As the Rangers moved into the second week of district play, they took on the Skyline Raiders. Although the Rangers fell 56-30, Jesuit showed success on both sides of the ball and proved they’re a top team in the district. Going into the game with a 3-1 record and a 1-0 district record, the game plan for Coach Hickman and the Rangers was to “control the clock offensively and defensively take away their run game and bubble screens.”
The Rangers stuck to this plan but the #15 nationally ranked Raiders were too much on both sides of the ball.
The Rangers opened the game with an impressive drive down the field capped off by a 24-yard field goal from John Wengierski ’16. After holding Skyline to a third and long, standout defensive tackle Ryan ‘Bogota’ Brooks ’16 made a huge hit on the Skyline quarterback, forcing a punt.
After a Ranger fumble late in the first quarter, Skyline punched it in the end zone closing the quarter with a 7-3 Ranger deficit. Junior Linebacker Peyton Long believed that the defense had confidence going into the second quarter stating “after containing this high-powered offense to only seven points, we believed we could 
keep this a low-scoring game.”
Unfortunately, Skyline opened the second quarter with a 38-yard screen pass giving them the 14-3 lead over the Rangers. Bo Schneider ’15 showed his experience by leading the Rangers down the field and capping off a solid drive with a 7-yard TD to Max Loughborough ’16 to reduce the lead to 14-10. Following a quick, 70-yard touchdown Skyline increased the lead to 21-10. From here, a plethora of touchdowns were scored and going into the half, the Rangers were down 35-24.
Despite the halftime deficit, Coach Hickman was happy with how the offense “played against a very good defense we just had to 
take care of the ball and [receive] no penalties to back ourselves up.” Looking to gain momentum in the second half, the Rangers recovered an onside kick but unfortunately it was called back by an interference call. With good field position, the Raiders made a big 4th down conversion, which resulted in a 42-24 Raider lead. The Rangers were unable to respond to this touchdown offensively and the Raiders chewed the clock and converted on another 4th down giving them a 49-24 lead to close out the third quarter.
Defensive Back John Wunderlick ’17 stated, “Although the score indicated a blowout, we held our ground and were really able to compete throughout the first three quarters.” Jesuit was not going down without a fight; however, Schneider led the offense down the field and gave Garrett Amy ’15 his second receiving touchdown of the day, changing the lead to 49-30. Following Skyline’s eighth 
touchdown, neither team scored again and the game concluded with a 56-30 Ranger loss.
Despite a tough loss, Coach Hickman was happy with how Defensive linemen Ryan Brooks ’16 and Taylor Stine ’15 performed. Hickman added that “our defensive line played really well all night doing their specific jobs and our pass pressure was really good.” Brooks, concurring with Hickman added his own statement: “although we were slightly less athletic and undersized, the defense put up a good fight against an offense that’s considered to be the best in the state, if not country. However, big plays are what killed us in the long run.” This game had very positive aspects for the Rangers. Hickman concluded with “I think our teamed showed we can play with the number five team in the state. They have really good players and our guys didn’t back down and competed hard.” Hickman concluded that he believes this game should be a big boost of confidence for the Rangers the rest of the way and moving towards the playoffs. The Rangers look to improve their record to 4-2 and district to 2-1 vs. Irving Nimitz this Friday at Postell Stadium.
