Jesuit Defeats J.J. Pearce In Low-Scoring Affair

After coming off a strong win at Irving 52-13, Jesuit continued the momentum, defeating J.J. Pearce in a close game 17-14 and keeping Jesuit undefeated in District play.

Pre-Game

On Tuesday, October 30, Head Coach Brandon Hickman and Cade Kirby ’26 were invited onto the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Podcast at Dick’s House of Sports right by Jesuit. Here is what Coach Hickman had to say about the J.J. Pearce game:

“I think it is going to be a good ball game. We are going to have to take care of the ball, create some turnovers, and be the ones that are setting the tone up front.”

Game Summary

On the first drive of the game, Jesuit did exactly what Coach Hickman said. Jack Bourret ’27 was able to create a turnover through an interception, with a 22-yard return. Using that interception, Jesuit was able to score first from a Shane Parker ’26 rushing touchdown. But, with a blocked extra point, the score was 6-0. Then, towards the end of the first half, Jesuit scored again because of a receiving touchdown from Beck Berry ’26 to Cade Kirby ’26. And with a two-point conversion from Jesuit and a J.J. Pearce passing touchdown, the score was 14-7 at half.

“beck and I have been playing together since we were little kids, so that chemistry, it’s always been there and it feels good to really show that.” -Cade Kirby ’26

In the second half, Jesuit’s defense stepped up massively, allowing 0 points in the second half, in which the only points that came from J.J. Pearce were a pick six two minutes and 14 seconds into the second half. With the crowd consistently in it, the two teams were kept out of the end zone as well as field goals. Fortunately, with 4:45 left, Cooper McGough ’26 kicked the game winning field goal from 36 yards out. With a clutch stop from the defense, Jesuit was able to seal the game 17-14 and come out with a win.

Statistics

Defensively, Joe Norman ’26 led the team in tackles with six (one solo and five assisted), with Gabriel James ’26 and Simon McGoldrick ’27 trailing right behind with five (Gabriel had one solo, four assisted and Simon had two solo, three assisted). The team came up with two tackles for a loss, one from Cabe Weissmueller ’26 (three yards) and one from Jackson Gair ’27 (one yard). Lastly, Jesuit came up with two turnovers, which were both interceptions, and they came from Cole Wombacher ’26, who caught one while falling out of bounds, and Jack Bourett ’27, who returned his pick for 22 yards.

“We had a couple big stops. oUR DEFENSE PLAYED REALLY WELL. i THOUGHT OUR DEFENSE WON THE GAME TONIGHT.” -cOACH HICKMAN

Offensively, Jesuit had 299 yards of offense compared to J.J. Pearce’s measly 177. Beck Berry ’26 went 16-29 (55% completion rate) with a touchdown in the air and ran for 80 yards on the ground on 14 attempts. Shane Parker ’26 also took part in the run game, having a total of 53 rushing yards with one touchdown on 12 attempts. Receiving wise, Cade Kirby ’26 led the charge with 70 receiving yards and a touchdown on five receiving yards.

Conclusion

Jesuit has started District play very strong. Their next opponent is a tough Lake Highlands, who is also undefeated in District. Additionally, it will be Senior Night for Jesuit, so come out and support the Rangers!

Tune into The Roundup for Jesuit’s matchup against Lake Highlands on October 10!