Jesuit's historic 2019 season came to a conclusion on Saturday as the Rangers battled back and forth with Spring Westfield but ultimately fell in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Region 2-6A Division II Championship game, 38-28, at NRG Stadium. Jesuit opened the game in electric fashion with an interception return for a touchdown by senior Jack Barton and battled back from a 14-point deficit, but the Spring Westfield defense forced turnovers on both of Jesuit's fourth quarter drives to clinch the win.
 
Senior EJ Smith totaled 163 all-purpose yards in his final game, scoring two rushing touchdowns to lead the offense. Smith pieced together an incredible senior season, fighting off injuries in the preseason and late in the regular season to close the year with 918 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns along with 537 receiving yards and seven touchdown catches.
 
Quarterback Rance Holman completed 20 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown, finishing his season with 2,395 passing yards. Holman's lone touchdown pass of the game was completed to junior Charlie Cook, who was wide open on a blown coverage by Westfield in the fourth quarter to tie the game with 9:27 remaining in regulation. Senior Christian Allocco added a team-high nine catches for 87 yards to cap a fantastic senior season.
 
In addition to his interception return, Barton led the Rangers with eight tackles. Jesuit finished the game with three forced turnovers as senior Ethan Lane caught his second interception of the season and senior Tommy Roy recovered a fumble punched out by sophomore Robert Fitzgerald. Roy would add seven tackles as senior Mitchell Campbell secured five tackles.
 
Jesuit Dallas finished the contest with 315 yards of offense and out-possessed Westfield, 31:01-16:59. The Ranger defense held the Mustangs to 1-of-8 on third downs, but the Westfield defense held Jesuit to 2.5 yards per carry in the run game.
 
How it Happened
 

• Westfield quarterback Cardell Williams threw a soft screen pass on the first play from scrimmage that was intercepted by Barton in stride at the Westfield 26-yard line. The senior beat the Mustang defenders to the pylon for the game-opening score, giving Jesuit an early, 7-0 lead nine seconds into the contest. The Mustangs scored quickly to tie the game with 10:22 left in the quarter on a 64-yard, breakaway run from Kendal Taylor.
   
• Jesuit went three-and-out on its ensuing drive and Williams struck on the first play of Westfield's third drive, hitting Malachi Jones for a 53-yard touchdown to give Westfield its first lead of the game. The two teams traded drive and Westfield took the ball at Jesuit's 18-yard line after forcing a fumble on a quarterback option run by Holman. Another touchdown pass on the ensuing play spotted Westfield a 14-point lead at 21-7.
   
• The Rangers pieced together an 11-play, 66-yard drive to cut the lead to seven points. Smith rushed the ball three times inside the red zone, including a four-yard plunge into the end zone with 1:35 left in the first half to stop the Mustangs' scoring run. Campbell secured a big-time sack on third-and-seven to force another Westfield punt.
   
• In the second quarter, Jesuit forced another turnover as Fitzgerald forced a fumble a 20-yard rush by running back Jadon Tucker that was recovered by Roy at the Westfield 46-yard line to give Jesuit the ball with the chance to tie the game once again. A Westfield offsides call gave the Rangers first-and-10 at the Westfield 33-yard line, but the Rangers were unable to capitalize and turned the ball over on downs.
   
• Westfield turned the ball over again after the turnover on downs as a third-and-seven pass from Williams was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Lane for the nose tackle's second interception of the season. The Rangers marched down the field over the next minute after taking over at the Mustang 29-yard line, tying the game on an eight-yard run by Smith. Westfield scored with nine seconds left in the first half to take a 28-21 lead into halftime.
   
• Neither team capitalized on long drives in the fourth quarter as the Rangers seemed poised to tie the game during a long drive that started at their own 21-yard line. On third-and-10 from their own 21-yard line, Holman found Allocco for 23 yards to take the ball to the 44-yard line with a fresh set of downs. Another third-and-long was converted on a 19-yard pass from Holman to junior Kyle Heckel and the Blue and Gold scored a first down on a pass interference call against Westfield. However, on second-and-goal from the four-yard line, Westfield intercepted Holman in the end zone to stop Jesuit's 11-play, 75-yard drive which took 5:17 off the clock.
   
• Barton sacked Williams for a three-yard loss in Westfield's ensuing drive, forcing a punt that gave Jesuit the ball back at its' own 32-yard line. Jesuit marched down the field and entered the fourth quarter at the Westfield 42-yard line. Holman found Cook down the right sideline wide open after blown coverage by the Mustangs, and the junior walked into the end zone to tie the game again with 9:27 left in regulation.
   
• Westfield marched down the field on an 11-play, 57-yard drive that took 4:18, but Jesuit forced a field goal after causing the offense to stall inside the red zone. The Mustang kicker missed his first field goal attempt, a 30-yard try, but was bailed out by a false start by the Westfield offense line. The 35-yard kick was true and gave the Mustangs a three-point lead with 5:09 left. A holding call on second-and-10 during Jesuit's next drive put Jesuit in a passing situation, and Westfield intercepted Holman then scored on a 61-yard run to take a 10-point lead with 1:43 remaining. Jesuit's final drive of the game was stopped on a fourth-and-two to close the game.

 
Season Notes
 

• Jesuit Dallas closes the year with the program's first run to the UIL Regional Finals. Since joining the UIL in 2004, the Rangers had never advanced past the UIL Regional Semifinal round, and the team's lone third round appearance came in 2013, when Jesuit lost to state semifinalist Lake Travis.
   
• The Rangers secured the first win in program history over Longview, ending a seven-game losing streak that dated back to the 1972 season. The last four meetings between the two teams were during the postseason and the three preceding matchups saw Longview beat Jesuit by 25 points or more. Jesuit defeated a Longview team that was the reigning UIL Division II-6A State Champion and entered the game on a 27-game winning streak that spanned the entire 2018 season into the 2019 UIL Bi-District Round.
   
• Jesuit's bi-district win over Lakeview Centennial continued a strong trend for the entire Jesuit Dallas athletic program as the Blue and Gold are a combined 9-1 in UIL Bi-District Round matchups against Garland ISD. Including Jesuit's baseball team, which are a combined 6-3 over the last three postseasons and hold a 3-0 series record, qualifying UIL playoff teams have been able to advance into the area round in all but one instance in the four team sports (football, basketball, soccer, baseball) in which the team competes in a bracket-format UIL championship.

 
Up Next
 
Jesuit Dallas will await the results of the UIL Re-Alignment, set for Monday, Feb. 3. The Rangers will announce their non-district and district schedule once the new districts are announced.