This past Friday, September 4th, the Jesuit Rangers traveled to Kimbrough Stadium to take on the Plano East Panthers. The Rangers entered the game with a 1-0 record after recording a commanding victory over an impressive Arlington Bowie team.
Head Coach Brandon Hickman said, “The game plan was to execute in all phases of the game and carry the momentum from last week.” The Rangers knew however that just because they were able to dominate Bowie, they still needed to stick to their fundamentals when facing a very athletic team like Plano East.
The Rangers got off to a slow start as The Panthers got on the scoreboard first, capitalizing on a 63 yard touchdown pass. However, the Rangers did not find themselves down for long as junior running back Evan Jackson was able to find the end zone for his first time of the night.
Jackson totaled two touchdowns on the ground in the game and was an important part of the Jesuit offense, replacing senior Max Loughborough who was out with an injury. Jackson said, “I knew I needed to step up when Max went down. The coaches told me the role they wanted me to play, and I just tried to execute to the best of my ability.”
The Rangers were then able to pounce on the Panthers and take a 14-8 lead after quarterback Jacob Palisch ’17 connected with receiver John Wunderlick ’17 for a touchdown through the air. Palisch was able to connect with Wunderlick multiple times throughout the game racking up 57 yards through the air, leading the team.
Throughout the game the Rangers defense had trouble slowing down the Plano East offense, especially quarterback Miklo Smalls. Plano East was able to accumulate a total 581 offensive yards.
Just moments before the half, the Panthers led 23-14. Coach Hickman dove into his bag of tricks and called upon senior wide receiver Rusty Landon to fake a run and then step back to toss a perfect pass to the quarterback Palisch waiting in the end zone. This shortened the lead to 23-21 headed into the half.
In the second half, the Rangers could not find the same success. Coach Hickman pointed out that the team needs to improve on “taking care of the football and not giving up the big play. We dropped some balls and fumbled a few away which makes it hard to beat any team.”
The defense did all could putting up a valiant effort, but Plano East simply had the upper hand on that day. Also, the offense struggled to convert on big plays on multiple occasions, and turnovers simply made it too hard for the Rangers to catch up and match the Panthers.
The Rangers lost the game 42-57, but overall put up a strong fight. Defensive End Ryan Brooks ’16, who was recognized as a Defensive Player of the Week, said, “We played our hearts out, but it wasn’t enough. We understand where we struggled, and we will work hard to make sure this sort of result does not happen again.” Brooks, on being recognized as a Player of the Week, said, “It’s a huge honor, especially knowing how hard it is when you have players like Jordan Rice [junior defensive end] tearing it up out there.”
Coach Hickman discussed on what the team needs to focus on moving forward: “We have to learn from our mistakes and move forward. Our team is focusing on the details in practice and will be ready to compete for a district championship. We have eight more regular season games so we have just started the journey together with our non-district schedule coming to an end. I’m pleased with the culture of our program which is playing physical football and bringing tons of energy to everything we do. Our senior leadership has been good and needs to continue to grow for our team to reach its full potential this season.”
The Rangers look to bounce back as they end non-district play versus Houston Strake Jesuit this Friday, September 11th at Postell Stadium. Make sure to come out and support your Ranger football team.
Offensive MVP’s – Adam Holtz, Jimmy Patterson
Defensive MVP’s – John Michael Priddy, Ryan Brooks
Special Team’s MVP’s – Jake Pagel
[All MVP’s as decided by the coaching staff]
