Jesuit scored on its first offensive play and never looked back, securing a 55-34 win over J.J. Pearce in the district opener for both squads on Friday at Postell Stadium. The Rangers erupted for a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and averaged over three minutes per drive with their final three drives of the game in a convincing performance, dominating from start to finish en route to securing their second straight win.
 
The Ranger rushing attack combined for 292 yards and six touchdowns on the night, led by senior Jake Taylor, who racked up three touchdowns and 100 yards rushing on 19 attempts. Senior Charlie Clements scored two touchdowns, including an outstanding 75-yard breakaway scamper in the third quarter, and finished the contest with a team-high 125 yards on eight carries. Junior Robert Fitzgerald added his fifth touchdown of the year to cap the line of Jesuit's scoring rushers. Senior Sam Morales tacked on 32 yards to help push the pace of the game in the fourth quarter, averaging 3.6 yards per carry.
 
Senior Kyle Heckel opened the scoring with a 45-yard touchdown pass to junior Cole Younger, while junior Gage Roy finished the game 10-for-17 with 162 yards and a touchdown pass to fellow junior Hunter Krepp. Taylor also led the Rangers in receiving, catching a team-leading four passes for 47 yards. Senior Parker Brown averaged 39.7 yards per punt and recorded touchbacks on five of his nine kickoffs.
 
Fitzgerald also contributed heavily on the defensive side, recording a team-high 11 tackles and tipping a pass that led to an interception by senior Jack Judson. The senior linebacker, who earned Dallas Morning News Defensive Player of the Week honors after his performance against Plano East, racked up seven tackles ,a sack and two tackles for loss. Senior Cooper Manning and junior Landon Usry recorded their first interceptions of the season, while senior Pierce Jackson picked up eight tackles.
 
Manning led off the game with a 40-yard kick return to the Pearce 45-yard line, setting up the trick play from Heckel to Younger. The 45-yard toss, the second of Heckel's career, put the Rangers up 7-0 early in the matchup. Jesuit forced a turnover on downs on Pearce's first drive of the game and marched downfield on a 12-play, 95-yard drive that was punctuated by a six-yard touchdown rush by Fitzgerald.
 
A special teams turnover by the Mustangs gave Jesuit the ball at the Pearce 16-yard line, and Roy cashed in with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Krepp to give Jesuit a 21-0 lead with 3:16 left in the first quarter. Pearce scored on its next to possessions to cut the Jesuit lead to seven, but an out-of-bounds kickoff gave Jesuit the ball at its own 43-yard line. Roy hit Krepp for 26 yards to put the ball deep in Mustang territory before Clements punched it in for his first touchdown of the season, bringing the Jesuit Dallas lead back up to 14 points.
 
Usry picked off Pearce quarterback Blake Wahlberg to snuff out a Mustangs drive, but Jesuit was unable to cash in on the turnover. With 3:15 left in the half, Fitzgerald returned a punt 48 yards from the Jesuit 40-yard line to the J.J. Pearce 12-yard line. Taylor scored his first touchdown of the day three plays later to increase Jesuit's lead to 35-14. Pearce would score with 45 seconds remaining in the half, sending the game into the break with Jesuit holding a 15-point lead.
 
After forcing a three-and-out from Pearce to start the second half, Jesuit returned the lead to three possessions with a seven-play, 61-yard drive ended by a nine-yard touchdown run by Taylor. Pearce seemed poised to cut into the deficit, but Manning secured an interception in the end zone to give the ball back to the Rangers with 5:29 left in the quarter. Clements scored on Jesuit's second play of the drive, racing down the home sideline and beating several would be tacklers for his longest touchdown run, which also gave the Rangers a 29-point lead. Judson would add his interception with 2:14 left in the quarter, helping Jesuit shut the Mustangs out in the third.
 
Jesuit would score three plays into the fourth quarter to bring the lead to 35 points. Pearce scored two touchdowns in the fourth to bring the final score to within three possessions.
 
The Rangers will next square off with Lake Highlands on Friday at Wildcat-Ram Stadium. The Wildcats are undefeated on the year following a 44-19 win over MacArthur on Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.