RANGER FIELD REPORT
Rangers Drop Wild District Battle Against Lake Highlands: 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.
SEEING RED: Despite Friday's setback to Lake Highlands, Jesuit has seen great success in the red zone, scoring on 88.9 percent of trips inside the opponent's 25-yard line. The Rangers scored on four-of-five trips into the red zone against Lake Highlands, and have scored touchdowns on 10 of their last 11 trips into the red zone.
BIG PLAY RANGERS: Seven of Jesuit's 12 longest plays of the season have resulted in touchdowns, as the 75-yard touchdown run by Charlie Clements and 45-yard touchdown pass from senior Kyle Heckel to junior Cole Younger against J.J. Pearce became the most recent additions to the list in week five. Last week, Clemtns registered his longest pass reception of the season on a 36-yard catch while Cook added his second-longest reception of the year on a 33-yard snag. Currently, Jesuit's longest scoring play of the year is a 90-yard kickoff return from junior Hunter Krepp.
LATE SEASON GAMES RESCHEDULED: After a district-wide vote, Jesuit Dallas has moved its final two games of the season, a move which will see the district play its final 12 games over the span of 15 days. Jesuit's Thanksgiving week contest against Irving, originally scheduled for 1 p.m. on Nov. 27, has been moved to the same time on Nov. 25, while the team's regular season finale against Richardson moves to a 7 p.m. kickoff on Nov. 30 from its original Dec. 4 date.
UP NEXT: Jesuit will return to Postell Stadium on Friday, Nov. 13 for a 7 p.m. tilt against Nimitz. The Rangers and Vikings last met in 2015, when Jesuit shutout Nimitz, 43-0, for one of its five shutouts that season. Jesuit Dallas will close the year with three home games in the final four weeks of the regular season.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Cardinals' Prayer Answered for First Win of 2020: MacArthur converted a hail mary pass in the final seconds of Friday's 27-24 win over Nimitz to secure its first win of the season. Kylale Flye hit Davion Daily for a 38-yard touchdown reception, capping a frantic final drive that saw the Cardinals march 64 yards down the field on six plays with only 1:19 remaining in the fourth quarter. Daily's second touchdown reception of the year and Flye's fourth touchdown pass of the year pushed MacArthur to 1-1 in the district.
Skinner Takes Over: MacArthur finished the 2019 campaign outside of the playoff picture with a 2-8 record, and are hoping that new head coach Billy Skinner can help the Cardinals clinch their first postseason berth since 2015. Skinner was hired as MacArthur's head coach in February, replacing Ronny Mullins, who retired after a 30-year coaching career. Skinner brought an impressive run of success to the MacArthur program, as every team coached by Skinner since 2010 has qualified for the playoffs. Arriving at MacArthur after four years as the defensive coordinator at Arlington Lamar, Skinner's additional coaching stops include a stop at Arlington Sam Houston.
Up Next: MacArthur will continue its season with a showdown against Irving H.S. on Friday, Nov. 13 before ending the regular season against Richardson (Nov. 20), Berkner (Nov. 27) and J.J. Pearce (Dec. 4).
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
The Jesuit Dallas football last won a University Interscholastic League (UIL) district championship in the program's inaugural season in the official governing body of Texas athletics, picking up the hardware in 2004. A stingy defense and a fourth quarter point surge ended the Rangers' 11-year drought, as the Blue and Gold secured the outright UIL District 9-6A championship with a 40-14 win over Irving MacArthur on Thursday evening at Irving Schools Stadium.
Junior quarterback Jacob Palisch finished the evening with five total touchdowns and 279 all-purpose yards, including 210 yards on 12-of-19 passing and three touchdowns. Senior Adam Holtz had another impressive game, rushing for 139 yards on 19 carries to lead the squad.
Senior Max Loughborough finished the contest with six receptions for a team-high 106 yards, adding a rushing and receiving touchdown. Classmates Rusty Landon and Connor Lanpher also snagged receiving thouchdowns.
The Ranger defense stepped up once again, causing four MacArthur turnovers, including three interceptions. Seniors John Michael Priddy, Esteban Garcia and junior John Guzman each snagged a pick, all three of which occurred with the Rangers pinned deep inside their own end. Senior Emmet Flood snagged a key fumble recovery in the fourth quarter that helped the Rangers seal the district crown.
Senior Peyton Long finished the contest with a team-leading eight tackles, including four tackles for loss and a sack. Fellow fourth year Ryan Brooks made six stops, while senior Dane Bender added five solo tackles. Jesuit Dallas only allowed 75 MacArthur rushing yards, holding the Cardinals to 7-of-14 on third down conversions.
On the third Jesuit Dallas drive of the first quarter, the Rangers moved into the Cardinals' red zone for the first time. Palisch leaped over the line of scrimmage on third and goal to open the scoring, putting the Rangers up, 6-0. Jesuit Dallas struck again with 9:29 left in the second, when Palisch threw a lofting pass to the northeast corner of the MacArthur end zone. Lanpher drifted back and lept into the air, snagging the ball while falling into the end zone to put six more points on the board for the Blue and Gold.
MacArthur scored with 7:30 left in the second on a 57-yard pass from quarterback Kane Hardin to wide receiver Ryen Sanchez, snapping the Rangers' shut out streak at 172 minutes and 45 seconds. After allowing the first points to an opponent since the memorable win over then-No. 10 Skyline, Jesuit Dallas increased the lead back to two scores with an 11-play, 95-yard drive culminated by an eight-yard scramble into the end zone by Palisch on a play action pass.
The Cardinals were driving at the end of the second quarter, but the Ranger defense made their presence known on an acrobatic, one-handed interception in the end zone by Priddy, sending the Blue and Gold into halftime holding a 19-7 advantage.
Loughborough snagged a 49-yard reception in stride on the Rangers' first drive of the third quarter, finding pay dirt from five yards out on the next play to increase the lead to 26-7. MacArthur looked poised to get back into the game with a 15-play, 54-yard drive that encapsulated 6:17 of game time, but Garcia jumped in front of a pass bound for the end zone, giving the ball back to the Blue and Gold.
After a 41-yard rush by Holtz kicked off the fourth quarter, Palisch found a wide open Loughborough for his second passing touchdown of the evening. MacArthur fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Flood recovered to give the Rangers the ball at the MacArthur 25-yard line. Two plays later, Palisch again took advantage of a Cardinal blitz, finding Landon in the seam for the Rangers' final touchdown of the evening.
RANGER RIVAL REPORT
Recaps Courtesy of The Dallas Morning News
Richardson 7, Irving 3: Quarterback Aaron Bertrand's 8-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter was the only touchdown of the game and gave Richardson a 7-3 victory over Irving High at Joy and Ralph Ellis Stadium in Irving Thursday night. Bertrand accounted for most of his team's 322 yards of total offense on the night as he ran for 137 yards on 19 carries and was 11-of-15 passing for 84 more yards as Richardson remained undefeated in District 7-6A at 2-0 and improved to 3-2 overall. Irving (0-4, 0-2) scored the only first half points when a Richardson fumble led to an 11-play, 64-yard drive that was capped by a 25-yard field goal by Max Cabezos early in the second quarter that put Irving up 3-0. Richardson was driving down the field trying to answer when an interception on the last play of the half left Irving with the advantage at intermission. But on Richardson's opening drive of the second half, it went 64 yards in 12 plays, with Bertrand's run capping the drive. Bertrand accounted for 50 of Richardson's 64 yards on the march, including a a 5-yard run on a 4th-and-4. Richardson's defense play a key role in the win, holding Irving to just 141 yards total offense.
J.J. Pearce 56, Berkner 7: Tyriq Stubbs rushed for four touchdowns and Burke Wahlberg passed for three more as Richardson Pearce overwhelmed Richardson Berkner in a District 7-6A game at Eagle-Mustang Stadium. The win was the first of the season for Pearce (1-4, 1-1). Stubbs carried 12 times for 143 yards, including scoring runs of 3, 16, 43 and 4 yards. Wahlberg completed 22 of 32 passes for 312 yards, including scoring tosses of 14 and 11 yards to Jack Livingstone and 45 yards to Cormac Boylen. Berkner (2-3, 1-1) was led by Devin Joshua who rushed for 129 yards, and Denim Jones, who caught eight passes for 103 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown.
MacArthur 27, Nimitz 24: Davion Daily hauled in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Kylale Flye as time expired to give Irving MacArthur (1-3, 1-1 in District 7-6A) a thrilling 27-24 come from behind win over Irving Nimitz at Joy and Ralph Ellis stadium on Friday night. Daily's teammates mobbed him in celebration the right corner of the end zone as he capped off a 64-yard drive that began with 1:19 to go and no timeouts. Daily had three catches for 61 yards and the score while Flye went 7 of 14 for 130 yards with two touchdowns and also rushed the ball 11 times for 95 yards. Nimitz (1-3, 0-2) led for most of the game thanks to a 211 yard performance on 32 carries with three touchdowns from running back Eric Williams. MacArthur thwarted Williams recording a three-and-out from around midfield and burned all three of their timeouts to set up the game winning drive.
Rockwall 57, Mesquite 0: Rockwall (5-1, 2-0 District 10-6A) scored 22 points in under six minutes to begin its 57-0 win over Mesquite (0-5, 0-2).
A 10-yard completion from Rockwall's Braedyn Locke to Caden Marshall capped a five-play, 73-yard drive to open the game. A one-yard dive by Lake Bennett added to the score 2:56 later, followed by a 30-yard Will Rakow punt return shortly after that. Rakow would also score on a blocked punt to open the second half. Rockwall's Locke completed 19-26 for 269 yards and two touchdowns. Marshall caught six passes for 74 yards. Mesquite quarterback Chance Edwards threw for 98 yards
Flower Mound Marcus 56, Plano 17: Garrett Nussmeier threw 342 yards and four touchdowns, leading Flower Mound Marcus to a 56-17 District 6-6A victory over Plano Friday night. Caden Novarro ran for 119 yards and a score, while Gabe Espinoza added two rushing touchdowns for a balanced Marcus offense. Plano (0-4, 0-2) got on the board late in the second quarter when Oliver Towns threw to a wide open Michael Dorsey for a 51-yard touchdown making the halftime score 28-7. But two Nussmeier threw touchdown passes in the third quarter helped put the game away. Dorsey caught both of Towns' touchdown passes. Marcus improved to 5-0 onthe season and 2-0 in district.
