Lights shining intensely, fans cheering vociferously, the Jesuit Freshman football team parades onto the field with confidence. Across the field, the opponent Berkner squad rallies together, pumped for a thrilling football match between two impressive teams. A chilling breeze of anticipation sweeps across the stadium as the crowd waits for an explosive burst of intensity between the two respective teams.
With an astounding record containing only one loss, the Jesuit freshman team was optimistic in their ability to put up a decent match against their foes, hoping for a comeback from the previous week’s first loss. Having lost only to the infamous Skyline 28-7, the freshman team had really put forward a solid start to the season.
In response to their previous game, football Coach Bob Wunderlick said that, “[their] team goal is to improve each week,” and they hoped to “rebound from [their] first loss.” With this positive mindset going into the game, Jesuit was hoping for high intensity, increased effort, and maybe even a win to show for it!
Starting off quickly, Jesuit jumped ahead of Berkner with impressive passing from quarterback Jacob Palisch. Palisch, replacing quarterback Mitch Prendergast, proved himself equally skillful by throwing 2 first half touchdown passes to give Jesuit a lead against Berkner. Berkner responded with a touchdown by the end of the first half to give Jesuit a 14-7 lead going into the break.
Quick to gain momentum, Berkner scored to tie it all up 14-14 with plenty of time left in the third. Jesuit’s strong offense rallied back to score again to push us ahead 21-14. Coach Wunderlick added that their offense succeeded in part because “[the] entire offensive line played well,” which helped to get plays off easily. He also stated that their offense really thrived from “Jacob Palisch, David Fulkerson and Matt Reilly on offense.”
In addition to a powerhouse offense, Jesuit’s defense provided more stops to turn the ball over back to Jesuit, which set them up for another touchdown, extending the lead to 2 touchdowns with only a quarter left.
However, through some unlucky turns of events, Berkner responded with 2 quick touchdowns in the last quarter to close in the score. But failing to complete their PAT after their first score, Berkner sat uncomfortably at 28-26 with no choice but to go for the 2 point conversion.
Defensive player Will Guzman made the biggest save of the game, thwarting the two point conversion by Berkner, giving Jesuit the win! But big performances also go out to David Fulkerson, who scored 2 touchdowns, as well as to both Patrick McDermott and Mark Ready who each scored a touchdown.
But the bottom line is that, with this win, Jesuit fulfilled their goal to “improve each weekend.” According to Wunderlick, the freshman “improved as a team,” and “played well.”
With a solid win on their backs, the freshman football team hopes to continue their impressive record and win some more games. But no matter how the team looks at the end of the season, from coach Wunderlick’s point of view, the goal is simply to “keep improving, have fun, and win out!”
Go Rangers!
