Junior quarterback Gage Roy marshaled a frantic comeback from down 17 points, throwing for a career-high 389 yards and four touchdowns, but Jesuit fell one possession shy of toppling unbeaten Lake Highlands as the Wildcats defeated Jesuit, 34-31, on Friday at Wildcat-Ram Stadium.
 
Roy completed 33-of-46 passes and connected with seven different receivers for his impressive yardage total. Senior Charlie Cook caught the ball 10 times for 161 yards and a touchdown while junior Hunter Krepp added a pair of touchdowns and 123 yards. Senior Jake Taylor caught his first touchdown reception of the season while classmate Kyle Heckel caught four passes for 54 yards.
 
Junior Robert Fitzgerald racked up 11 tackles, while seniors Pierce Jackson and Peter Melle picked up eight stops each. Jesuit racked up six tackles for loss as Melle joined senior Jack Judson, Major Kent, Graham Bowers, Cooper Manning and junior Kyle Nolan as members of the Blue and Gold that made a tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
 
Lake Highlands marched down the field for a game-opening score with a seven-play, 51-yard drive. Roy pinned Lake Highlands inside the five-yard line with a coffin corner punt, but Wildcat running back Noelle Whitehead broke off an 87-yard run to bring the ball to the Ranger 10-yard line, stopped only by a shoestring tackle by McFarland. That tackle saved the Rangers four points, as back-to-back penalties on fourth and goal forced Lake Highlands to kick a 28-yard field goal to take a 10-0 lead with 2:19 remaining in the opening quarter.
 
The Wildcats opened the second quarter with another scoring drive to take a 17-0 lead before Jesuit got on the board. A 23-yard pass from Roy to Heckel on second-and-20 pushed the ball to midfield, and Roy found Krepp for a 31-yard strike to bring the ball down to the Wildcat three-yard line. Taylor scored on second and goal, taking a check down pass from Roy into the end zone to give Jesuit its first points of the game. Lake Highlands stalled on its next drive, punting on a fourth-and-27 brought on by Jesuit defensive pressure to give the Rangers the ball at the Wildcat 48-yard line.
 
Clements broke off a 36-yard reception to bring the ball into the Wildcat red zone. Roy found a diving Krepp for Jesuit's second touchdown of the game, cutting the Lake Highlands lead to three points with 1:30 remaining in the half. Lake Highlands scored with 41 seconds remaining in the half to take a 24-14 lead into the halftime break.
 
The Wildcats attempted to turn the second half into a possession game, knocking nearly four minutes off the clock on their first drive of the third quarter. A Jesuit interception stopped a promising drive, but a Lake Highlands miscue gave Jesuit a key opening.
 
Wildcat punter Will Faris fumbled a punt into the end zone, a ball that fell out of the back of the end zone for a safety. On Jesuit's ensuing drive, Roy hit Cook for back-to-back receptions of 20 and 21 yards before throwing a perfect fade to Krepp in the end zone. A two-point conversion from Roy to Cook brought the Wildcat lead to three points with 3:04 left in the third.
 
Senior Cooper Manning broke up a deep third down pass to force a Lake Highlands punt with under a minute left in the quarter. Jesuit was piecing together a potential go-ahead drive, but the Wildcats' second interception of the second half on a deep pass down the far sideline put a sudden stop to the rally, and a Lake Highlands touchdown with 6:16 left in the fourth returned the lead to two possessions.
 
The Rangers went into the no-huddle down by 10 points, and Roy connected passes to Heckel and junior Ford Butler on fourth-down conversions to keep the drive alive. Roy threw another great ball into the back of the end zone from the 15-yard line, where Cook made a stellar catch under pressure to cut the lead to three points. Jesuit's defense looked to return the ball to the Rangers in the waning moments of the third quarter, aided by a huge tackle by Judson on second down.
 
Facing a three-point deficit, Jesuit began to move down the field as Roy completed four passes to move the ball from the 20-yard line to the Ranger 49-yard line. However, a Lake Highlands sack snuffed out the final spark for the Rangers as a last-second lateral play was stopped.
 
Jesuit will return to action on Thursday, Nov. 5 when the Rangers travel to Irving, Texas for a showdown against MacArthur. The Rangers and Cardinals last met in 2015, a matchup that Jesuit won, 40-14. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Joy and Ralph Ellis Stadium in Irving.