By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
SAN ANTONIO — St. Joseph Academy knew it needed to keep up with the All Saints Episcopal (Fort Worth) offensive output for a chance to play spoiler.
Unfortunately, the Bloodhounds’ offense didn’t get going quickly enough and the defense struggled to contain the Saints’ offense in a 47-14 loss to All Saints in a TAPPS Division I playoff game Friday at Bob Benson ‘66 Stadium.
St. Joseph (7-5) received plenty of offense from senior quarterback Kai Money, who finished with 258 yards and two touchdowns through the air with scoring passes to senior receiver Miguel Guearra and junior receiver Pablo Zolezzi. Money added 69 yards on the ground, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with All Saints (11-0), which scored on its first five drives of the game.
“All Saints is for real,” St. Joseph coach Tino Villarreal said. “Obvious there were things we could have done better … I was proud of how we adjusted in the second quarter. Against a team like that, even on a level playing field, it’s hard to beat them. It’s almost impossible if you dig yourself a hole like that.
“I’m proud of our guys. We never quit, we fought hard.”
As St. Joseph strived to find its rhythm on offense in the opening quarter, All Saints was firing on all cylinders. Senior quarterback Shaun Taylor threw for four touchdowns in the first, hitting four different receivers for scores.
Taylor found junior receiver Sammy Keith on a 22-yard strike to take a 7-0 lead with 10:50 left in the first. Sophomore running back Jacob Matlock found the end zone after two carries on the second drive, capped with a 1-yard plunge over the goal line and a 14-0 lead with 8:43 left in the first.
As the Saints’ defense kept the Bloodhounds at bay, Taylor kept rolling. He hit junior running back T. Loffland on a 19-yard touchdown pass on the next possession and then hit senior receiver Brendan Harmon on a 99-yard catch-and-run. Taylor then found senior receiver Jaylon Robinson with 34 seconds left in the first to jump to a 35-0 lead.
St. Joseph got on the board with a 48-yard touchdown pass to Guearra in the second, but the 2-point conversion failed and the Bloodhounds trailed 35-6 with 6:35 left in the first half.
The Saints ended the half with another touchdown pass from Taylor to Robinson, this one a 28-yarder to push the lead to 41-6 with 1:19 left in the half and they would take that lead into the break.
Taylor capped the first drive of the second half with a 1-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 47-6 with 10:26 left in the third quarter before his day was done.
“Our seniors have been playing together a long time,” All Saints coach Aaron Beck said. “Shaun knows the offense as well as the coaches do and our tempo is fast.
“Our game is hard to slow down, it really is.”
Taylor finished with 245 yards passing and five touchdowns and ran for another to lead the way for All Saints.
St. Joseph answered with a 59-yard touchdown pass from Money to Zolezzi (and Money hit senior receiver Keaton Cackley for the 2-point conversion) with 6:46 left in the third. But that’s all the Bloodhounds would get as their next two drives ended in turnovers as the clock wound down in the final quarter.
“Kai Money is a great young man and he’s a next level guy,” Beck said. “I’ve been in this game for 35 years and Tino Villarreal is as classy as anyone I’ve met.”
The Saints continue their perfect season and move on to the next round in the TAPPS playoffs.
“We’re really fortunate and our kids love to play,” Beck said. “We’ve come out and clicked every week and we’re really proud of the kids. It’s been a fun year, we haven’t lost yet and hopefully we can get past next week for a chance to play for a championship.”
Despite the loss, the Bloodhounds have continued to build their program. Villarreal feels that St. Joseph is heading in the right direction after accomplishing another goal this past season.
“We had a phenomenal season,” he said. “At 1-3, no one gave us a chance and we brought home our first district championship in 37 years. That’s the cherry on top of the Money era. We were in the second round last year, but we weren’t district champs, so that’s another step in the right direction. Now we have to figure out how to get out of the second round.
“Hats off to All Saints, I hope they win it all … they’re a well-coached group of kids and they’re (a) first class (team).”
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.