There was a blowout in Houston on Friday and Jesuit lost and won at the same time. Luckily, the Jesuit from Dallas was the school that prevailed.
Senior Brian Wetzel scored all of Jesuit’s touchdowns as Dallas Jesuit (1-1) rallied and routed Houston’s Strake Jesuit (1-1) 44-24.
Wetzel had nine receptions for 162 yards and six total touchdowns, three rushing and three receiving, as he paced the Jesuit offense to score an unmatched 21 points in the second half. Other than Wetzel, Senior RB David Kaplan gave Jesuit a surprisingly effective rushing attack that was missing against Flower Mound, rushing for 99 yards on 11 carries.
Strake Jesuit seemed to match Jesuit punch for punch as they led going into the half 24-23. Most of Strake’s offense funneled through Senior QB Graham Chapman, who rushed for 104 yards and a TD, and Senior WR Clay Martin, who caught six passes for 110 yards. However, the Strake defense could not stop the Mike Savage to Brian Wetzel connection in the second half as Wetzel scored four of his six touchdowns after halftime (two rushing, two receiving).
Jesuit’s defense was the other story of the night. Coming off a less than stellar performance, they “brought the hammer,” as Senior LB Steve Simion proclaimed, in this performance and pitched a shutout against an effective Strake offense for the last two quarters.
“Jeff Schottmer came in at halftime and told us to step it up,” said Senior Jared Buys. “After Jeff’s speech and Hank Tobolka’s interception, we just started to execute. It helped that Strake played out of the I formation most of the game. That allowed our linebackers to be more involved.” They forced three fumbles, recovered two, and intercepted Chapman once.
Hopefully, this win gives Jesuit the type of momentum they need to string together some wins. They will need to play their best at Coppell next Friday. Coppell is ranked number six in the area and are 2-0 to start the year off.
photography by Jack White ’13
