By MARK MOLINA | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Despite a physical game and emotions running high, the St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds stayed unfazed.
Led by their usual explosive offense and a big defensive showing, the Bloodhounds cruised to a 40-14 TAPPS Division I area playoff win over the John Paul II Cardinals (Plano) on Saturday afternoon at Canales field in Brownsville.
St. Joseph jumped out to a quick lead, scoring touchdowns on four of its first five drives. But after only taking a 12-point lead into the break, the defense pitched a second half shutout, opening the door for a blowout.
“I was really proud of how we finished the game,” St. Joseph head coach Tino Villarreal said. “I was hoping the kids didn’t come out (overconfident) because (John Paul II) is a very good team. They gave us everything they had, but we stood in there, we made some mistakes and there were things we could have done better. We cleaned it up at halftime and came out and finished exactly how we should be playing games at this point.”
Kai Money once again was at the forefront of the Bloodhounds’ offense, going 10 for 20 for 233 yards and four touchdowns through the air, while rushing for 115 yards and another score.
With the game’s physicality leading to scuffles and multiple ejections, Money said the good offensive start was an assuring sight as they set out to be the aggressors.
“We had a lot of adversity to get over in the first half,” Money said. “Our game plan was to come out here and be more physical than them. We know that it lasted to the whole game to get a win like this, so we’re very proud of what we accomplished and more importantly, how we played in the second half.”
St. Joseph improves to 7-4 on the year and will move on to the regional round where it will face All Saints Academy (10-0) from Fort Worth in a rematch. The Saints defeated Nolan Catholic 49-9 on Saturday. St. Joseph fell to All Saints, 42-8, back on Nov. 4.
John Paul II ended its season at 2-9.
The Bloodhounds jumped out to a 13-point lead, scoring on a 30-yard run by Anthony Cantu on their opening drive and on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Money to Andres Martinez.
The Cardinals didn’t find any rhythm on offense until the early second quarter with a nine-play 73-yard drive ending in a Jackson Garrett 5-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Johnson.
St. Joseph took just one play to answer as Money found Keaton Cackley open down the right sideline and hit him in stride for a 73-yard score to make it 19-7 following a missed extra point.
After the Cardinals answered with Garrett’s 3-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to five, Money went downfield once more, this time hitting Pablo Zolessi for a 36-yard strike to make it 26-14 with two minutes to go in the half.
The Cardinals tried to answer, but Garrett would be picked off by Alejandro Balderas on the ensuing possession.
After the break, the Cardinals mounted multiple long drives, but penalties and the Bloodhound defensive front would ultimately make them for naught.
Garrett struggled with the rush in the second half as he was sacked twice and threw an interception.
Money would put the game away for the Bloodhounds as Money would toss another touchdown pass to Cakley and run in one for five yards on back-to-back possessions to open the third quarter. They would begin to kill clock after that point.
“The defense holding (John Paul II) to 14 points is huge,” Money said. “Also, props to the offensive line for fighting down in the trenches and winning the second half so we can milk that clock.”