This past Wednesday night, the Freshman Rangers tackled the challenge of facing both the Highland Park Fighting Scots and the R.L. Turner Lions. Blue Team would play at home at Postell Stadium against HP, while Gold Team would play on the road at Standridge Field against the Lions.
First to play, the Blue Team realized that the game was going to be tough when the Scots came out and racked-up 14 points right-off-the-bat. The boys in blue fought hard, but HP totaled 28 points at the half with the Rangers only scoring 7. Jesuit was on the way to a comeback, but the buzzer stopped their progress and sent them into halftime.
Coming out of the half, the Jesuit defense stepped up. They held the Scots for four plays, forcing a turnover. The offense picked up the baton with a 50 yard run by Ryan Macaland
a ’18 to keep the ball rolling for the Rangers. Jagger LaRoe ’18 connected with Marshall Rodegast ’18 on a fourth and long to keep the Jesuit drive going and again connected with him in the end zone to top off a great drive. All of these offensive successes occurred on similar possessions with killer runs by Macalanda, and the game was looking increasingly hopeful for Jesuit.
Later in the game, an almost exact sequence of plays occurred again when, after another fourth down conversion, LaRoe tossed a last effort pass to Rodegast, who furthered the Ranger’s momentum. This would be his third passing touchdown of the night, with a first half touchdown to William Schneider ’18, and another to Rodegast.
“Jim Hayden [team MVP] was out with a foot injury which had a big impact in the game” said cornerback Pearson Byrne ’18. Though Jesuit kept fighting throughout the game, the time ran out for the Rangers and they ended their season on a slightly sour note with a 35-21 loss. However, looking back at the season as a whole, the mood is probably a more positive than negative, for the team ended with a nice 7-2 record.
Last but certainly not least, the Gold Team had a more lively bookend to a great season when they took the field against R.L. Turner. Just stepping on the turf,QB Alek McGlone ’18 threw a touchdown pass to Joey Preboy ’18, giving the ball to Hank Clements ’18 to finish the offensive score with a two point conversion. In the next possession, the Rangers kept the intensity of the game going, when RB Jack Tabor ’18 found daylight and chopped up field for a 41 yard run. There was no stopping this Jesuit machine, for McGlone connected with Sean Maguire ’18 for six points to end the first quarter with a 22-0 lead. In second quarter, McGlone again found an open man and gunned one to Grayson Hassell ’18 for a long, 91-yard score. Going into the half, Jesuit felt confident in their gameplan.
Following the halftime break, each Gold Team offensive player knew his job: to maintain the onslaught. Again hitting a trusty receiver, McGlone fired the ball to Preboy, concluding the domination of the offensive possessions. Matching the energy of the offense, the Ranger defense consistently filled the gaps and batted the ball away from the collapsing Lions offense. Adding another shutout to the list, the defense nicely complemented the ferocity displayed by the offense.
The final score of the game was 36-0 Jesuit, a nice victory to top the cake of an astounding, undefeated record of 9-0.
If you see any of the freshman football players at school, give them a nice high five or pat on the back because they truly dominated on both the Blue and Gold Teams.
Photos by John Tabet
