By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
One of the question marks coming into the season for St. Joseph Academy was the offensive line, as all but one starter graduated.
Junior Abraham Caram was the only returnee for the Bloodhounds’ line. St. Joseph lost talent on both sides of the ball with a senior-laden squad last season, but the offensive line is especially critical to the Bloodhounds’ success in their high-tempo offense.
St. Joseph quickly regrouped, in part because of Caram, Miles Fowles, Adrian Garza, Alex Escamila and Javier Gonzalez. The Bloodhounds’ offense has scored nearly 37 points per game and is unbeaten through three games.
“We only have one returning starter. But when you look at it, it’s impressive, we haven’t lost much,” St. Joseph coach Christian Putegnat said. “We haven’t skipped a beat with how we ran things last year.”
Caram, one of the offensive tackles, is impressed how much he and the new starters have bonded so quickly.
“Losing returning starters is always hard,” he said. “Having this group of guys, they’ve been great to me. They’ve been really good friends, brothers more than friends. We have a great communication. and I would say this line is more together and more united than last year.”
Fowles and Gonzalez, a pair of sophomores, are new to the starting offensive lineup. Gonzales was a starter at defensive end last year as a freshman and now plays on both sides of the ball. But the transition was seamless with his fellow linemen.
“It was a little nerve-racking (at first), but to tell you the truth it was easy with these four guys next to me,” he said. “Helping me out, teaching me blocking assignments, who to pick up. The communication has been good.”
Fowles, making the transition to varsity, agreed it was easier with the others.
“It’s a big jump (from JV), but I don’t feel out of place, I felt a part of the line,” he said. “We all work together.”
Escamila was a starting defensive end last season, but his transition to offensive guard in his final season was easier being next to Caram.
“At first it was a little hard because it’s a lot to learn, but Abraham was helping me a lot,” the senior said. “They help me out, give me some tips, and that’s made it a lot easier.”
Putegnat said the transition for Escamila and Gonzalez was easy with them having played on the opposite side of the ball.
“I think it helps them a lot because they know what to expect from the defensive player,” Putegnat said. “They’ve seen it from the other side of that perspective.”
Garza, the junior center and in his first varsity season, thinks the bond he shares with his fellow linemen has made everything easier.
“I’ve played with these guys since seventh grade, we’re probably as close as you can get as a team,” he said. “If anyone makes an error, we don’t get mad at each other, we help each other out. We play for each other, we don’t play for ourselves. There’s no words (to describe it).”
Caram said the bond he shares with the others has helped the team get where it is and help to prove the doubters wrong.
“This is what got us our (unbeaten) record right now,” he said. “We don’t want to stop, we want to keep going. If we play for each other, there’s no way they can beat us.”
Putegnat couldn’t be happier with the way his guys have come together.
“They’re very bonded together and well-grounded. We’ve preached that we’re 11 brothers on the field,” he said. “They do a phenomenal job, I’m really pleased with them this year. They’ve played with a lot of heart, they don’t back down. We’ve been bent backwards, but we haven’t broken. It has a lot to do with those guys, being able to move the ball offensively.”
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.