The Rangers put up a strong season this year going 7-3, and ending the month of November as one of the hottest teams in the state of Texas. Sadly, the hotter team did not move on. The Colts of Arlington shocked the Rangers, beating us 49-37 and sending us home early.
1st Half
The Colts started with the ball first, and they drove down in ten plays with the only negative play being a Kent sack before they took a 7-0 lead. This is the first time the Rangers had trailed since the Lake Highlands game. Then, the Rangers had a promising drive to match the Colts, until a Gage Roy pick in the front corner of the end zone. Following the turnover, the defense stepped up by forcing a quick stop led by two tackles for a loss by Peter Melle, Jack Judson, Sy Mendenhall, and Ryan Graham. The Rangers took advantage of this by a Gage Roy to Charlie Clements touchdown on the next play after the short punt. We missed the extra point, and the score was now 7-6 Colts.
The Colts answered our score, and extended the lead to 8. Following the score, Ford Butler returned the kick 55 yards top set up the Rangers in plus field position. This led to a quick drive topped off by a Roy to Krepp touchdown but a failed two point. The D led by pressures from Bowers and Melle and a TFL by Fitzgerald forced a quick three and out. Roy connected with Clements for 69 yards to start off the drive and finished it off himself with a two yard scamper for 6 with another failed two point. The Colts scored again with little time remaining taking a 21-18 halftime lead.
2nd Half
The Ranger O starts the second half with the ball and take the ball down 52 yards in 4 minutes to take a 24-21 lead, after a blocked extra point. Following the score, the Colts responded with a 61 bomb that put them back on top 28-24. On the following drive, Roy got hurt which led to Naughton coming in the game. He led us down the field after a big chunk play to Krepp. Roy subbed back in and gave it to Jake Taylor, who then took it 22 yards to the house to bring the Rangers back up 31-28. Both the Colts and Rangers punt back to back, and then the Colts struck again with another big play, 51 yards, and that made the score 35-31.
The Rangers followed this with a drive that took us down to the Colt 6, but an incomplete Roy pass on 4th and 3 ended the promising drive. The defense forced a false start backing the Colts up to their own 3, but a 97 yard BJ Rogers rush on the next play extended the lead further, 42-31. Roy and Clements connected on the following drive for 53 yards to drop the lead to 5 with 1:25 left in the ball game. The Rangers needed a miracle on the onside kick and struggling junior kicker Cade Jordan delivered in crunch time kicking a beautiful onside kick recovered by Pierce Jackson. Sadly, the miracle ended there as Roy was picked off and returned for a touchdown to bring us to the final score 49-37.
On a desperate attempt for a good return the Rangers fumbled the ball, and the Colts ran out the clock ending the Rangers’ season.
My Analysis
Offense
The offense was led by a dynamic combination of Charlie Clements and Jake Taylor. Charlie had 204 yards of total offense and two touchdowns on only 12 touches. His two touchdowns were crazy. First, he mossed a defender in the South end zone on a broken play lob from Gage Roy. His second was a 53 yard touchdown reception his second fifty plus yard reception of the game as well. Jake had another 100 yard and 1 touchdown game, which has become a habit for him at this point. Gage had an up and down game because he threw for 300 yards and had five total touchdowns, but had two costly turnover and an injury that sidelined him for a drive.
When, he went down senior Connor Naughton stepped in and played great while Gage was out completing 3/4 for 34 yards while filling in for Roy. Other receivers that had good games where Younger, Cook, and Krepp who all had 40+ yards and Cook and Krepp both had TDs.
Defense
The Defense was led by Fitzgerald, Kent, and Judson, who each had at least 6 tackles and 1.5 tackles for a loss. Kent and Judson also had a sack to add to their strong effort. The Defense did not force any turnovers, but they were making the Colts’ quarterback have a tough night. The Ranger D had 7 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks, 3 quarterback hits, and 3 PBUs. Even though the Colts scored a lot of points, the Defense played well. They held the pass offense to 200 yards and only gave up 17 first downs.
Special Teams
Special teams were a struggle in the game because our kicker/punter Parker Brown was sidelined with COVID-19. We started the game with a missed extra point, which led to us going for two a lot. We failed all three two point attempted and then missed another extra point leaving 8 points on the board in a very close game. Also, without our punter or kicker we had to go for it a lot on fourth downs, and our one punt was good but not as good as a Parker Brown punt.
On the other hand, the return game was electric with a total of 131 return yards, led by a 52 yard Ford Butler kick return.
Post Season Awards
First, the major award winners were Hunter Krepp and Robert Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald won Defensive Player of the Year for District 7-6A, and Krepp won District Offensive Newcomer of the Year. Then, the First team All-District players were: Jack Judson, Peter Melle, Ryan Lengyel, Jake Taylor, Matt Craycraft, and Charlie Cook. And, the Second team All-District players were: Major Kent, Pierce Jackson, Cooper Manning, Charlie Clements, Gage Roy, and Parker Brown. Finally, the All-District Honorable Mention players were: Oscar Jarmon, Luca Constanzo, Baron Johnson, Cole Younger, Ford Butler, Kyle Heckyl, Graham Bowers, Ryan “Hollywood” Graham, Chase Jackson, Max McFarland, and Sy Mendenhall.
The Rangers had an impressive 25 players on the district teams, which showed the great season we had, and the district realized it.
Seniors
The Senior class of 2021 was indeed built different as the team motto would imply. The Class of 2021 had 17 of the 23 starters on offense/defense/special teams. They led the team through their hard work, leadership and commitment to the team. As one of the seniors, I must say that the last four years in this program have been special and one that made Jesuit what it is. The All-State Academic team was announced including 9 seniors: Graham Bowers, Charlie Clements, Ryan “Hollywood” Graham, Emery Hayden, Major Kent, Danny Kobos, Max McFarland, Ryan Schurr (me), and Jake Taylor. This honor showed that there was not just a commitment to the team, but also the student part of student-athlete. As I will miss this year, I know all the seniors will too.
Right now, 3 Rangers, Peter Melle (Delaware), Graham Bowers (Johns Hopkins), and Ryan Lengyel (Baylor) will be playing next year in college. And then, I think next year’s seniors will carry on the legacy that we have left of success and hard work and play well and hopefully take home a district title.
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