“They were a really talented football team and played a physical brand of football. We haven’t played a team like that all season and they went after us. At the end of the day, it was an amazing season and each member of the team grew closer throughout the season.”
–Logan Thompson ’24 Safety and Roundup Editor-in-Chief
On November 18th at 7 P.M. the Rangers took on the McKinney Lions at Prosper Children’s Health Stadium. Coming into this game, McKinney was 7-4 overall, and 4th in their district with many good teams. These teams included Denton Guyer (number 1 team in Texas), Prosper, Allen, etc. They handled business against Coppell 44-26 to win their Bi-District game and showed no weakness in that game. Moving on, Jesuit came off a blowout of a win to Arlington High 41-14 at Ranger Stadium and exploded in the second half of the game offensively. But the real test was McKinney… and knowing they have played very elite teams in the state in their own district showed they weren’t some lucky team that beat Coppell. However, Jesuit fell 42-7 in an unfortunate loss to end their season.
“Tough loss to end the season on. By far the worst part is knowing it’s the last time you’ll play with those seniors and eventually knowing that you will end your career that way too
— Roundup Associate Editor and Offensive Lineman Ben Petroff ’24
Play-by-Play
1st Quarter:
Winning the coin toss, Jesuit received the ball first in the opening of the first quarter. Unable to convert on 4th down, Jesuit punted the ball. The Lions got the ball and made quick work with it. They began to drive down the field and started on their own 40-yard line and scored in 9 plays with a 2-yard rush Sincere Blakely scored to put the first points on the board for the night. 7-0 McKinney.
With about six minutes left to go, Jesuit went three and out not able to get enough yardage for the first down, electing to punt giving the ball back to McKinney with roughly 5 minutes to go on the clock.
McKinney received the ball at the JES 49, and was stopped as Luke Buckner made a huge play for a loss of 5 yards, making McKinney punt. McKinney punter Khali Best kicked it just shy of the Ranger’s 5-yard line, and Fawcett muffed the punt, as McKinney special teams recovered it. And just two plays later, SMU commit quarterback Keldric Luster punched the ball in for 5 yards. McKinney 14-0.
Jesuit had a big kickoff return from Jaeger Krauss ’25 for 24 yards, and it led to another three and out from the Ranger’s offense, unfortunately.
2nd Quarter:
Right at the end of the first quarter, McKinney recived the ball on their own 43 yard line, and scored in under a minute from Luster’s pass to Khali Best ofr 47 yards. Now, making it 21-0 McKinney.
At around 12 minutes left, Jesuit proceeded to move down the field until they got to the McKinney 38 yard line. The Rangers went for it on 4th down and Schmidt could not complete the critical pass to Jake Musso ’23. The Lions took over on their own 38 yard line, and began to find their rhythm very quick. Then, Luster threw a 41 yard pass to Dylan Rhodes for 41 yards for his second passing touchdown in just under two minutes. McKinney 28-0.
Then, Jesuit started on their own 25-yard line with just a little over 6 minutes left to go, another necessary 4th down try led to a turnover on downs, as the Rangers could not seem to find their groove. Now, McKinney took over in their 8-play drive and now began to find his guys whether passing or running the ball. Luster then found his man Dylan Rhodes for a 26-yard passing touchdown making it 35-0. With just 40 seconds left on the clock, the Rangers knew they needed a quick score going into the half, but could not convert on the 4th and 6.
3rd Quarter:
The Rangers decide to go with the onside kick to throw the special teams unit off, as McKinney recovers it with good field position. Next, for the first time tonight, the Lions went for it on 4th down as Jameson Kemp hurried Luster outside the tackle box for no gain. The Rangers had a long 10-play drive but had trouble converting 4th down again, as Schmidt threw an incomplete pass to wide receiver Landon Polk ’24. But McKinney responded with a bang, as Luster found Nick Chipper for a 30-yard touchdown in under a minute and thirty seconds. 35-0 McKinney. Afterwards, the Rangers did not convert on their 4th down try and McKinney punted the ball away at the Ranger three-yard line.
4th Quarter:
After the long punt, Jesuit received the ball back, and had trouble finding their receivers and had to punt the ball away deep in their territory. McKinney started on Jesuit’s thirty-eight-yard line. McKinney struggled to run the ball as Tristen Bird ’24 sacked Owen Fann for a loss of 11 yards, causing a turnover on downs. Jesuit responded with a touchdown to Jake Musso from the McKinney 33-yard line to score. 42-7 McKinney.
D’Kedrion Abram was subbed in for Luster with about five minutes left to go in the fourth quarter and mostly ran the ball, until Dillon Blair sacked him for a loss of fifteen yards, as McKinney then had to punt the ball away. The Rangers had the ball on the final drive, and did not get the first down.
Stats
Offensively, Charlie Schmidt threw for 17-36 of his passes for 167 yards and a touchdown. And led the team in rushing with 19 carries for 30 yards. Along with that, senior wideout Jake Musso ’23 caught the only touchdown of the night in the late 4th quarter, Musso had 81 receiving yards for the night. Luke Fawcett was right behind him with 62 receiving yards.
Defensively, defensive lineman Jameson Kemp ’23 and linebacker Grayson Wombacher ’24 recorded 9 tackles and one TFL each for the game. Additionally, Roark Holman ’23 also had 8 tackles a piece. Defensive lineman Dillon Blair had a sack. And linebackers Luke Buckner ’23, Luke Selner ’23, and Tristen Bird ’24 each recorded a sack too.
Summary
Overall, Jesuit had a terrific season of 9-3. In addition, our playoff run was excellent as we won the Bi-District Round. As for McKinney, they lost 35-42 to #7 state-ranked Southlake Carroll on November 25th. Finally, thank you to Jaxx Rigelsky ’24, Andrew Leon ’25, and Peyton Bristow ’25 for media coverage this entire football season!
Thanks for a great season and I’m looking forward to the next one ahead. Go Rangers!
