With the landscape flying by, some choose to sleep, some choose to talk, and others choose to pray. However one chooses to spend it, the bus ride to an away game always provides the football players with a break prior to the event. Whether you’re running through plays, twiddling your thumbs, or stuck with a case of the pre-game jitters, everyone has to deal with this period before the game. For many players, this interim allows them to think about the challenges ahead, but for others, the game has already started. This focussed attitude can mean the difference between a strong, comfortable start to the game or a hectic chase to catch up.
This past Thursday, the boys in blue drove out to Bowie High School Stadium, home of the Volunteers. With a wide variety of talent, both old and new, the Rangers take the field with a confidant mindset. Going into the game, Dean Eikenberg ’17 stated, “the gameplan was to have long drives that wore them down,” hinting at the power of the Jesuit offense.
However, once the game started, the offense had a hard time adjusting to the speed and intensity of the Volunteer defense, a result of “much energy going into the game,” explained Eric Miller ’17. After a turnover, Arlington Bowie took possession and charged down the field. Even though the Rangers defense did what they could, minutes into the first quarter the Volunteers broke through, resulting in a touchdown. Stirred by Bowie’s success in putting points on the board early on, the Jesuit offense fought back in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but fell short of the mark once again with another series of turnovers resulting in a costly Bowie touchdown in the second quarter. While the offense was attempting to pull themselves together, the Rangers defense executed swiftly and efficiently. Although the Jesuit defense was holding their ground on the field, going into the half the boys in blue were trailing behind Bowie, 14-0.
Gathering their strength, the Rangers came out of the half with a new mindset in an attempt to flip the game around. Coming into the game, “we thought we had it in the bag,” explains Miller, which prompted the second half to be different for Jesuit. Right away the defense started fighting back like they had in the first half. The Jesuit offense also pushed to get some points on the board, resulting in a third quarter touchdown run for Grayson Hassle ’18. With a new burst of energy, the “Jesuit offense was going down the field… down by 7,” recalled Ryan Clements ’17, yearning to gain the lead. But even though there was a flash of hope for the boys in blue, the game clock cut them short, resulting in a close loss, 14-7, Arlington Bowie.
Although it was marked down as a loss, the Jesuit defense “played smart and clean,” added Joe Kelley ’18, with Miller concluding, “they (the defense) were the reason we were so close.” The outcomes of the game might not reflect the overall performance of the team with Head Coach, Rick Leal emphasizing “we battled all game and didn’t give up.” Looking to next week’s game against Plano East, this “made us realize we need to step up our intensity,” remarks Kelley. Miller concludes with, “our run game was very good so I wanna compliment some of the junior linemen, Matt Anderson ’17, Jordan Odulio ’17, Drew Billings ’17, and Dean Eikenberg.” Come out to the next game at home in Postel Stadium against Plano East. Last big thank you to Jake Elrod ’18 for providing the photography.
