
coming up, and luckily, Rocky is there to save the day by offering to help him study. This
gives Wilton a change of heart, he tells Alan that if he sees improvement in his work by
the end of the day, he won't say anything to the coach. Alan is happy, as is everyone
there, thanking the teacher for the second chance.
Later at the Juice Bar (Outdoor Cafe), Rocky & Alan are hard at work on what is likely
chemistry homework. Ernie walks by in the background, earning himself a day's pay and a
place in the credits for this Spoiler. Rocky doesn't understand why someone as smart as
Alan has so much trouble with school. Alan guesses he's just not any good at it,
mentioning that even when he was a little kid he hated reading, as it was like words &
numbers were out to trick him. Alan reveals the truth of the alphanumeric conspiracy, that
when he checks what he's written down it's like he's seeing things upside down and
backwards. Rocky notes that his Uncle Joe had trouble in school too. This reminds Alan of
his Uncle's scheduled talk with the football players, which he thinks they may have
missed. They frantically get their stuff together, Alan pausing to ask Rocky if his Uncle
really had problems with school (No, he was just B.S.ing you), Rocky confirms this, and
thinks that maybe his Uncle can tell him where he's going wrong. Meanwhile at the Angel
Grove High School's football field, Bulk & Skull come running up to Rocky's Uncle Joe
Haley after the talk is over and everyone's cleared out. They introduce themselves to the
large man as his Junior Police Patrol escorts, there to take him back to his hotel and
protect him from any harm. They also want his autograph, handing him a yellow slip of
paper and begging for his signature. Joe notices that it's parking violations and refuses
to sign them, but Bulk tells him to just write on the back of them, which reluctantly
does. Unbeknownst to them, a few feet away, Centiback teleports in, welcoming the
"sports fans" to the big game. Skull spots the monster heading their way,
gaspingly pointing him out to Bulk, who cries out a response of "no, not again!"
upon seeing yet another evil space alien come to kill them. Centiback thinks this is a
beautiful day for annihilation as he walks towards the three, Uncle Joe confused as to
what the creature is, obviously a stranger to the usual habits of Angel Grove.
Alan & Rocky hear the screams of Bulk & Skull from across the field, and upon
spotting the monster, both rush over to help. Centiback raises his football, and aims it
at Joe Haley. Bulk & Skull prove true to their jobs when they dart out in front of the
famous quarterback, promising to save him. The special football strikes Skull in the
chest, transforming him into a small football, before landing back in Centiback's hands.
He then places his football on the ground, says it's fourth & long, time for the field
goal, as he kicks it at Bulk, who also gets footballized instantly. Centiback chalks up
the score, Zedd Monster 2, Earthlings Zilch! Alan & Rocky finally reach the area, but
before they can counteract, Centiback tosses his football at Alan, who catches it in his
hands. He doesn't vanish too quickly, and is able to utter "uh-oh" before
becoming a Nerf ball (purple, matching his shirt). Rocky drops down and grabs the Alan
ball, distracted enough for Centiback to pitch his football at the unsuspecting Red
Ranger. That is, if not for the interception of Uncle Joe, who grabs it before it can hit
Rocky. He suddenly turns into an orange football, much to Rocky's dismay. Centiback notes
the score as 4 to nada in favor of the visiting monster. Rocky stands up, angered, points
his finger at Centiback, and tells him that he picked the wrong day to mess with him,
calling the creature "lace face" before shouting that It's Morphin' Time! Red
Ranger then leaps at Centiback, but upon striking his chest, is thrust back into the air
by the mighty upper chest of the monster. The game's not over yet, although Rocky doesn't
seem to be performing very well. Centiback gets physical in the confrontation, both
fighting it out hand to hand. Red Ranger is knocked over a few times, and finally calls in
to Zordon, letting him know he's under attack at the football field. Zordon reads him, and
will have Alpha contact the others and send them there to assist him immediately.
Centiback recognizes Zordon's name, calling him the worst coach in the universe, before
tossing his football towards Red Ranger, who manages to duck out of the way and narrowly
miss becoming a ball himself.
The other five Power Rangers leap to action, landing at the side of their weary teammate.
Centiback calls their team weak, hutting and preparing to destroy them, as Rocky grunts
out a warning to stay away from his ball. White Ranger tells Rocky to hang in there and
for the monster to prepare to get sacked. Rita's watching the game from the balcony of the
Moon Palace, booing upon seeing that the other Rangers have arrived. Lord Zedd tells his
dear not to worry, he'll send down the Tenga team and really score a touchdown, Go Tengas!
The Tengas feather-port down around Centiback, filling out his team to an even 6 to 6.
Rocky once again warns his pals not to let the ball touch them, this time pointing to the
set of four footballs lying nearby, and telling them that's Uncle Joe & the others.
Centiback is boasting about second string having arrived, asking the Rangers if they're
ready to be sidelined. Tommy doesn't think so, it's going to be him who is sent to the
showers, not them (whew, I thought something died, Tom, that explains it!). Centiback
wouldn't bet on it, calling out for his team to get down and set. Rocky leads his team to
do the same, calling Centiback a "gridiron geek". Centiback says he's one
problem they won't be able to tackle, hiking the ball to a Tenga (who oddly doesn't turn
into a football because of it) and rushing into the game. It's the Rangers Vs. The Tengas
and Centiback is the star quarterback! Centiback slams his way through our heroes, and
when the Tenga tosses the ball to him, he soon catches it. Tommy soon tells him to
"bug off", so the monster tosses the ball at him, and thanks to being held down
by some Tengas, he's unable to do anything but get Footballized. The extra point is punted
at Billy, also held by Tengas, and like all the Rangers, becomes a small color-coded
football. Adam & Kim try to penalize Centiback by leaping at him through the air, but
he somehow comes up with two more of his special footballs, which he kicks at both Pink
& Black Rangers, transforming them before they even hit the ground. Red Ranger does
away with his Tenga opponent, racing down the field, trying to end this quarter, with
Aisha basically cheering from the sidelines. Rocky barrels through the Tengas (who seem to
have multiplied), eventually reaching Centiback, only to end up getting knocked to the
ground before he can tackle his enemy. Centiback aims his ball for Yellow Ranger, tosses
it at her, Aisha completely ignores Rocky's pleas to step aside (plus, she was about 50
yards away from them, she had plenty of time to move) and ends up as a football like the
rest. Centiback reads off the score for us, at the half-time, the score is 9-0 in favor of
the visiting team!
[commercials]
Centiback slowly creeps down the
field towards Red Ranger, boasting that it looks like his season is over. Outnumbered and
weary from quite a pummeling, Rocky contacts Zordon via his Communicator, asking for
permission to come back to the Command Center (since when has he ever needed to ASK?!!),
noting he's the only Ranger left (which, you'd think, all-seeing and knowing Zordon would
already know about!!). Centiback says he forgot to tell Zordon about all the nice
footballs he made (which are all being carried by several Tengas standing behind him), so
he guesses he'll just have to make another one out of Red Ranger. The monster tosses his
ball at Rocky, but the lone Ranger manages to grab his belt and reach skywards,
teleporting just in time to miss becoming joining his friends in football, literally!
Centiback says that Red Ranger can't leave in the middle of the game, since it's bad
sportsmanship, but decides to head to the locker room to plan his demise for the second
half. With that, the monster and his Tenga team teleport back to the moon. Meanwhile in
the Command Center, Rocky asks Zordon how he's going to defeat this monster alone. Zordon
calls the Centiback monster an especially fiendish creation and it's unlikely he can
defeat him without the other's assistance. Alpha ay-yi-yi's about how Rocky can stop the
monster without any help. Rocky, still thinking about Alan's problem from earlier, asks
Alpha about that football emitting an energy wave, which is correct. He's got a crazy idea
to find a way to turn the beam upside-down and backwards, reversing the spell! Alpha
realizes he's correct, inverting the energy waves could reverse the spell. The alarms go
off, and Alpha discovers that the monster has moved all of the footballs to the mountains
outside Angel Grove. And to make things worse, there's a snowstorm moving in to the area!
Zordon notes that inverting the energy waves won't work with interference, and to assist
him in this most difficult task, it's imperative for Rocky to summon Ninjor. Rocky begins
to do just that, but the second he opens his mouth, Ninjor suddenly teleports in behind
him, asking if someone said his name! Rocky fills him in on the others being turned into
footballs and are in need of rescue. Ninjor claims that football is his favorite sport,
what with the home runs and baskets and all. Speaking of baskets, Alpha creates two large
buckets with odd wires around them, which should reverse the energy field. With both
buckets in hand, Rocky is ready to get back to action!
Red Ranger & Ninjor appear at the mountains outside of town, holding their special
buckets. Rocky notes that it looks like the storm is on its way, judging by the cloud
buildup and the cold climate. Centiback makes the scene, Rocky claims they're here to make
him fumble, the monster calls that tough talk from a guy holding a garbage pail. Rocky
tells him he isn't afraid now that he can reverse the spell, Ninjor agreeing, shouting
that it's fifth and down for him! Rocky corrects him, saying it's fourth and long (hence
the title of the ep). Centiback tells them to stick a pig in it, throwing his special evil
smileyface football at them, only to have it caught safely in Red Ranger's bucket.
Centiback wants his ball back, which Rocky is happy to return, by heaving it back towards
the monster, or rather past him, landing on the ground near the rows of human footballs.
The reversed spell beams outwards onto four of them, returning Bulk, Skull, Alan, &
Uncle Joe to their normal forms! Rocky contacts Alpha with news of the success, and Alpha
immediately teleports them back to the football field just to be safe. There's still time
on the clock for Centiback to execute one of his favorite plays, punting his ball towards
Ninjor, who captures it in his bucket, and proclaims "two points!". Centiback
nervously says they aren't playing fair and makes the mistake of asking for his ball back,
getting his wish as Ninjor chucks it back his way, missing the monster and landing it
right next to the five Ranger footballs! The reverse energy beam comes in contact with
them, reverting all five back into their normal Morphed forms. Tommy says that's one
experience he won't soon forget, checking himself out and discovering that he's all here,
asking his teammates if they're all okay. They murmur agreeance, as does Saba, who makes a
rare speaking appearance, saying "I'm fine too", prompting Tommy to say that's
great, before patting his sentient saber on the head. Centiback calls a penalty for too
many Rangers on the field, as Ninjor & Rocky shake hands, Ninjor exclaiming "Slam
dunk!".
Rita watches the Rangers get free in her Repulsascope, and shouts as much to her husband.
Zedd remarks that they've got to turn this game around, Rita wants to see how they'll do
with the economy size. Rita & Zedd lock their magic wand & Z-Staff together,
spewing forth combined evil mystical energies towards Earth, crashing through a cloud as
lightning and giving Centiback a steroid sized growth spurt! It seems that that charge of
energy through the atmosphere was all the sky needed to erupt into a snowstorm, as snow
begins to fall all around the mountain range. The Rangers make a run for it as Centiback
reaches down, wanting to play some touch football. Centiback wants a scrimmage so he can
finish them off, but Rocky's giving the creature his two-minute warning! The six Power
Rangers call on their Ninjazords, which then transform together into the mighty Ninja
Megazord (oddly, Falconzord is called on, but is not seen during the whole fight? Off
making snow falcons, was it?). Ninjor knows a great utility player, namely himself, as he
grows to giant-monster battling size! Centiback hops up and down in the snow as Ninja
Megazord and Ninjor stand before him. Ninjor sick of the showboating and is ready to do
it, rushing into action with his sword drawn. He strikes out at Centiback, but the agile
monster leaps into the chilled air and dodges the blade. The creature then starts kicking
and punching Ninjor until he tumbles over onto the frozen ground, which Centiback cackles
evilly about, but as Ninjor proclaims when he gets back up "Listen up, you
over-puffed piece of polystyrene, your rushing days are over. I'm gonna stop you
cold!". Or hot, as the case may be, as Ninjor heats up, transforming into his enraged
Warrior Mode! Centiback calls this no fair, saying it's either double teaming or
off-sides, as Ninjor rushes up, and with a powered-up charge in his sword, slashes into
the monster with quick precision. This sets him up for the Ninja Megazord to charge its
Red Ape & Blue Wolf arms, giving Centiback a 1-2 punch. He falls, exploding into a
fireball amid the cool white snow. The Megazord poses triumphantly in the falling snow
with Ninjor, who happily proclaims "we did it!", while still in Warrior Mode. Up
on the moon, Goldar points out to his master that the Rangers have destroyed Centiback.
Zedd groans, saying he knew Rita's stupid idea wouldn't work. Rita denies the blame,
asking who's dumb idea was it to create a football monster. Finster tries to play
mediator, telling them not to blame each other for what happened. Rita agrees, and both
she & Zedd begin shouting at Finster, saying it was his fault! He made the monster,
after all. Rita, Zedd, and even Goldar, all shout overlapping insults at poor Finny,
taking their loss out on him.
[commercials]
Later at the Juice Bar's Outdoor
Cafe, the Ranger teens are sitting at a table, discussing the days evens. Kimberly, who
honestly looks like she's have a horrible hair day, says that being a football was a weird
experience, Billy notes that they certainly got a different perspective on things. Rocky
& Alan drop by with Uncle Joe, and good news that Alan doesn't have to quit the team,
Adam seems pleased. Tommy asks what happened, Alan mentions that he told Mr. Haley about
his problems in school, and the pro football relative of Rocky's took care of the rest.
Lt. Stone walks in and heads over to the table where Bulk & Skull are sitting. Upon
hearing his voice, they jump up and stand at attention, shouting "Yes, Sir!".
Skull notices Lt. Stone holding a football in his hand, and nervously asks Bulkie if
that's one of the monster's footballs. They squeal with fright together as Lt. Stone draws
closer to them with a possible item of evil. Jerome merely asks them why they weren't at
the football field, Bulk tells him the truth, that they were turned into footballs. Lt.
Stone asks what they take him for, a numbskull? The bumbling duo shake their heads for a
moment. He doesn't know what their problem is, but it's the last time they'll receive
celebrity duty, and from now on, they'll be lucky if they even get crossing guard duty!
They "yes sir" him, and before he leaves, he tosses the football to them, asking
them to return that to the field. Still fearing pigskin, the moronic duo fumble the ball
back and forth, until it flies off into the air, and lands on their table, causing a fruit
salad bowl to fly up and splash itself all over Bulk's crotch. Everyone, Ranger teens,
Alan, Uncle Joe, and Skull included, laugh at Bulk's misfortune (how would you like it if
we laughed at you, huh, backwards brain boy?!). We're next treated to a really odd shot of
Billy with a weird look on his face while Aisha stares at him smiling, while Kimberly
voices over "so Mr. Haley, what exactly is Alan's problem?". Uncle Joe says
Alan's problem sounded a lot like his so he took him over to the High School Learning
Resource Center to be tested. Alan gets all Public Service on us by saying "it turns
out I have a learning disability called dyslexia. The center says many people are
dyslexic." Joe notes he's dyslexic too, and when they're under stress they tend to
interpret numbers & letters differently than other people. Not all teachers recognize
the problem and apparently, nobody ever noticed the problem all through Alan's life, so
how he got as far as he did without anyone noticing is a quite funny thing indeed
(!tneinevnoc woH)! Mr. Wilton knows ways to help, and promises his grades will really
improve. And Uncle Joe is most excited about that now he doesn't have to quit the team!
Everybody cheers and claps, and chances are, thanks to Alan, Angel Grove loses the game to
Stone Canyon. Good one, Rockwell!
[End credits]
_END CREDITS SCENE:_
In a scene which likely takes place during the time when Rocky was in the Command Center
(though, from the dialogue, seems to take place after the episode, with a resurrected
Centiback, it's not clear), Centiback rushes into the throne room. The film is sped up so
as to imply Centiback is racing around, gearing up for the big game. He shows Rita &
Zedd (who sit on the throne together) what he can do, saying the next time he fights the
Rangers he'll fool them with his fancy footwork! Zedd finds this unbelievable. Centiback
calls himself a fast-footed football fiend. Zedd stands up and notes that the monster
looks like a Drovian Warthog with a hot foot! Centiback says he loves hot foots, and if
they give him another chance, he'll give the Rangers a hot foot they'll never forget, and
he's the one to do it, and they can take that to the bank! Zedd is annoyed by his super
fast rushing around, and shouts "Oh give it a rest, will you?!"
