Determined Defense Sends Jesuit Past Wylie: A definitive defensive effort and a timely interception return for a touchdown propelled Jesuit Dallas to its first win of the season with a 31-10 victory over Wylie on Friday evening at Wylie ISD Stadium. Jesuit held Wylie to 240 total yards of offense, limiting the Pirates' passing game to 67 yards on 22 pass attempts while forcing two interceptions. Junior Peter Melle recorded the first defensive touchdown of the year on a 33-yard interception return in the third quarter while senior Ethan Lane added his first career interception in the opening quarter.

Senior Jack Barton led the team with 10 tackles while classmate Tommy Roy recorded three tackles for loss, including a pair of sacks that cost Wylie 19 total yards. Roy and junior Jack Judson finished the contest with six tackles while seniors Chase Walker and Mitchell Campbell recorded five tackles each. The Jesuit defense held Wylie to 2-of-13 on third downs, and the special teams unit made a splash as well with a blocked field goal by junior Cooper Manning in the second quarter. Jesuit totaled 287 yards in the win and held the ball for 25:23, out-possessing an opponent for the second time this season. 

Rance Holman threw three touchdown passes to finish the contest with 149 yards. Senior E.J. Smith made his season debut in the victorious effort, catching two passes for 39 yards and a touchdown while adding eight rushes for 50 yards, averaging 6.3 yards per carry. Junior Jake Taylor rushed the ball a team-high 11 times for 52 yards and caught a touchdown reception while senior Wyatt Garrett caught his third touchdown of the season on a 24-yard reception in the first quarter.

Linebacker Corps Excels in Non-District Play: Jesuit's linebacking corps, under the leadership of assistant head coach Paul Maturi and assistant Coach Billy Thompson, have dominated opposing offenses this season and have played major roles in all three games this season. Heading into this Friday's matchup, Jesuit's three top tacklers, Jack Barton, Tommy Roy and Mitchell Campbell, are all linebackers. Campbell played a key role against Wylie last week, deflecting two passes that resulted in interceptions, while Roy currently leads the team with seven tackles for loss and three sacks on the year. Barton, who moved from the backfield to linebacker before the first week of the season, currently leads the team with 33 tackles, include 23 solo tackles, a forced fumble and two tackles for loss.

Nice to See You Again: Senior E.J. Smith made his return on Friday after dealing with a preseason injury, scoring the 13th career receiving and 51st all-purpose touchdown of his career late in the first half. The two-time all-district selection and 2017 MaxPreps sophomore all-american is a heavily sought-after college prospect ranked as the No. 2 all-purpose back in the nation, the No. 15-ranked prospect in the state of Texas and the 96th-ranked overall prospect in the Class of 2020. This summer, Smith listed Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Stanford and Texas A&M as his top five schools.

On the Horizon: Jesuit will close the first half of the season next Thursday on the road against McKinney Boyd. The game between the Broncos and Rangers will be broadcast live by WFAA along with Jesuit's radio broadcast. Last season, Boyd shut the Rangers out in the fourth quarter and held on for a 35-28 victory at Postell Stadium on Sept. 28. Jesuit will head into the bye week following next Thursday's contest and will return to Postell Stadium on Oct. 11 to battle Prosper.

Scouting Plano West: The Wolves, under the leadership of new head coach Tyler Soukup, fell to 0-3 on the year following a 48-21 loss to Mesquite last Friday. Plano West trailed by three points with 29 seconds remaining in the second half, but a kickoff return touchdown by Mesquite sparked a run which saw the Skeeters close the game with 24 unanswered points.

Senior Quarterback Leading Fresh Offense: Senior quarterback Andrew Picco has spent a majority of the early season under center for the Wolves, averaging just over 75 passing yards per game while racking up 227 yards early in the season. Holding a 47 percent completion percentage, Picco has two passing touchdowns to his credit along with a rushing touchdown. Kamryn Settles has embraced his role as the team's primary runningback, averaging 17 carries per game and four yards per rush. After being shut out of the end zone during the first two games of the season, Settles scored his first rushing touchdown of the year last Friday against Mesquite.

Plano West Defense Aiming for Season-Best Performance: Jesuit's offense enters Friday's contest averaging 28.7 points per game, while Plano West has been allowing over 30 points per contest. The Wolves will need to find an answer on the defensive side after the loss of three-star recruit and highly sought-after weak side defensive end Shemar Pearl, who is currently playing at Garden City Community College.

Snapping the Streak: The Wolves enter Friday's game aiming to snap a 29-game losing streak dating back to the 2016 season. Plano West last won a football game on September 22, 2016, when the Wolves upended McKinney, 38-21. Prior to the losing streak, Plano West saw a resurgence of its football program with three consecutive playoff appearances from 2012-2014 alongside a state quarterfinal appearance in 2012.

Last Time They Met: Despite a 14-hour rain delay that pushed kickoff from its original Friday night slot to a Saturday morning matinee, Jesuit Dallas posted its first shutout win since 2015 with a rousing, 42-0 effort against Plano West at John Clark Stadium. Junior quarterback Kevin Shuman threw four touchdown passes, finishing the contest 7-of-19 for 173 yards. Shuman connected on touchdown passes to seniors Nick Hafertepe, Jack Hajdu, Brody Hilberth and Travis Whisler. Hajdu led the receiving corps with two catches for 66 yards, followed closely by Whisler's two receptions for 64 yards.

On the ground junior EJ Smith led Jesuit with 154 yards and a touchdown, carrying the ball 17 times to average 9.1 yards per carry. Sophomore Jake Taylor added 11 rushes for 52 yards, aiding a Ranger ground game that totaled 256 yards and averaged five yards per carry. Junior Chase Phillips added his first varsity touchdown

The Jesuit defense racked up nine tackles for loss and two sacks while limiting Plano West to 96 rushing and 74 passing yards. Senior Collin Lark was a force for the Rangers, posting six solo tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack. Junior Houston Hummel racked up five tackles and secured a turnover for the Rangers with an interception deep in Plano West territory. Junior Jack Barton added six tackles, senior Noah Villasana contributed five stops while senior Pierce Strong and junior Nash Corcoran broke up two passes each.

DISTRICT 9-6A REPORT (Releases Courtesy of Dallas Morning News) 

Allen 28, Coppell 21: Without its star quarterback, Allen survived an upset bid against Coppell, thanks to three Celdon Manning rushing touchdowns in a 28-21 win. Allen (3-0) sat Raylen Sharpe, who is recovering from an ankle injury, and struggled with its quarterback player early on in the game to the tune of two first half interceptions. Allen relied on its rushing attack, led by Manning's 26 carries for 246 yards, including a 78-yard score near the end of the first to give Allen its first lead. Manning found the endzone again late in the fourth with the score tied at 21, and the Allen defense stood tall forcing a turnover on downs to seal the win.

Lewisville 41, McKinney Boyd 16: Damien Martinez rushed for three touchdowns and Taylen Green threw for a pair Friday for Lewisville in a 41-16 win over McKinney Boyd at Max Goldsmith Stadium. Lewisville scored the game's first 20 points before Boyd got on the board late in the second quarter on a 54-yard touchdown pass from Carter Whitefield to Kareem Coleman, and after Lewisville had answered with Martinez's third rushing score of the day, Whitefield connected with Alex Taylor from 51 yards out on the final play of the half for a 27-14 deficit entering the break. For Boyd, Ja Tyler Shaw rushed for 43 yards, while Taylor and Coleman had 69 and 57 receiving yards, respectively.

Prosper 57, Flower Mound 34: Jackson Berry threw for 281 yards overall and three first-half touchdowns in helping Prosper build a 36-0 halftime lead on its way to an impressive non-district road victory in a battle of ranked teams Friday at Neal Wilson Stadium. Berry passed for 210 yards in the first half, leading Prosper to touchdowns on its first two possessions capped by scoring tosses of 7 and 19 yards to Tyler Bailey, although its questionable whether Bailey had possession on the second score. Bailey finished with 10 receptions for 109 yards while adding 93 yards rushing for Prosper (3-0), the No. 16-ranked team in The Dallas Morning News' Class 6A area poll. No. 8-ranked Flower Mound (2-1) was denied its first 3-0 start since 2009. J.T Lane extended Prosper's lead to 29-0 with a 69-yard touchdown run with 1:35 left in the second quarter. Prosper defensive lineman Chase Parham recovered a fumble on the next play from scrimmage, setting up an eight-yard touchdown pass from Berry to Hayden Metcalf with 45 seconds left in the first half. Lane finished with 131 yards and three touchdowns rushing.

Plano 55, Rowlett 34: Cody Christ rushed for three touchdowns and quarterback Oliver Towns tossed three scoring passes, leading Plano to a 55-34 victory over Rowlett. Down 7-0 in the first quarter, Christ bulled his way into the end zone with for his first score and Plano (2-1) never trailed again. Towns' three touchdown passes were to three different receivers and he finished the game with 196 passing yards and added another 61 and a touchdown run on the ground. Christ had 99 yards rushing, teammate Tylan Hines added 100 and Nolan Williams was the leading receiver with four catches for 90 yards.

Sachse 36, Plano East 14: Sachse rode a strong defensive effort and Xavier Forman accounted for three total touchdowns to lead Sachse over Plano East at Kimbrough Stadium. Sachse (2-1), despite gaining only 226 yards of offense, 57 yards fewer than Plano East, took advantage of their opponents' mistakes to earn the victory. At the end of the first quarter, Sachse was up 7-0, but then took advantage of a Plano East bad pass to recover a fumble in the end-zone to go up 14-0. Then on the next series Plano East punt snap went into the end zone where Sachse recovered to take a 16-0 lead. By halftime Sachse was up 23-0. Plano East was able to score two touchdowns in the second half, but could not hold off Sachse's QB combo of Parker Wells, who throw for one touchdown, and Forman, who threw for two. Plano East quarterback Dylan Hayden threw for 52 yards but ran for 143 yards running with a touchdown. Trey Scott-Jones contributed the other Plano East touchdown behind 72 yards rushing.

McKinney 57, J.J. Pearce 21: McKinney (2-1) racked up 589 yards of total offense and defeated Richardson Pearce (1-2) 57-21 at Richardson's Eagle-Mustang Stadium. McKinney quarterback Sampson Nazarko threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Nazarko has thrown three touchdowns in each of his team's first three games this season. Lamarrya Ransem rushed for 187 yards and two scores for McKinney, while RJ Carver totaled 57 yards and two scores of his own.

DeSoto 49, Bishop Dunne 0: Samari Collier passed for 295 yards and four touchdowns while the DeSoto defense held Bishop Dunne to 139 total yards to roll in a matchup of ranked teams Saturday at Sprague Stadium. Collier passed for 212 yards and two touchdowns in the first half with the scoring strikes to Lawrence Arnold and Jordan Brown going for 49 yards apiece. The Collier to Arnold connection opened the scoring with 4:02 left in the first quarter. Collier threw touchdown passes of 36 and 15 yards to Jaedon Wilson in the third quarter, the latter giving DeSoto (3-0) - the No. 6-ranked team in The Dallas Morning News' Class 6A area poll - a 35-0 lead with 3:39 left in the frame.