By ROY HESS
Staff Writer
One thing is fairly certain.
When the Rio Hondo Bobcats and Brownsville St. Joseph Academy play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Bobcat Stadium in the Valley Morning Star’s Game of the Week, the score doesn’t figure to be anything like it was when the two teams last met during the regular season in 2007.
That matchup, nearly a decade ago in Rio Hondo, was won 61-0 by the Bobcats.
The Bloodhounds went on to finish 0-10 that season for the second straight year, and at that point, the regular-season, non-district series between SJA and Rio Hondo went on hiatus, although the two ballclubs have continued to scrimmage one another during the preseason in recent years.
“Rio Hondo was on another level and we were having some down years (so the series was halted),” SJA coach Tino Villarreal said. “We’re excited about playing them again. It’ll be a good test for us. We’ve always respected and looked up to Rio Hondo’s program.”
This time, it should be a much more competitive ballgame.
The Bloodhounds (2-0) are ranked No. 10 this week by RGVSports.com. Villarreal said it’s the first time SJA has been ranked in the Top 10 by the Valley newspapers since 2005.
Rio Hondo (1-1) is anticipating quite a challenge from the Bloodhounds.
“I see it as a very good matchup,” Bobcats coach Rocky James said. “We try to schedule the best teams we can (to prepare for District 16-4A Div. II) and this is the kind of game that’s going to make us better down the road. Win or lose, it’s going to help us build up our team and get better.”
The Bobcats aren’t ones to shy away from a challenge. They opened the season Aug. 26 on the road against traditionally tough Sinton and lost 34-14. They played their home opener last Friday against La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, a Class 6A school, and won 27-14.
The Bloodhounds are opening the season with three straight road games. They previously won at Grulla (64-35) and Lyford (30-7).
“The play off the offensive and defensive lines is going to be the difference (in determining who wins Friday),” Villarreal said.
Rio Hondo and SJA are each led by junior dual-threat quarterbacks, who can run and pass.
For the Bobcats, it’s John Bush, who in two games has passed for 284 yards and a pair of touchdowns while rushing for 192 yards and one score.
James said Bush had a tough go of it in his varsity starting debut against Sinton before responding with a strong performance against Juarez-Lincoln.
“He’s doing really well for us,” James said of his QB.
The Bloodhounds will counter at QB with Kai Money, who has started since he was a freshman. In two games, Money has thrown for 374 yards and five TDs while rushing for 404 yards and four TDs. Also for SJA, running backs Mario Garcia and Anthony Cantu have rushed for 187 and 130 yards, respectively.
“We’ll see what we can do against a very good St. Joe team with a standout in Kai Money at quarterback and a good group of players surrounding him,” James added. “St. Joe is going to use this game as a way to get better and we’re going to use it as a way to get better, too.”
Leading tacklers for the Bobcats thus far are linebacker Eric Villarreal with 19 total stops and defensive back Ruben Hernandez with 18.
Rio Hondo will be at Hidalgo next Friday and SJA will play its home opener the same night against Raymondville at Canales Field.