The Jesuit Rangers opened up Distract 9-5A play with a convincing win over their backyard rival, the W.T. White Longhorns on Friday, September 23, 2011. Both teams came into the matchup with 2-1 records from non-district play.
After losing QB Jack Brezette ’13 to a broken leg in the last game against the Coppell Cowboys, QB Brian Buell ’12 was tabbed for his first Varsity start for Jesuit.
The winner of this matchup was awarded the Saddle – a new tradition between the two schools.
At the beginning of the game, Jesuit kicked the ball off to White and sent their defense out to begin what many assumed was going to be a blowout Ranger victory. The Longhorns came out and showed that they weren’t going down without a fight. Within three minutes QB Jamarkus Smith drove his team downfield and threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to WR Randall Taylor.
Once the ball was in the hands of Jesuit, fans knew that offense wasn’t going to be a problem without Brezette. On his first snap of the night, Buell hooked up with RB Will Brown ’13 for a 71-yard touchdown strike. Then after stopping the Longhorns on defense, RB Garrett Van de Ven ’13 punched in a 4-yard score to give the lead to the Rangers.
The second quarter was scoreless by both teams.
At halftime, Brown and Van de Ven joked around about the only two scoring plays being by the runningbacks. Coaches made some defensive adjustments and emphasized that Jesuit was far better than the Longhorns.
Coming out after the half, the Rangers displayed beautiful play, play that had been a weekly expectation by Blue and Gold Fans.
Van de Ven caught a TD pass in the third quarter, and W.T. White’s K Ruben Rios hit a 26 yard field goal.
The fourth quarter belonged solely to the Rangers. Within three minutes, the Rangers put 14 points on the board. WR Marty Murad ’12 caught a beautiful pass from Buell, Van de Ven scored his third touchdown of the evening, and when the “closers” came into the game, WR Orion Salters ’14 pounded in a 1-yard TD.
At the end of the game, the Rangers ultimately demolished the Longhorns with a final score of 42-18.
Buell finished 14-19 with 230 yards and no interceptions on the evening. Star WR’s Austin Lock ’12 and Jake Oliver ’13, who both have accounted for over 1000 yards of offense and more than 10 touchdowns, had extremely pedestrian outings, accounting for only 4 receptions for 41 yards.
Oliver stated that he thought W.T. White “was a lot better than we thought” and that their players were both “fast” and “physical.” If you looked at his shoulder you could see white scratches from the Longhorns’ helmets – a sure sign of how physical they were playing.
This Friday, September 30, the Rangers (3-1; 1-0) will play the Berkner Rams at yet another home game. Come out and support them in their quest to win the District Championship! 
