Ellis County Sports Your source for Ellis County Sports News
By Travis M. Smith | Ellis County Sports
BURLESON — The Midlothian Heritage defense held Burleson to 43 second-half yards in a 38-7 district-opening rout on Thursday.
Junior quarterback Carter Rutenbar accounted for all 4 offensive touchdowns for the (4-0, 1-0) Jaguars in their District 5-5A Divison II opener at Burleson ISD Stadium. Senior all-everything athlete Stetson Sarratt also continued his torrid start to the season.
Rutenbar had his first pass attempt intercepted. He then connected on 7-of-his-13 passes for 111 yards and three touchdowns — with one each to Sarratt (1-32, 2:33 1Q), Ryan Satterwhite (1-17, 10:39 2Q) and Chris Robinson (3-38, 3:13 4Q).
Senior defensive back and tight end Maxim Newton (6-2, 195) returned a blocked punt 14 yards for a Jaguar touchdown with 5:36 to play in the first half. Rutenbar added a 4-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run for the Jaguars that jumped from No. 7 to 5 in the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football 5A Division II poll this week.
Rutenbar has now completed 47-of-his-75 passes (63%) for 896 yards and 12 touchdowns to 3 interceptions.
Seven of those Rutenbar touchdown passes have gone to Sarratt, who now boasts 14 catches for 425 yards (30.4YPC) to go with 2 INTs and one blocked extra-point kick returned for 2-points.
Sarratt totaled 1,073 all-purpose yards and 9 touchdowns in 2022. It’s safe to say the 6-foot, 180-pound senior has put programs in the district and beyond on notice.
As for the Elks, (0-4, 0-1) Burleson has shifted to a much heavier run-first offense under first-year head coach Chad Worrell. Despite the new playbook, the Jaguar defense held the Elks to just 116 rushing yards on 41 attempts (2.8 YPC). The defensive unit also forced four first-half fumbles and recovered two.
DCTF projected the Elks to finish sixth in 5-5A DI play, well behind projected repeat district champion Midlothian Heritage.
The Jaguars led 24-7 at the half, fueled by a 17-point second quarter. Burleson capitalized on the first of two Rutenbar interceptions to score the game’s first touchdown with 4:15 to play in the first quarter.
Both teams finished the first half with just over 90 yards of total offense and each committed a pair of turnovers (Heritage 2 INTs, Burleson 4 total fumbles with 2 lost).
Rutenbar completed just 2-of-his-8 passes for 49 yards and 2 touchdowns to Stetson Sarratt and Ryan Satterwhite.
Burleson running back Nate Jackson led all ball carriers with 10 rushes for 62 yards at the break.
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Midlothian Heritage has outscored its first four opponents 161-63 to open the season (Stephenville 31-28, Cleburne 63-7, Waco La Vega 29-21, Burleson 38-7).
The Jaguars are set to return home to Midlothian ISD Multipurpose Stadium for their 5-5A opener against (0-3) Joshua at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22.
The Owls have struggled to score through the season’s first three weeks (37 total points).
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Travis M. Smith, @Travis5mith
tsmith@elliscosports.com
