By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds did not come up with an answer to stop San Antonio Christian quarterback Andrew Hawkins during the first half of Friday’s TAPPS district opener at Canales Field.
By the time the Bloodhounds (4-2, 0-1 district) slowed down Hawkins during the second half, it was too late as SJA trailed 35-8 at intermission and lost 42-22.
Hawkins, a 6-foot-5, 208-pound senior, was nearly flawless, completing 21 of 23 passes for 354 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions during the first half. He finished the night 24-of-33 passing for 422 yards and six TDs without a pick.
Four of Hawkins’ TD tosses went to wideout Sam Lorillard, who had 13 catches for 269 yards with scoring receptions on plays covering 23, 18, 5 and 56 yards for the Lions (4-2, 1-0).
“We came out a little flat, and that kind of set the tone for us in the first half,” SJA coach Christian Putegnat said. “We made some adjustments in the second half and started to play, but it was just a little too late.”
“We were able to get some pressure on him in the second half and get him a little riled up, but he’s just a heck of a quarterback, I have to give him that,” Putegnat added. “We had some positives to go along with the negatives, so we’ll just have to work on the negatives, improve upon things and go from there.”
The Bloodhounds trailed 21-0 after one quarter, 35-8 at halftime and 35-16 by the end of the third period.
Freshman QB Kai Money accounted for SJA’s first two scores by throwing a 26-yard TD pass to Sean Cantu-Rudder early in the second quarter and a 7-yard TD pass to Bernardo de la Garza on the final play of the third period.
SJA’s second TD pass and two-point conversion cut the lead to 35-16, but the Lions quickly responded a couple plays later as Hawkins found Lorillard open on a deep ball to complete a 56-yard scoring play, pushing the visitors’ advantage to 42-16.
Money, who led SJA with 135 yards rushing, also ran for a pair of two-point conversions.
The Bloodhounds’ third score came with 1:10 left when backup QB Conner Pace threw a 16-yard TD pass to Dave Lepeyre to make it 42-22.
“We had a good first half, and St. Joe came back the second half and played hard,” Lions coach Denny Peel said. “You have to give them credit for that. They never gave up. They put pressure on us in the second half, and I commend them for that. It was never a ‘gimme’ for us.”
SJA was coming off a bye week. the Bloodhounds suffered a 44-21 loss, their first of the season, Sept. 26 at Port Isabel.
SJA next plays host to San Antonio St. Anthony’s at 7 p.m. Friday.
San Antonio Christian was coming off last week’s 28-10 win over Pleasanton.