Now this was one for the ages. The Rangers went into Friday night as the underdog. Each week the Dallas Morning News has seven different writers predict the winner of each Dallas Area Highschool football game for the week. All seven writers picked Marcus to win the game. This along with the first max-capacity stands since the 2019 season proved to be just what the Jesuit Ranger Football team needed.
1st Half
The first quarter was a slow start for the Rangers. Starting cornerback Cole Younger ’22 went down with an ankle injury early in the game leaving quite a gap in the Jesuit defense. The first score on the board would be for Marcus as they went up 7-0. The Rangers would then go on an 75 yard drive ending with a Robert Fitzgerald ’22 touchdown. This would be followed by another score on the ground by sophomore running back Cameron Martin ’23. Jesuit went into halftime up 14-13.
2nd Half
The Marauders would start the 2nd half off with the ball and a touchdown going up 20-14. Thankfully the Rangers would mount a 8-play, 66-yard drive that was capped off by another rushing touchdown by senior Robert Fitzgerald to go up by 1 point. Jesuit and Marcus would trade scores as the 4th quarter would start with the Rangers up 28-27. The Jesuit offense would go on a 4 minute drive and finish it off with a Gage Roy ’22 to Hunter Krepp ’22 touchdown. Junior Grant Peters ’23 would subsequently force a fumble while senior Brady Kinzer ’22 would recover. This leaving our offense in perfect position for a Cade Jordan ’22 field goal to put the Rangers up 38-27. Marcus, in a last ditch effort, would score the final touchdown of the game; however, it was not enough to topple the Rangers. Jesuit escaped with a 38-34 win in a shootout of a game.
Statistics Summary
The Gage Roy to Hunter Krepp connection proved to be lethal once again as Krepp finished with 121 yards and 2 touchdowns. Roy threw for 231 and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. The Rangers ran for 3 touchdowns with Cameron Martin producing 1 and Fitzgerald the other 2. Fitzgerald lead the team in rushing with 73 yards and Martin followed with 41 yards himself. David Long led the team in tackles with 8 total. Grant Peters forced 1 fumble with a Brady Kinzer recovery. Overall the Ranger offense went for 362 yards. The defense kept the Marcus rushing attack to a stifling 30 yards on the ground.
This game will go down in Jesuit history as one of the most electric and exciting games in our program’s history. Another important note is that this is the first time our football team has started the season 1-0 since 2015. Next week we will be taking on the 6A powerhouse Rockwall. The team is coming off of a big win against Cedar Hill and this game will prove to test our Rangers. This season looks to be very promising for our Ranger Football team and we hope to see you all next Friday.
Stay tuned to The Roundup for more Jesuit varsity football and sports news!
