The first annual “Battle for the Saddle” game featuring the Jesuit Rangers vs the WT White Longhorns occurred this past Friday, October 11 and the Jesuit Rangers had an excellent victory. The Junior Varsity team, likewise, dominated the Longhorns winning by a landslide of 46-0.
Although the Rangers were heavy favorites in this game, Coach Jonathan Short encouraged the team not to underestimate the team. Short wanted to start off faster than they did in the previous week against Berkner. Short described the gameplan as simple. He added that “[for the offense] we wanted to attack both on the ground and in the air.” For the defense, “We wanted to fly to the football and create turnovers and get stops.”
On the first play from scrimmage, the up-tempo Ranger offense scored on a 30 yard screen pass from quarterback Rusty Landon ’16 to wide receiver Connor Lanpher ’16. The Rangers got out to an early 7-0 lead and the defense had a solid stop on the opening Longhorn series.
The second play for the Rangers proved to be a success with another long touchdown pass by Landon. After another defensive stop, the opening play of the Ranger drive was another touchdown, with the unstoppable Ranger offense playing only 3 plays, all resulting in a touchdown.
Landon finished with 3 touchdowns alone in the first quarter and several yards through the air. Landon described the offense as explosive through the first quarter. Landon added that, “[the offense] was able to find our rhythm right away and we progressed from that.”
The defense held up and gave the offense no room through the first half, and the offense was able to register a few more touchdowns. At the half, the Rangers were able to put the Longhorns at a 34-0 deficit.
The shutout continued through the third quarter, with several nice tackles by defensive tackle Andrew Morris ’16 and linebacker Spencer Barnet ’16. The Longhorns offense became fatigued and started to slow down to which the Rangers used to their advantage, making several stops and forcing turnovers.
The Rangers were able to score two more touchdowns in the second half and the defense proved to be stellar, allowing 0 points the whole game. The Rangers won by an impressive 46-0 score.
Coach Short and the whole coaching staff were very impressed with the win and the performance in all three aspects of the game (offense, defense and special teams). With a number of players who moved up to varsity, Short explained that “a number of guys stepped up and played well in this opportunity.”
The Rangers are now second in the division behind Skyline with a 6-1 record.
