By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Friday’s non-district football contest between undefeated St. Joseph Academy and winless Raymondville had all the makings of a mismatch.
Sure enough, that’s exactly what it turned out to be as the 4-0 Bloodhounds cruised to victory 45-20 in their 2016 home opener at Canales Field against the 0-4 Bearkats.
Highlighting the win was SJA running back Mario Garcia, a 6-foot-1, 186-pound senior who rushed for 194 yards on the night and scored three touchdowns.
Garcia gained 113 yards by intermission and scored on runs of 3, 70 and 20 yards during the the second quarter. He had a 77-yard scoring run called back on a holding penalty in the fourth quarter.
Last week, Garcia rushed for 206 yards and ripped off a 75-yard scoring run in a 48-28 win at Rio Hondo.
“Mario has always been that big, tough and quick back that we need,” SJA coach Tino Villarreal said. “He’s battled through some injuries dating back to past seasons. We’re lucky to have him healthy. Everything is finally clicking for him. He’s starting to run the way we’ve always known that he could run.”
After a scoreless opening quarter Friday, the Bloodhounds erupted for four TDs to lead 28-0 by halftime. Two of the scores during the second quarter came on short drives after David Rodriguez and Conner Pace blocked Raymondville punts for the Bloodhounds.
SJA quarterback Kai Money threw a 2-yard scoring pass to Andres Martinez on the first play of the second quarter to make it 7-0 after Jose Kauachi’s kick. That started the Bloodhounds’ scoring spree thanks to Garcia’s three TD runs before halftime. Also, Garcia rushed for a two-point conversion after SJA’s third TD.
The Bloodhounds added 17 points during the third period to lead 45-14 going into the final quarter.
QB Daniel Gutierrez, who finished with 101 yards rushing, was a standout for the Bearkats, scoring on runs of 22 and 1 yards while tossing a 10-yard scoring pass to Adrian Saenz, all in the second half.
Also in the second half for SJA, Money scored on a 56-yard run, Kauachi nailed a 45-yard field goal and Antony Cantu tallied on a 5-yard burst up the middle.
Kauachi’s field goal made it 31-0 with 10:12 showing in the third quarter before Gutierrez tried to bring the Bearkats back.
“We’re always going to take the ‘W,’” Villarreal said. “I thought that we executed our game plan well. Raymondville gave us a real hard fight, so hats off to them. I think they played one of their better games (of the season) tonight.
“We just definitely have a lot to work on,” Villarreal added. “We made a couple of mistakes here and there that we have to clean up if we want to remain in the win column. We’re going to have a real tough opponent (in Port Isabel) next week. We have to clean up our sloppy play if we want to have a chance.”
Prior to Friday’s game, the Bloodhounds and Bearkats last met in the 2015 season opener in Raymondville and the Bearkats won 55-45.
The Bloodhounds, who played their first three games of the season on the road, figure to face a very tough challenge to stay unbeaten in their next game on Friday at home against the Tarpons.
The Bearkats will go after their first win of 2016 the same night at home against Kingsville.
On Friday, SJA was without junior running back/receiver Gunnar Henderson, who has transferred back to McAllen High after playing the first three games of the season for the Bloodhounds.