The Rio Grande Valley’s smaller schools trek around Texas every year for district football games. Some have gone up north already for experience, and some will be there for Week 5 games.
Brownsville St. Joseph Academy (2-1) travels Friday to take on Victoria St. Joseph. The Bloodhounds had their bye last week and will now spend the next seven weeks playing TAPPS Division II District 3 games, traveling as far as Austin.
“Going into a bye week after a loss kind of makes you eager to get back out on the field,” Bloodhounds head coach Tino Villarreal said. “I know the kids are ready.”
Brownsville Veterans defeated St. Joseph 40-20.
“It really helped us to play 5As,” Villarreal said. “Santa Rosa is a small classification, too, but you can see that they are 3-1. Playing those bigger schools and playing tougher opponents like that will hopefully pay dividends in district because we are going to face big, strong teams as well. Having local teams get us ready for that has been great.”
Santa Maria (3-1) traveled to Woodsboro on Saturday and returned with a 35-7 win.
“It was a good win in Woodsboro,” Santa Maria head coach Israel Gracia said. “They are a big team, a big, physical team, and that was a good test for us. It took a little bit for us to get going. They had us in check for a little while, but we were able to get on a roll. It felt good to be able to do something like that.”
The Cougars share District 16-2A DI with La Villa, Ben Bolt, Premont, Freer and Riviera Kaufer.
Santa Maria finishes non-district against rival Progeso. Then, the Cougars will have a bye before beginning district with Freer.
“We were young last year,” Gracia said. “This year, we are finally starting to understand the game and (being) able to hold up to tough situations. They are starting to get seasoned a bit, I think.”
Santa Rosa (4-1) began its district journey Thursday in George West. The game was moved to Thursday because of troubles finding referees in the George West area.
The Warriors compete in District 16-3A DII. Besides George West, Santa Rosa takes on Banquete, Odem, Taft, Hebbronville and Monte Alto.
“We got to win three, and if we do we have a good chance of getting in the playoffs,” Santa Rosa head coach Joe Marichalar said. “We have to win the ones that we are supposed to win and we are going to have to sneak a tough one out of there. Eventually we need to take a tough team down.”
Santa Rosa beat George West 14-12.