By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
SAN ANTONIO — After a slow start to the season, St. Joseph Academy has been rolling of late, but it gets a big challenge in the TAPPS playoffs against All Saints Academy (Fort Worth).
The Bloodhounds started the season 1-3, but have since won 6 of 7, their only setback a 42-8 loss to the Saints in Week 10. St. Joseph has a chance for redemption when it faces All Saints in a TAPPS Division I playoff game at 6 p.m. Friday at Bob Benson ‘66 Stadium.
St. Joseph (7-4) has found its stride and its playing well on both sides of the ball, but it faces All Saints (10-0) who is not only unbeaten but has already beat the Bloodhounds once this season.
St. Joseph coach Tino Villarreal said his team played the Saints this season with the chance that they could see them again. In the first meeting, the Bloodhounds didn’t show all of their cards and expect to show what they really can do. And with the experience St. Joseph has earned against playoff opponents in the past few seasons, including against eventual state champion Bishop Lynch (Dallas) a year ago, the Bloodhounds are confident and up to the challenge.
“We saw that as a test to size them up,” Villarreal said of the two team’s first meeting. “This in another opportunity for us to do what we’ve done good all year and see if can execute it at this level.”
For St. Joseph, it starts with its offensive production. The team averages 471 yards and a little less than 41 points per game. The catalyst is senior quarterback Kai Money, who has thrown for 2,272 and 33 touchdowns and run for 1,385 and 11 touchdowns. Senior running back Anthony Cantu has added 798 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground for a Bloodhounds’ squad that tends to run a little more than pass.
“How we win this game is Kai Money is the ‘X’ factor,” Villarreal said. “Getting him in a position to do what he does is definitely the key … how to get Kai into space with a run/pass option.”
The Saints’ defense will have its hands full with Money, Cantu and several playmakers on the St. Joseph offense, but the unit knows how to get to the quarterback. It has 44 sacks and eight interceptions on the season while allowing less than 20 points per game this year.
The Bloodhounds will have their work cut out for themselves on the defensive side of the ball. All Saints average 502 yards on offense and nearly 47 points per game. Led by senior quarterback Shaun Taylor, who has thrown for 3,452 yards and 51 touchdowns, the Saints will aim to pick apart the St. Joseph secondary. The Bloodhounds can’t forget about the run as sophomore running back Jacob Matlock has run for 1071 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Saints.
The Bloodhounds are confident that if they can avoid turnovers, they have a chance for the upset.
“Everyone in football knows its an old cliché, but it rings even louder against good teams … you can’t make mistakes and expect to beat a good team,” Villarreal said. “If we get into the rhythm of the game and not make turnovers, that may give us a chance to make it interesting and when you do that in the playoffs, anything can happen.”
As in all big games for St. Joseph, senior quarterback Kai Money seems to be a key factor, as he seems to shine brightest on the biggest stages. Last season, Money had over 400 yards of offense against Bishop Lynch (Dallas), the eventual state champion. Unfortunately last year, turnovers were key as St. Joseph had four that took away scoring opportunities. As long as the Bloodhounds can cut down the turnovers and Money shows what he can do, St. Joseph could pull the upset, but it might be a shootout before it’s all said and done. Prediction: St. Joseph 35, All Saints 31
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.