By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
St. Joseph quarterback Kai Money likes to take charge when the pressure is on and did so against San Antonio Antonian.
The junior handled it well; he racked up 279 yards and five touchdowns — 182 on the ground and 97 through the air — to lead the Bloodhounds over the Apaches 42-21 in The Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week on Friday night in Week 11 at Canales Field.
“Our coaches have been preaching to us to put all aspects of the game together,” Money said. “To finish a game, all 48 minutes, we were able to do that, but there’s always room for improvement.”
Money ran for three touchdowns and threw for two others and running back Mario Garcia finished with 143 yards and a touchdown as St. Joseph amassed 513 yards of offense, including 416 on the ground in the TAPPS Division I District 2 finale.
“We hit them with a heavy dose of the run in the first half,” St. Joseph coach Tino Villarreal said. “We’d been saving some of our passes and waiting for the right moment to be accurate. We had some good looks … luckily our boys came down with the ball.
“We started becoming two-dimensional in the second half.”
With the win, St. Joseph Academy (8-2, 2-1) clinches the second seed in district and will play host to a playoff game next week. San Antonio Antonian (8-2, 1-2) also qualified for the postseason, but ended the year with back-to-back losses after winning eight straight to start the season.
“Last year was the first time in 30 years we hosted a playoff game.” Villarreal said. “I think this solidify’s we have a good program at St. Joseph, we can play football with the best of them. It’s consistency, it’s not a fluke and St. Joseph football is headed in the right direction and we’re continuing to build off of that.”
Trailing at halftime 28-14, SA Antonian cut the deficit to seven after the Bloodhounds fumbled the kick return to begin the second half. The Apaches got the ball with a short field and a couple plays later, running back Kyte McDonald scored on a 22-yard run to make it 28-21 with 11:21 to go in the third quarter.
St. Joseph pulled away with a pair of touchdowns, a 1-yard run from Garcia in the third and a 4-yard run from Money midway through the fourth quarter.
The Bloodhounds’ defense did its part with three sacks, an interception by Carlos Esteve and held the Apaches to just 212 yards of offense.
“This wasn’t the best game that we’ve played,” SA Antonian coach Van Fuschak said. “You have to give (St. Joseph) credit, they’re a good team. We just laid an egg, we didn’t play.”
It was back and forth in the first half.
Esteve’s interception gave the Bloodhounds’ defense a lift right off the bat on the Apaches first drive. St. Joseph capitalized on the mistake with a 53-yard touchdown run by Money to give St. Joseph a 7-0 lead with 8:12 left in the opening quarter.
SA Antonian answered quickly on its next possession as McDonald had a 73-yard sprint to the end zone to tie the game at 7 with 7:50 left in the first quarter.
On their next drive, the Bloodhounds retook the lead after Money threw a 31-yard strike to receiver Bernardo De La Garza for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead.
De La Garza finished with five catches for 81 yards and a score for the Bloodhounds.
In the second quarter, St. Joseph scored on its next drive as Money found pay dirt after a 4-yard run to take a 21-7 edge with 7:48 left in the second.
The Apaches cut the deficit on their next drive after McDonald scored on a 3-yard run with 3:17 left in the half.
McDonald finished with 159 yards and three touchdowns on the ground for SA Antonian.
The Bloodhounds answered right before halftime when Money found Esteve on a 8-yard strike for a touchdown and a 28-14 advantage at the break.
Fuschak was frustrated by the way the team played, but knows they must turn it around for the postseason.
“I think some of the things we did, it was a multitude of stuff,” he said. “It wasn’t just one thing, we really didn’t play very well at all. We have to regroup and play another day.”
Money made the plays when he needed to and put St. Joseph back where they left off last season.
“This game was really big for us,” he said. “Our goal for the season was to go far in the playoffs. We have to get a big win next week and we’re going to work really hard to do that.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @andrewmcrum.