A game of consistency and excellence, football requires a team to fire on all cylinders every down of every game. The Rangers did exactly this last Friday. Back in the United States and ready to shine in front of a proud, excited home crowd, the Rangers took on the Keller Fossil Ridge Panthers. Their second game of the season showcased the sheer ability and dominance the Rangers will be able to utilize all season.
After a thrilling win in Ireland against Loyola in the last minutes, Head Coach Brandon Hickman said, “teams usually ride off emotional victories in their next game and can’t match the performance.” However, Jesuit remained focused on their game ahead, and this mindset set up an impressive and convincing outing versus Fossil Ridge.
The first quarter saw Jesuit strike early, with finesse and that little extra oomph. QB Jack Brezette ’13 started off his
night with a 28-yard strike to WR John Berend ’13 on the first play of the game, entering into Panther territory, but Jesuit had to punt on 4th down of their first drive. Then the Jesuit defense stormed out, forcing a swift 3-and-out, and Fossil Ridge had to punt. WR/DB Orion Salters ’14 nearly broke the punt return for a touchdown, but nonetheless, Jesuit was set up for a quick 18-yard touchdown pass to RB Will Brown ’13. K/WR Paul Arden ’13 made the PAT. After this drive, Fossil Ridge setup an efficient drive, with RB Cedric Johnson pounding in a 1-yard touchdown run.
Brezette led the Rangers back out and assembled another strong drive with WR Kellen McAlone ’14 catching a 23-yard pass and WR Jake Oliver hauling in a 24-yard beauty for his second touchdown catch of the year. A missed extra point had the Rangers ahead 13-7. Again dominating Fossil Ridge, Jesuit’s defense only stayed on the field 1 minute and 3 seconds, giving the ball back to the Panthers. A poor snap, though, despite the efforts of QB Joe Willie Laufenberg ’13 to recover the loose ball, gave the Panthers a chance to take the lead.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Fossil Ridge nearly lost a fumble but ended up punting the ball back to the
Rangers. On the first play of the next drive, the Rangers attempted a trick play in which Taylor Tibbits ’13 caught the reverse in the backfield and aired out the ball for Oliver, who laid out everything but came up fingertips short. Jesuit still got in the endzone two plays later when Brezette targeted Salters who sprinted 54-yards to pay dirt. Again, the defense allowed nothing from Fossil Ridge and the playmakers of offense trotted back on to the field.
Things kept on rolling, and the Rangers got their fourth touchdown of the half when Salters caught another – a 15-yard snag from Brezette. Finally, Fossil Ridge got things flowing on offense, but was stuffed late when Jake Oliver intercepted a fade route heading to the left side of the south endzone. Working their 2-minute offense to try to get more points on the board, both Tibbits and RB Pierce Durham ’14 got action for the Rangers, but a 59-yard field goal by K Cody Wicker ’13 was ultimately blocked as time expired.
During the halftime break, Jesuit and the coaches did not need to make very many adjustments as both defense and offense were taking care of business.
The third quarter displayed the Rangers’ highflying offense zooming down the field, when Brezette threw his fifth touchdown of the night to McAlone from 12-yards. This was Kellen McAlone’s first touchdown reception on the varsity level for Jesuit. The rest of the 3rd quarter saw a lot of Fossil Ridge’s offense getting things started only to fall short in Jesuit territory. Jack Brezette also threw his first and only interception of the game, after throwing three in Ireland.
The entire fourth quarter saw the second-string Rangers come in the game, giving many players their first snaps on the
varsity level. Highlights included a 12-yard rush by WR Garrett Amy ’15 right up the middle of the Panther defense. Fossil Ridge was able to get two touchdowns at the end, making the win look a little bit closer than it actually was. Fossil Ridge QB Jacob Gnacinski threw two touchdowns to WR Adonis Ramos from 20-yards out on both. The final score read Jesuit 34, Fossil Ridge 21.
The three key factors to the Rangers’ performance last Friday were the following: Jack Brezette’s performance (17-24, 343 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT), Defensive Coordinator Coach Paul Maturi’s defense allowing only 17 rushing yards, and the team’s poise and character after such an emotional win against Loyola. These three factors allowed Jesuit to come out and dominate from the first whistle until the last.
Coach Hickman commented that he was “proud of this team for [their] performance in front of a packed crowd at home. Now it’s time to prepare for Strake and being 3-0, undefeated in non-district play.” The team leadership of this squad is unprecedented and will surely bring them to new heights, expectations and goals set by Hickman over the offseason.
On his game play, Brezette simply and succinctly said “It was Friday night in Texas – can’t ask for much more.” An allusion to the dominance of Texas football, Brezette set a standard not only for his play but for the team’s play for the rest of the season.
The Rangers are looking to be 3-0 for the first time in a long, long time, so show your Jesuit support and cheer them on! Tonight, the Rangers take on their rival in the Strake Jesuit Crusaders in Houston. Kickoff is 7:00 PM. If you can’t make it down to watch, make sure to check out the Ranger Radio Network and our Twitter feed for constant updates.
