The freshman team played their home opener at our very own Postell Stadium this past Thursday night to battle the very large Plano East Panthers. With both teams having a 1-0 record, the night looked promising for both the Ranger Blue and Gold Teams.
The first to take the field was the Blue team with some pep in their step after their impressive win against Arlington Bowie. The game plan was “to be aggressive and sound defensively and balanced offensively,” said head coach Bob Wunderlick.
The Blue Team, hungry for another decisive win took the field and automatically knew they were up against a challenging opponent. It was a solid game through and through, with both teams displaying their own strengths and weaknesses. With the back and forth battle of each teams’ stellar defense, the game was a little too close for comfort.
According to Michael Bain ’18, “one of the key plays was when we stopped their offensive drive after they scored two touchdowns in two plays against us.”
Similar to Bain, Omar Dibba ’18 stated that “in the second half we came back with more firepower on defense and did
not let them score.”
Although giving up some key plays, the defense of the Blue Team was a key factor in getting the W for the Rangers. The final score was 14-12, a win that will now put their record at 2-0.
Second to take the field was the freshman Gold Team, who previously fought in their game against the Bowie Volunteers down to a nail-biting fourth-and-one stuff by the Ranger defense.
Desperately awaiting their turn to get a piece of the action, the Gold Team took the field under the lights of Postell stadium to face the freshman Panthers. Right from the start, the depth and experience of the Ranger’s defense was clear to everyone in the stadium. Later in the first half, the offense finally caught a break and put some points on the board with the help of a long deflected pass which resulted in a Ranger field goal. Although the Gold Team’s defense was giving everything they had, they let a few speedy Panthers slip through the gaps to where the Gold Team was trailing 8-3 by halftime.
In freshman Nicholas Wagner’s opinion, “one of the key plays was Hank Clement’s rushing touchdown in the beginning of the second half because it really picked up the team morale and helped us pull ahead.”
Coming out of halftime, content to get the two-team sweep, the Rangers defense also stepped up and smashed the Panther’s offense play after play, until eventually the Panthers fell apart. On the other side of the ball, the Gold Team offense racked up a 17 point lead over the Panthers who had not and would not score in the second half.
Out scoring their opponents, the Rangers eventually concluded the game with a 25-8 Jesuit victory, which now meant that both teams had advanced to a record of 2-0.
Although Jesuit pulled two wins out of Thursday night, the defense and the offense can both be refined. “[They] still have to tackle better, and [they] have to contain [the] opponents’ speed better,” coach Wunderlick said, commenting on the techniques of the defense. Regarding the offense he said, “Offensively, we were inconsistent in both games.”
