By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
In St. Joseph Academy’s high-tempo offense, the receivers are probably the most important pieces. Without them, the Bloodhounds offense isn’t so quick and upbeat.
“That’s our bread and butter of our offense,” St. Joseph coach Christian Putegnat said. “We are a passing offense, they’re keeping us moving.”
They certainly do. In St. Joseph’s 62-0 shutout win against Pharr Oratory in the Holy Bowl, the Bloodhounds’ receiving corps of Jeff Gowen, Jorge De La Garza, Dave Lapeyre and Bernie De La Garza all get into the mix. Each had at least one catch and each, except for Gowen, had a touchdown. The group collected 205 passing yards against the Ocelots.
“They’ve done a really good job, they’ve done all we’ve asked of them in terms of routes,” Putegnat said. “When we do run, they’re pretty good blockers. They’re well-rounded, it’s a good group.”
None of the receivers had much history with freshman quarterback Kai Money, but that has steadily changed.
“In the beginning it was tough, but (now) we do so many reps, so many different kinds of drills during practice,” Gowen said. “Getting familiar with each other has been pretty easy, it has grown really fast.”
Jorge De La Garza agreed with his fellow senior and team captain.
“We’re getting better every day, more in sync every day,” he said.
None of the four seem to care about class year or the glory. They were content to remain a united group. Bernie De La Garza, younger brother of Jorge, often seeks tips from his older brother to get better. Jorge De La Garza said he sometimes seeks advice from Lapeyre.
“It’s about doing the job right,” Jorge De La Garza said.
Each feels they have something to prove, but none more than Lapeyre. He missed all of last season with a fractured leg.
“I want to show what I could have done last year,” he said.
The receivers feel their collective job on offense is simple.
“We need to make sure we catch the ball, protect it and not drop it,” Gowen said.
After losing his top receiver to graduation, Putegnat said he didn’t intentionally seek more depth at the position, it just happened that way.
“It just kind of morphed that way, but it worked out in our favor,” he said. “All four were getting the ball and are doing what we asked. It just kind of happened. It’s been good, I’m certainly not complaining.”
One thing it has done thus far is give opposing defenses fits.
“Now there’s no one to key on. It’s whomever you think is going to get the ball at that time. That’s a crapshoot,” Putegnat said.
It also makes the Bloodhounds’ offense even more potent, which St. Joseph hopes will continue against Port Isabel on Friday.
“It gives us a little more dimension offensively, now we’ve got four receivers that play a major part (in our offense),” Putegnat said. “It’s kind of pick your poison offensively when we’re out there.”
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.