Quick Notes: Jesuit Dallas
• The Rangers scored 38 unanswered points to finish out a 41-14 win over Arlington in the UIL Bi-District round. Senior Charlie Schmidt racked up a career-high 158 rushing yards and scored four rushing touchdowns in the win.
• Jesuit's victory over Arlington awards the Rangers their 10th Bi-District Championship since joining the UIL in 2004, and ninth since 2012.
• The Rangers are looking to secure the third UIL Area Championship in program history tonight.
Quick Notes: McKinney
• McKinney rumbled for 386 yards en route to a convincing, 44-26 win over Coppell in the UIL Bi-District round.
• The Lions finished the regular season ranked 14th in the area according to the Dallas Morning News.
• The Lions are looking for their first area round win since 1993, and are in the postseason for the first time since 2009.
• McKinney is led by senior quarterback Keldric Luster, who is an SMU commit with 1,858 passing yards and 18 passing touchdowns to his credit.
Area Round Players to Watch
17 • Charlie Schmidt • QB • Sr.
Rushed for a career-high 158 yards and four touchdowns against Arlington...threw for a career-high 392 yards and five touchdowns against Berkner (Oct. 14), the most passing yards since 2017 (P. Towns, 433).
7 • Jake Musso • WR • Sr.
Recorded the team's highest single-game receiving output since 2011 with 284 yards on 13 receptions against Berkner...needs 20 receiving yards to surpass the 1,000-yard mark for this season.
10 • Roark Holman • DB • Sr.
Snagged an interception last Friday against Arlington...has 44 tackles on the year and a team-leading four interceptions...recorded a season-best nine tackles against Rockwall, adding eight against Richardson.
54 • Grayson Wombacher • LB • Jr.
Secured a team-leading eight tackles against Arlington...Wombacher has secured eight or more tackles in five straight games, and enters tonight's contest with 84 tackles.
2 • Luke Fawcett • WR • Sr.
Erupted for a career-high eight receptions for 115 yards against Richardson to close the regular season...has recorded 14 catches and a touchdown over the last four weeks.
41 • Blake Miller • LB • Sr.
Ranks second on the team with 72 tackles...has recorded eight or more tackles in six of the team's last seven games...recorded a season-best 12 stops against Berkner (Oct. 14).
90 • Noah McGough • K • So.
Recorded his third field goal of 40 yards or more with a 40-yard strike at the halftime buzzer against Arlington. McGough's career-long came on Sept. 9 against J.J. Pearce, and McGough is one of only five kickers to hit a field goal of 40 yards or longer since 2015.
22 • Jaeger Krauss • WR • So.
Has recorded at least one catch in every game he has appeared in since joining the varsity team on Oct. 20 against Nimitz...caught his first varsity touchdown against Arlington with a 52-yard reception in the third quarter.
Area Round By the Numbers
3 • Tonight's playoff game will take place in the three-year old Children's Health Stadium, located in Prosper. The $53 million stadium features the largest high school video board in Texas, according to the Dallas Morning News.
6 • Friday's win provided Jesuit Dallas with its sixth home win of the season, helping the Rangers conclude the year unbeaten at home. The Rangers will take a 12-game home winning streak into the 2023 regular season.
7 • Opponents have only scored seven times inside the Jesuit red zone over the last five weeks. The Rangers' foes have secured a 7-of-14 clip (50%) over that stretch, while the Rangers are 22-of-24 (92%) in the red zone over the last five weeks.
9 • Last Friday's win provided Jesuit with its ninth UIL Bi-District championship since 2012. The Rangers have advanced to the UIL Regional Semifinal round on two occasions, first in 2013 after the Rangers defeated Rockwall, 46-26. The second came in 2019, when the Rangers upended state-ranked Longview, 27-25.
10 • Friday's contest will mark the first time in 10 years that Jesuit will match up against a member of McKinney ISD in the postseason. In 2012, Jesuit Dallas defeated McKinney Boyd, 45-10 in the UIL Bi-District round.
20 • Over the last five weeks, Jesuit Dallas has held opponents to an average of 19.6 points per game. Jesuit has secured a +20.8 point differential during its winning streak, with the Rangers averaging 40.4 points per game.
22 • Senior quarterback Charlie Schmidt has racked up 22 touchdowns during Jesuit's five game winning streak. The senior currently averages 243.4 passing and 94.2 rushing yards per game during the streak, and has completed 71.9 percent of his passes over the last five weeks.
73 • Jesuit is outscoring opponents by a total of 73 points in the fourth quarter this season, holding a 96-23 advantage heading into Friday's game. The Rangers have not allowed a fourth quarter point since Oct. 14, 2022 against Berkner.
Scouting the Lions
McKinney Upends Coppell: The Lions outscored Coppell, 24-7 in the first half and held off a fourth quarter run by the Cowboys en route to a 44-26 victory last Friday. McKinney racked up 477 yards of total offense, , including 386 yards on the ground. McKinney averaged 7.72 yards per carry and ran the ball 50 times. The trio of Bryan Jackson, Keldric Luster and D'Kedrion Abrams scored two touchdowns apiece. Coppell quarterback Jack Fishpaw threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns to keep the Cowboys within striking distance.
Luster Excelling in Senior Season: Quarterback Keldric Luster enters the Area round with 18 passing touchdowns and eight rushing touchdowns to his credit. the SMU commit avereages 168.9 yards per game through the air and 8.9 yards per carry, and has secured 1,858 passing yards this season. Luster is a three-star recruit who picked SMU after earning eight offers, including offers from Air Force, Austin Peay, Indiana and Navy.
Clear the Road for Jackson: Junior Bryan Jackson has raised eyebrows throughout the Metroplex as a four-star all-purpose back with 31 offers, including Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Tennessee and Texas. This year, Jackson has 21 rushing touchdowns, 1,429 rushing yards and averages 6.16 yards per carry.
Program History: McKinney is in the playoffs for the first time since 2019, a run that saw the Lions defeat Naaman Forest, 13-10 in the bi-district round before falling to Waco Midway in the second round.
The Last Time Against McKinney:
In a game between two teams trading long possessions and strategic field position, McKinney scored a late fourth-quarter touchdown and utilized a nearly three-minute, nine-play, game-ending drive to defeat the Rangers, 24-21, on Friday night at McKinney ISD Stadium. The Rangers fall to 5-4 on the year with a 4-2 record in district play heading into next week's regular season finale against Plano East.
Senior quarterback Rance Holman found classmate Wyatt Garrett for two touchdown receptions on the day, finishing the game with 155 yards and three touchdown passes. Junior Kyle Heckel caught the Rangers' final touchdown of the contest, wrapping the bout with two catches for 20 yards. Senior Christian Allocco added a team-leading six receptions for 33 yards. Junior Jake Taylor continued his stellar season with 21 carries for 86 yards, averaging 4.1 yards per carry.
Defensively, senior Jack Barton led the charge with 10 tackles and a fumble recovery, junior Peter Melle tacked on seven tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack and two quarterback hurries, senior Jhalen Spicer added seven stops and senior Tommy Roy secured seven tackles on the evening as part of a Ranger defensive front that held McKinney to 4-of-14 on third-down conversion attempts. However, McKinney out-possessed Jesuit, 29:17-16:46 and rushed the ball 42 times for 239 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
Across the Bracket:
Southlake Carroll (11-0) and Frenship (9-2) will face off in the UIL Area Round on Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. inside San Angelo Stadium.
Frenship secured a 35-17 win over El Paso Eastlake to advance to the second round. Quarterback Hudson Hutcheson completed 19-of-22 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns. Entering Friday's area round matchup, Hutcheson has 3,482 yards to his credit, 33 touchdown passes and averages 316.5 yards per game.
Southlake Carroll enters the area round undefeated following a 52-13 win over Crowley in the UIL Bi-District round. Dragons' quarterback Graham Knowles led the way against Crowley, completing 1-of-23 passes for 324 yards and four touchdowns.
UIL Region I-6A Breakdown:
Bi-District Scores:
EP-Eastwood 61, San Angelo Cent. 49
Byron Nelson 54, FW-Boswell 14
Denton Guyer 42, FM-Marcus 7
Highland Park 44, Bowie27
Frenship 35, EP-Eastlake 17
Southlake Carroll 52, Crowley 13
McKinney 44, Coppell 28
Jesuit Dallas 41, Arlington 14
Area Round Matchups:
EP-Eastwood vs. Byron Nelson
Denton Guyer vs. Highland Park
Frenship vs. Southlake Carroll
Jesuit Dallas vs. McKinney
Ranger Rival Report:
Recaps Provided by The Dallas Morning News
Highland Park 44, Arlington Bowie 27: Brennan Storer threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers as Highland Park pulled away for a 44-27 win over Arlington Bowie in a Class 6A Division II Region I bi-district game Friday. Highland Park (11-0) advances to meet Denton Guyer (11-0) in the area round, tentatively on Friday at the The Star in Frisco. Storer's 345 passing yards came on just 10 completions. That's because three of the scores covered at least 49 yards, including a 77-yarder to Beau Lilly and a 69-yarder to Jay Cox, who also ran for two touchdowns. Bowie (5-6) cut the deficit to 28-27 midway through the third quarter after a touchdown scamper by Darrion Bowers, followed by an onside kick recovery, then another scoring run by Tavares Duckett. However, Highland Park's Adam Rourke blocked the ensuing extra-point kick, which was returned for two points by Charlie Barton. Bowie never scored again after that. Bowie's DeAngelo Ponder passed for 265 yards and scored two rushing touchdowns. Texas Tech commit Kelby Valsin had 12 receptions for a game-high 137 yards.
South Grand Prairie 31, Lake Highlands 27: Running Back A.J. Newberry rushed for 201 yards and two touchdowns in South Grand Prairie's 31-27 upset victory over Lake Highlands in the first round of the District 6AI playoffs on Friday night at the Gopher-Warrior Bowl. Newberry's 18-yard touchdown run with three minutes left in the fourth quarter gave South Grand Prairie (6-5) a 31-21 lead on Lake Highlands (8-3), capping off a 31-7 run after Lake Highlands took an early 14-0 lead. Lake Highlands Quarterback Tripp Holley threw to Wide Receiver Jack Shreiner for a 9-yard touchdown pass to make it 31-27 but failed on the two-point conversion and the onside kick recovery. South Grand Prairie will play Prosper in the second round. The read-option was the key to South Grand Prairie's win, with quarterback Jaden Stanley rushing for 99 yards and two touchdowns alongside Newberry. 316 of South Grand Prairie's 393 offensive yards came from the running game. Lake Highlands moved the ball efficiently throughout the game but had 12 penalties for over 100 yards, which hurt most of their drives. Running Back Deonte Dean was the best performing player for Lake Highlands with 121 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown. He also threw for a 30-yard touchdown pass to Shreiner in the first quarter.
Arlington Martin 62, Berkner 3: After a slow start, Tristan Bittle and Konye Frazier teamed up for four touchdowns in the first half to lead Arlington Martin (10-1) to a decisive 62-3 victory over Richardson Berkner (5-6) at Choctaw Stadium in a Class 6A Division I bi-district game. Bittle continued his efficient passing, completing 11 of 13 passes for 159 yards and adding 22 yards on the ground to lead Martin to its eighth straight win. Konye Frazier led Martin on the ground with 130 yards on only nine carries. Ismael Flores added 74 yards receiving and a touchdown. The Martin special teams again were a factor as they blocked two punts, with Anthony Crenshaw, Jr. returning one 52 yards for a score. Berkner was led by runningback Jamary Williams who finished with 111 yards. With the win, Martin will face Lewisville next week in the second round in a rematch of last year's game which was won by Lewisville 35-18.
