Jesuit Falls Short to District Rival Highland Park in a Thriller

“We’ve given too much to come out and play flat. we gotta give it our all.” -Charlie Peters ’25 Pre-game

On Friday, September 29, 2023, Jesuit Football took on rival Highland Park in a defensive battle for the ages at Gerald R. Ford Field at SMU. The stands were packed on both sides, with a great mix of students, family, community, and alumni. The unconfirmed number of tickets is somewhere upwards of 16,000 sold. Both sides were excited for an important district showdown of a cross-town rival with meaning too big to be played on a normal high school field.

Both defenses came out hot, although it was Highland Park who scored first on a questionable touchdown that has video evidence from multiple cameras and angle, including Highland Park videographers proving a goal line fumble which would have resulted in a turnover in favor of Jesuit. Nonetheless, the Jesuit defense stayed vigilant and hushed the Highland Park offense for most of the half, only allowing one other touchdown in the half. The Rangers were able to notch a touchdown of their own on a touchdown pass from Charlie Peters ’25 to defensive lineman Cade Gill ’25 and a field goal before the half.

To many people’s surprise, including my own, in part due to questions about the Rangers defense as well as a tough Scots offense, the Scots were held scoreless in the second half. The Rangers attempted to score on a lengthy field goal from Noah McGough ’25, however the wind took over in the one opening of the stadium and it sailed wide. McGough was able to notch one through later though, to bring the score to 15-13 with time running out of the game for a Ranger comeback. Robert Prager ’25 made a clutch interception at the goal line, however, it all came to a close when Charlie Peters got tackled on an unsuccessful fourth down conversion to give Highland Park the ball back and the kneel into victory.

“It’s a heart-breaking loss really; there’s no other way to put it.” -Ben Petroff ’24

I was very impressed by this Ranger team. This proves several things:

• Our defense is very good, possibly the best in the district, and has the ability to make clutch and key plays time after time after time creating countless turnovers and stops against a dangerous offense. The key now is to continue to string those together, especially next week against Berkner.

1. 

   “I think our defense played really well, I really was upset that we couldn’t completely finish out the game.” -Captain Logan Thompson ’24

2. This proves my theory I have been harping on all season long about how this team is fueled by pressure and the crowd. This team takes in the pressure in big games like Rockwall and Highland park, it and makes them stronger and better. An extra level of competitiveness is brought out in each and every one of them in their desire to win. It is just about making sure it is unlocked. We saw earlier in the year against Pearce on a Thursday night road game how even against a fairly weak opponent the Rangers may look bad because they are not fully immersed in the game like they can be.

3. 

   “We know what we have to do going forward.” -Captain Chris Simington ’24

4. We have the most loyal student section in the state, without a doubt. While our student section may not be notorious for being rude or threatening to officials or other players, and may sometimes lack creativity, the loyalty is there and is always evident. The most obvious example was last year at the Highland Park game, when their students started with the entire section full minimized down to a few students sitting in a few rows waiting for rides in the fourth. The Jesuit section on the other side was still at full capacity and roaring with spirit to cheer on a 28-unanswered-point comeback attempt. That is understandable, they left at what was a blowout win. This year Highland Park students left in masses at halftime, leaving their students section as to about the size it might have been in Ranger Stadium, meanwhile Jesuit and Ursuline students only expanded the student section into what spanned almost three full sections of the stadium. Even when times may seem tough, the brotherhood of Jesuit is always shown.

This loss likely diminishes the hopes of a district title, as there is very little chance lake Highlands, Berkner, or Highland Park lose another game this year, except Berkner to Jesuit. There is still a fight for seeding playoff seating however, and the cards are not totally against a first-round home game, but that requires the Rangers to win out for sure. Jesuit will face Berkner next week after their bye week this week, then faces easier district opponents in Nimitz for homecoming, MacArthur on the road on a Thursday, the Richardson at home for senior night.

“We just got to keep looking forward. We still got four more game ahead of us, put this behind us. -Coach Hickman

Jesuit has won 9 of the last 10 against Berkner, the last loss being in 2006. Last year’s matchup ended in a 58-31 victory for the Rangers, which included Jake Musso ’23 breaking the Jesuit single-game receiving yard record with 263 on 13 catches and 4 touchdowns. This Berkner team is much better than last year, featuring a win against Lake Highlands who Jesuit has previously lost to this year. Berkner also has wide receiver transfer Landon Polk ’24, who transferred from Jesuit in the winter of last year. Polk is familiar with the offense, as well as the defensive tendencies through many practices and will likely try to use that to his advantage. It should be a thrilling game to watch!

“This team is gonna go far we just have to fix the little mistakes.” -Coach Livingstone

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