Winning Streak Snapped by Allen: Jesuit racked up over 325 passing yards and junior EJ Smith caught a pair of touchdowns, but Allen scored 41 points in the first half en route to ending the Rangers' hope for an unbeaten run through District 9-6A on Friday with a 58-33 win over the Rangers at Eagle Stadium. The Rangers outscored Allen, 17-16 in the second half, but the salvo from the Eagles was enough to overpower Jesuit and hand the Blue and Gold its first district loss.

Senior Rance Holman completed 25 passes for 266 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both of which were scored by Smith. The senior finished the contest with 169 all-purpose yards, catching a team-leading eight passes for 130 yards. Senior Wyatt Garrett added a 74-yard touchdown reception on a trick pass from junior Kyle Heckel, who also scored the Rangers' longest touchdown run of the season with a 93-yard masterpiece in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, Jesuit racked up two sacks and nine tackles for loss. Senior Mitchell Campbell recorded three tackles for loss and a sack, tying classmate Zach Pendola for the team lead. Senior Tommy Roy added four tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. The Ranger defense held Allen to a 2-for-10 clip on third down conversions, continuing a dominating trend in third down defense over the last five games.

The two teams combined for 1,297 yards of offense and 91 points as Allen racked up 732 yards of total offense compared to 565 by Jesuit. The Rangers out-possessed Allen, 26:19-21:41.

Trends Continue, Smith Peaking at Right Time: Through four district games, Jesuit is outgaining opponents, 241-115, in the run game. A big part of the disparity is the running back tandem of junior Jake Taylor and senior EJ Smith. Taylor has developed into the team's workhorse, carrying the ball 65 times for 371 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry and 92.8 yards per game. Smith has been lethal inside the red zone, scoring eight touchdowns on 58 carries while racking up 312 rushing yards. The senior all-purpose back has also led the team in receiving over the last four weeks, catching 18 passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns.

The Ranger Linebacker Fantastic Four: The linebacker corps of seniors Jack Barton, Ford Buckner, Tommy Roy and Mitchell Campbell have combined for 90 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and four sacks over the last four games. Barton leads the charge with 30 tackles, followed by 22 stops from Buckner, 21 tackles from Roy and 17 tackles from Campbell.

Special Teams Making a Splash: Jesuit's special teams has continued to be a key part of the squad's success as junior Parker Brown has gone 5-for-5 in field goal attempts and 16-for-16 in extra point chances. In addition, Brown has averaged 53.9 yards per kickoff this year, recording six touchbacks, along with 12 punts for 435 yards with a touchback and three punts inside the 20-yard line. 

Scouting the Wildcats                                                                                                                                                                                

Hines Leads the Wildcats: Tylan Hines rushed for 261 yards and three touchdowns, leading Plano to a 42-20 victory over Plano East. He scored on Plano's first two possessions, from 55 and 54 yards, after breaking tackles at the line of scrimmage. Down 14-0 in the first quarter, Plano East (1-6, 1-3 in District 9-6A) used the passing of Ryan Foust and the rushing and receiving of Trey Scott-Jones to close Plano's lead to only 21-13 at halftime but the relentless Plano (5-2, 3-1) ground game and a tough defense extended their lead to 35-13 in the third quarter. Plano quarterback Oliver Towns finished with three touchdown passes and rushed for another score. Foust finished with 215 passing yards and three touchdowns and Trey-Jones was his favorite target with six receptions for 138 yards.

Vaunted Double Threat Attack: The running back tandem of Tylan Hines and Cody Crist have provided a majority of the Wildcat rushing attack this season as the two backs have combined for 1,231 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. Hines has 76 carries for 798 yards and has averaged 10.5 yards per attempt while Crist has six touchdowns on 433 yards. 

Sharing the Ball: Quarterback Oliver Towns has thrown 19 touchdowns this year, but five different members of the Wildcat roster have touchdowns to their credit this year. Jayden Chambers and Nolan Williams share the team lead with seven touchdowns each as Chambers is also the clubhouse leader with 475 yards on the year and 29 catches.

A Tradition of Excellence: Plano enters Friday with the opportunity to take one step closer to the team's second playoff appearance since 2015. The Wildcats are seven-time UIL State Champions, the last coming in 1994, and have not advanced past the UIL Area Round since 2009. The Wildcats' last state semifinal berth was in 2007, a team which featured current New England Patroits running back Rex Burkhead.

District Rival Report                                                                                                                                                                                    

Recaps Courtesy of the Dallas Morning News

Prosper 29, McKinney Boyd 3: Prosper dominated on both sides of the ball in Friday's District 9-6A contest with McKinney Boyd, gaining 418 yards on offense while holding Boyd to just 60 total yards in cruising to a 29-3 victory at Prosper ISD's Children's Health Stadium. Prosper (6-1, 3-1 in 9-6A) controlled the contest from the opening snap, but could only manage a 6-3 halftime edge after a pair of short field goals by Brad Larson. However, Prosper found its scoring groove in the third quarter with a pair of touchdown catches by Tyler Bailey from Jackson Berry to power a 17-point third quarter. Fisher Naumann had the other touchdown for Prosper, with Berry rolling up 206 total yards while JT Lane rushed for a game-high 146 yards. McKinney Boyd (2-5, 1-3) got its lone points in the second quarter on a 35-yard field goal by Austin Woodruff.

McKinney 29, Plano West 14: Two big defensive plays bookended McKinney High's 29-14 win over Plano West. McKinney's Datron Brooks picked off a pass and shook multiple defenders on his way to a 55-yard interception return to open the game. Plano West (0-7, 0-4 District 9-6A) closed out scoring with a 92-yard fumble return by Deijon Jefferson after he stripped the ball and sprinted the length of the field with just under two minutes left. McKinney (3-4, 1-3 District 9-6A) controlled much of the game with quarterback Sampson Nazarko throwing for 209 yards, one touchdown and an interception. McKinney's Isaiah Wallace led all receivers with 11 catches for 101 yards.

Wylie 14, Rowlett 13: Wylie linebacker Dezmond Adamson came up with a game-saving interception in the closing minutes to seal a 14-13 win over Rowlett at Homer B. Johnson Stadium. Rowlett got off to a fast start to take a 6-0 lead when quarterback Alex Routt fired a 42-yard touchdown strike to Tre'Von King but the lead was short lived. Wylie (3-4, 3-1) took a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter when Mason Lang rolled to his right and found Aaron Henry across the middle for a 3-yard touchdown pass. Wylie tacked on another score late in the first half to take a 14-6 lead on a 2-yard scoring run by Trey Adams. Rowlett (3-4, 3-1) cut the Wylie lead to 14-13 early in the third quarter when Antonio Hull made a leaping 35-yard touchdown reception from Routt, but that's as close as Rowlett would get. Rowlett's defense forced several 3-and-out's in the second half but were unable to capitalize. District 10-6A is now anybody's to win as Garland Lakeview Centennial, Rowlett, Sachse and Wylie are all tied for first place with (3-1) district records.

Sachse 24, North Garland 21: Matthew Carter blocked a 26-yard field goal with 1:10 left in the third quarter to help Sachse squeak by North Garland, 24-21, at Williams Stadium. Sachse (5-2, 3-1 in District 10-6A) jumped out to a 14-0 early in the second quarter on a Jordan Nabors 13-yard touchdown run. North Garland (4-3, 1-3) quickly took a 21-17 lead in the second half, scoring on a 87-yard run by Goodness Nwawuihe and a 2-yard touchdown run by Sabron Woods, who had 227 yards rushing in the loss. Parker Wells gave Sachse the deciding margin on a 9-yard touchdown with 7:24 left in the third.

Up Next: Jesuit enters the homestretch of the season with a Friday night battle against McKinney at 7 p.m. on Nov. 1. The Rangers will then return to Postell Stadium for the regular season finale against Plano East on Nov. 8.