An ancient rivalry, a historic duel, a legendary matchup. Call it what you will, but the Dallas Jesuit vs WT White football game is always an important one. This past game, played under the lights this past Friday at Postell Stadium, was especially important as both teams held a 1-1 district record going into it. However, only one could emerge as the victor of “The Battle for the Saddle,” and this time it was the Jesuit Rangers, who blew out the Longhorns 71-34. Let’s recap the Rangers’ robust performance.
The Rangers appeared to start the game off strong as the first play from scrimmage was an interception thrown by starting WT White quarterback Chris Rabroker. However, Jesuit failed to capitalize as they turned the ball over on downs to start the game. This led to an ensuing touchdown drive by the Longhorns as they were the first on the board with a 10 yard touchdown pass to Xavier Land. W.T. White was up 6-0 (due to a failed two point conversion) with 6:36 left in the first quarter.
The Longhorns didn’t let up the throttle as they surprised Jesuit with a pooch kick on the kickoff, ultimately recovering it on the Jesuit 39 yard line. This was immediately followed by a touchdown pass thrown by the running back Jacobii Tisdale to Land. The Rangers over-pursued the pitch by Rabroker to Tisdale, which ultimately left Land wide open. This put Jesuit down 0-13 with 6:25 left in the first.
Highlights of the following Ranger drive featured a 24 yard rush by Adam Holtz ’16 and a few short runs by Max Loughborough ’16. Jesuit couldn’t end up finding the end zone and was forced to settle with a field goal attempt. This 24 yard chip shot was missed, however, by place kicker Christian Roberts ’14.
The Ranger bad luck finally ended on the next WT White drive as the Jesuit defense forced a quick three-and-out, which was completed with a botched snap on the punt attempt. The ball went high over the punter’s head out of the end zone for a safety. This would be Jesuit’s first points, as they now trailed White 2-13.
This time the Rangers did capitalize off White’s costly mistake, as the rushing game led Jesuit to its first touchdown drive. Third string back Matt Miller ’15 found the end zone after a two yard rush. This score, at the start of the second quarter, cut the deficit to four points, White still leading 13-9.
The Longhorns managed to respond to Miller’s score with a rushing touchdown of their own as Alec Ramos ran 66 yards into the end zone.
The Jesuit crowd was stunned now being down 19-9 with 11 minutes to go in the half. The idea of this game being a sure blowout, vanished quickly as the Rangers continued to struggle.
But young quarterback Bo Schneider ’15 brought his “A” game in the second quarter as he connected with wide receiver Charlie Eikenberg ’15 for passes of 20 and 17 yards, the second of which set up another Miller rushing touchdown of one yard. This cut the Longhorn lead to three, with 8:34 left in the half.
Jesuit finally managed to take the lead as they quickly forced a WT White punt with 7:19 left to play. This was followed by another touchdown drive led by Schneider, who spread the wealth to Loughborough, Eikenberg, and veteran receiver Kellen McAlone ’14. But it was Miller again who found the end zone on a short two yard touchdown. He put the Rangers up 22-19.
After yet another WT White punt, the Rangers squeezed in another touchdown right before the half. Schneider led the “two minute drill” offense and got his first touchdown of the night, which was completed to McAlone for a 13 yard score. It was 28-19 with a minute and a half left in the second quarter.
WT White couldn’t respond to the Ranger rally as they punted for the third time in 7 minutes. But they did get a sigh of relief when Jesuit attempted a trick play before time ran out. After Schneider tossed the pigskin to receiver John Michael Priddy ’16, the sophomore threw a lob up after getting hit, which was intercepted by the WT White defense. However, there was not enough time on the clock for White to capitalize, so they just took a knee and went into the locker rooms.
Despite this glimmer of hope, the rest of the game was history. Jesuit came storming out of the locker room and quickly put themselves up by two touchdowns. Even though White managed to sneak a score in, to put it at 26-42, they couldn’t progress much further as Jesuit scored five touchdowns in the second half. The final score was 71-34 with Jesuit emerging on top.
But this game didn’t appear to be a blowout at first, as Jesuit trailed early. Head Coach Brandon Hickman described how the Rangers were able to rally:
“We were able to run the ball and started making catches that we dropped early in the game. Our defense got some stops and we kept our
poise as a team which I was proud of. We told our guys at halftime to keep being leaders and to take over the game. I thought in the second half we set the tone very early, getting some stops on defense and running the ball effectively which enabled us to take the game over.”
This time around it was the rushing game that brought Jesuit the victory. The Rangers rushed for a season high 341 yards and seven touchdowns. Breakout star Miller led with  124 rushing yards and five trips to the end zone. The other scorers were Loughborough who had 88 yards and a touchdown, and Matt Slovak ’15 who had 55 yards and two touchdowns. The Ranger rushing game averaged an unbelievable 7.41 yards per carry.
Coach Hickman described the performance by the unlikely heroes:
“We had a lot of players step in and play some in some spots they are not very use to. Matt [Miller] hasn’t been asked to play running back in
a while but it kept working so we continued to run the ball. We asked Matthew Slovak to step in and he did an excellent job considering he doesn’t get many reps at the position because he plays linebacker.”
Perhaps the main reason for the increased number of carries by the backup running backs was that starter Adam Holtz was taken out of the game due to what appeared to be a leg injury. Hickman, however, clarified, “Adam sprained his ankle and should be good to play according to our trainers on Friday.”
The passing game was not quite as impactful as the running game. While Schneider’s numbers don’t look great, 166 yards and 54% completion percentage, he did have two touchdowns and no interceptions, and this was good enough to get the win. Normally quick to find numerous receivers, he only connected with three this past Friday: Eikenberg (80 yards and a touchdown), McAlone (63 yards and a touchdown) and Loughborough (23 yards).
The lack of receiving was probably due to the fact the Jesuit was missing three of its starting four receivers. Orion Salters ’14, Garrett Amy
’15, and Will Carney ’14 were all sidelined with injuries. Coach Hickman explained the troubles that came with all of the injuries:
“We have battled the injury bug the last two weeks and Friday night, guys stepped in and did great. We always tell our backups to be prepared because you never know when your name will be called upon to contribute. I thought they did an excellent job preparing and taking advantage of the opportunity which will help our depth down the road. Our guys who were injured are healed up and ready to go this week which is just a bonus.”
With the Rangers winning the Battle for the Saddle, they are now 2-1 in district play. They will square off against Lake Highlands next Friday, which will prove to be a crucial away game-so go out and support your Rangers!
Photography by The Last Roundup
