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Arlington Derails Comeback Attempt in Season Opener: Trailing by 17 points at the end of the first quarter, Jesuit Dallas battled back and came within a half-yard of taking the lead before falling to state-ranked No. 21 Arlington, 38-28, on Friday at UTA Maverick Stadium. Two long touchdown receptions by Arlington in the fourth quarter derailed the comeback attempt as the Blue and Gold showed some stellar potential in their 2019 season opener.
Senior Rance Holman completed 22 passes to finish the game with 255 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair of touchdown passes to senior Wyatt Garrett, who caught six passes for 123 yards. Junior Jake Taylor closed the bout with 194 all-purpose yards, racking up 27 rushes for 134 yards and a touchdown while adding 60 reception yards on six catches. Senior Jonathan Paredes added a touchdown reception, finishing the game with three catches for 31 yards.
Defensively, senior Jack Barton led the way with 10 tackles, one tackle for loss and a forced fumble recovered by classmate Tommy Roy on Arlington's first play from scrimmage. Classmate Mitchell Campbell added a forced fumble in the second quarter that was recovered by senior Austin Wood to set up another Jesuit touchdown. Junior Cooper Manning snagged his first interception of the season while sophomore Robert Fitzgerald posted five tackles and a pass breakup in his varsity debut.
Debuting Rangers Making Immediate Impact: Wyatt Garrett, Jonathan Paredes and Robert Fitzgerald were three Rangers who made an immediate impact in their first varsity starts. Garrett's two touchdowns helped lead the Rangers back from the early, 17-point deficit as Paredes added another touchdown during Jesuit's second-quarter rally. Fitzgerald made a key pass breakup in the third quarter to assist with the defense. Senior Austin Wood excelled in his first varsity start, recording four tackles and a two-yard tackle for loss while junior Peter Melle was named one of the team's defensive players of the week after a three-tackle performance. Junior Charlie Cook caught three passes for 25 yards in his varsity debut while junior Parker Brown averaged 38 yards per kick in his first action on the varsity team.
Last Time They Met: A slew of severe thunderstorms put an early end to last year's non-district bout between Jesuit and DeSoto as the contest was canceled with 2:03 remaining in the second quarter. The game was ultimately recorded as a 20-10 victory for the Eagles. Then-junior Nash Corcoran snagged his first career interception to help spark the Rangers' effort.
On the Horizon: Jesuit will close the non-district slate with a road clash against Wylie on Sept. 13 before returning 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. Wylie began the season with a 14-6 loss to Prestonwood Christian and play Rockwall-Heath on Friday while Plano West dropped a 17-7 decision to Frisco Reedy in week one, and play Flower Mound this Friday.
