The Jesuit Ranger varsity football squad squared off with district foe Sunset this past Friday, defeating them 37-0. Let’s take a deeper look into this near perfect performance that extended the Ranger winning streak to five.
Jesuit started off strong with a two play touchdown drive that ended with a 43 yard connection by quarterback Bo Schneider ’15 and wide receiver Garret Amy ’15. This followed a 26 yard run by running back Adam Holtz ’16.
The defense then forced Sunset to punt on the ensuing drive, to which the Ranger offense capitalized with another touchdown drive. Kellen McAlone ’14 had the first and last catches of the series of 11 and 13 yards respectively. The second was a touchdown thrown again by Schneider. Jesuit was forced to go for two due to a missed extra point on the first drive. Â Orion Salters ’14 converted with a two yard rush and put the Rangers up 14-0 with about eight minutes left in the first quarter.
After another unsuccessful drive by Sunset, Jesuit scored immediately as the first pass by backup quarterback Kyle Muller ’16 was a 67 yard bomb to wide receiver Charlie Eikenberg ’15. The Rangers were now up 20-0 seven minutes into the game.
Sunset couldn’t respond on the following drive and was forced to punt again. They never managed to get a first down in the first quarter as the stout Ranger defense held them to just 15 yards of total offense, all rushing.
Jesuit again scored on the next drive which took four minutes and ended the quarter. It featured big plays, such as a 30 yard catch by Eikenberg, a 12 yard rush by running back Matt Miller ’15, and a 22 yard rush by Matt Slovak ’15. The score, however, came from Muller who rushed the ball into the end zone for a 3 yard touchdown. He put Jesuit up 27-0.
Sunset couldn’t turn things around in the second quarter as their only two drives ended with a fumble and a punt. The Rangers did,
however, put 13 more points on the board before the half. Kicker Connor Lanpher made a 27 yard field goal to get his first points of the season, while Miller scored later on a 34 yard touchdown run. The score stood at 37-0 going into the locker rooms, and that proved to be the final as neither team found the end zone for the remainder of the game.
This was Jesuit’s best game thus far, as it was their first shutout of the season. The Ranger defense held Sunset to 61 yards of total offense, and only 3 of which were passing. Head Coach Brandon Hickman described some of the perks of wining by such a large margin, “It was nice to get some of our back ups and younger players varsity experience…They work hard and deserve to play…it was fun seeing those guys take advantage of their opportunity.”
Jesuit approached this game with a very humble attitude. Sunset has been one of the weaker teams in the district for quite some time, so they didn’t plan on revving the throttle. Hickman described what it was like to matchup against a struggling team:
“It was the first time in a ballgame I actually wanted the other team to score when they got down there on the one yard line late in the game. You have to respect those players from Sunset…they go out every week and give their best effort. They have really struggled the past few years. That takes a special type of person to persevere through that every week and their 28 players have stayed together which I really respect….they continue to stay positive and don’t quit on their teammates and coaches. That is a real team. Their team just doesn’t have the talent that other programs do.”
The Jesuit stat line seems like something out of a video game. They had 507 yards of total offense, 234 yards on the ground, no incompletions, no interceptions, and only one punt. Their only hiccup came from nine penalties for 84 yards.
Coach Hickman described the perfect performance by the quarterbacks: “We ran the pop a bunch which is a sweep with a forward pass from the QB to get many players the ball. That was why our completion percentage was so high along with a few screens. I think we threw just 3-4 balls down the field all night which was the plan.”
Individual leaders were Muller with 190 yards passing and one touchdown, Miller with 95 rushing yards and one touchdown, and Eikenberg, who had 97 yards receiving and a touchdown.
It always important to not get caught up in pride and celebration after such a blowout game, and the Rangers did exactly the opposite. They are going to look at the positives to take away from this game, and hope to only improve their game moving forward. Coach Hickman explains this approach:
“We have to focus on getting better and peaking like we have done the month of October, early November. We are finishing part one of the
season this Friday. The second season which is part two starts next Friday night in the playoffs. We have six more games on our schedule.”
Jesuit has surprised everyone this season with their 5-1 district record, as many doubted them early on in the season. They now boast a five game district win streak and look to be the number two seed (in district) going into the playoffs. This week they square off against another district rival in Richardson, a game that will be the last home outing for this senior class. So go out and support your Rangers!
