No. 14 DeSoto Escapes Jesuit Rally: Jesuit Dallas traded punches with DeSoto for three quarters, but the Eagles used several elongated fourth-quarter scoring drives to hand Jesuit its second loss of the season, 55-27, on Friday at Postell Stadium. Junior Kyle Heckel scored two touchdowns for the Rangers, rushing the ball seven times, and scoring his second varsity rushing touchdown while adding his first touchdown reception. Senior Rance Holman threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns, completing 17 passes.
Senior Jonathan Paredes led the team in overall all-purpose yardage with 123 receiving yards and a touchdown. Paredes has excelled over the first two games of the season, catching a touchdown pass in both games while averaging 75 yards per game. Junior Jake Taylor finished the game with 33 yards rushing and 79 reception yards, crossing the century mark in all-purpose yardage for the second consecutive game.
Defensively, senior Tommy Roy led the charge with 12 tackles, including three tackles for loss and a sack. Classmate Jack Barton, who opened the season with a 13-tackle performance against Arlington, secured nine stops. Sophomore Robert Fitzgerald logged a trio of pass breakups and four tackles. Senior Mitchell Campbell recorded the team's longest field goal since the 2015 season, a 48-yard bomb from the center hash that opened the scoring for Jesuit. Campbell would add a 43-yard field goal at the end of the first half, adding six tackles and a six-yard tackle for loss to aid in the Jesuit defensive effort.
Offensive Weapons Shine to Start Season: The Jesuit Dallas offense has averaged 410 all-purpose yards per game over the first two games of the season. Each of the Rangers' first two games has seen a different 100-yard receiver as Wyatt Garrett caught six receptions for 123 yards against Arlington before Jonathan Paredes caught seven passes for 123 yards last Friday. Overall, Jesuit has scored five of its seven touchdowns through the passing game as the Jesuit Dallas receiving contingent has averaged 12.8 yards per catch throughout the year.
Rockwall-Heath Topples Wylie in Double Overtime: A 25-yard touchdown pass from Josh Hoover to Jayden Jones sealed Rockwall-Heath's 44-41 double-overtime win against Wylie. Hoover threw for 455 yards and five touchdowns for the night. Jones was his favorite target, turning in 164 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Rockwall-Heath moves to 2-0 on the year. Wylie (0-2) orchestrated a comeback in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter to push the game into overtime, scoring on a 92-yard touchdown strike from Marcus McElroy to Mykal Ford. An onside kick recovery set up a series ending in a 5-yard rushing touchdown by leading rusher Tre Sheffield with 19 seconds remaining in regulation.
Players to Watch: Returning first team all-district defensive end Kortlin Rausaw is a three-star recruit and the No. 88-ranked weak-side defensive end in the nation. Currently, Rusaw has 12 offers, including offers from Army, Boise Stats, Colorado, North Texas, Texas State and UTEP. Starting quarterback Marcus McElroy has averaged over 175 yards per game this season despite only throwing one touchdown while running back Tre Sheffield has averaged 60 yards per game and has scored three of the team's six offensive touchdowns this year.
A Jesuit Connection: The 2019 season will pit Jesuit Dallas offensive coordinator Royce Slechta against his former team. Slechta joined the Jesuit football staff in the summer of 2019 after a nine-year stint at Wylie, where he led one of the most prolific offenses in the Metroplex. Wylie's offense was consistently ranked as one of the best in the Metroplex by the Dallas Morning News, and Slechta was a member of a state semifinalist Wylie team in 2010 alongside district championships in 2014 and 2012.
On the Horizon: Jesuit will return to Postell Stadium on Sept. 20 for the team's district opener against Plano West. The Rangers shut out Plano West last season, 42-0, on Sept. 22 to earn the team's first shutout since 2015. The Wolves enter Friday's non-district finale against Mesquite on a 28-game losing streak dating back to the 2016 season, but hope to snap that streak in 2019 under the leadership of first year head coach Tyler Soukup, who joined Plano East after serving as the offensive coordinator at Hebron.
