This past Thursday, October 2, the Jesuit Rangers JV team took on the Skyline Raiders. Under the lights at Postell Stadium, The two teams bruised it out in a hard fought battle.
Going into the game, Head Coach Rick Leal wanted to make sure the team could “control Skyline’s speed.” Playing Skyline for consecutive years, Jesuit has become familiar with speed and talent of the Raiders team. Focusing on “ball control” was also very important for this game.
Many of the sophomores on JV team are the only kids at Jesuit that can say they have beat a Skyline Raiders team, defeating them freshman year. Splitting last year’s series 1-1, both teams were seeking revenge. In this game, those same sophomores were the ones who made key plays to put up a good fight.
On the defensive side of the ball, Defensive Linemen Jack Metz ’17 and Jordan Rice ’17 led the defensive attack, closing up holes and making big plays. Both of these standouts made huge tackles and were pointed out by their coaches as big difference makers. Metz explained that he “remembered most of his opponent from last year and by watching film felt he gained a huge advantage”. Metz also touched on the advice of the coaching staff: “Our coaches going into the game reiterated the key points of their high-powered offense”.
Sadly, these two play makers weren’t enough. Skyline’s highly potent offense proved to be too much for the strength of the Jesuit Defense, busting open two runs for touchdowns. The Jesuit offense faltered in wake of the Raiders. Besides Wide Receiver Dane Bender ’16 putting up a rushing touchdown, the offense struggled heavily throughout the game. The defining moment of this game was the offense turning over the ball on the one yard line. A touchdown would have tied the game, but the offense failed to convert.
Even with the offensive struggles, the defense showed great promise. Defensive Back John Guzman ’17 said going into the game “if he knew they could hold Skyline to only 16 points he would have guaranteed a victory”. Even though the defense was able to force a few turnovers, the offense lost it more, proving costly.
A big standout in the game was Defensive End George Frymire ’17, who had a big play late in the game that put the Rangers in contention. His fumble recovery late in the fourth quarter gave the Rangers the ball with a chance to score. Frymire explained that he “knew a big play needed to be made, and was glad he could help his team out.” After forcing the turnover and only being down by one touchdown, the Rangers offense came up short and could not finish the comeback.
Following the tough 16 to 9 loss, Jordan Rice ’17 said, “we can use this tough loss as a learning experience. I know nobody on the team likes this feeling, and it will just make us want to train harder in practice.” Rice and the whole team made it clear that they can’t wait to get revenge on Skyline next year. Coach Leal wanted to use this loss as an opportunity to “teach [the team] how to play and go toe to toe with a tough opponent for 40 minutes”.
Heading into the bulk of district play, The JV team looks to assert dominance and finish strong. To have a shot at the district title, the team needs to go undefeated for the rest of the season.
This Thursday, October 8, the Rangers take on Irving all the way in Irving. Come out and support as the look to advance to 4-2 on the season and 2-1 in district play!
Photos by Jowdy Photography
