By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
As the clock struck midnight Tuesday morning, St. Joseph Academy was ready to go for its first football practice of the new season.
Tuesday was the first day of practice for TAPPS schools and the Bloodhounds wasted no time. Donned in helmets — no pads just yet — the team sweated through a muggy evening workout. UIL teams begin practices Aug. 7 unless they participated in spring practices, which pushes those schools’ start date to Aug. 14.
“It’s definitely a great way to kick off the season,” said SJA safety Carlos Esteve said. “It’s gets our fans involved from the start and gets them excited for our season. We’re very excited … we’re grateful that we’re the first team out (at practice) in the Valley … we’re going to take advantage of that.”
When Tino Villarreal took over the team as head coach at his alma mater, he started the midnight practice to express his excitement for the new season.
“I wanted to show people how eager I was to step on the field,” he said. “I wanted to show people I couldn’t wait until 6, 7 in the morning. It created this mystique; we have fans out here, cheerleaders … it was something special.”
St. Joseph began the practice running its signature up-tempo offense — getting in as many plays as it could in a short time with a mix of passes and runs just to get the players warmed up.
The Bloodhounds, led by their seniors, including quarterback Kai Money, running back Anthony Cantu and Esteve, were just happy to be back on the field.
“It’s the greatest feeling, I’ve missed it,” Cantu said. “It’s great … it’s the beginning of a great season. I’m pumped for the season and what God has in store for us.”
St. Joseph is focusing on one side of the ball at a time during practice. The first practice was an emphasis on the offense and the next turned to the defensive side. The plan is to, especially early on, to make sure the players continue learning both sides of the ball because they could be on one or the other or both if need be.
“We get four extra days, so we’re trying to use that time to really focus in on one side of the ball,” Villarreal said. “We have a lot of positions to fill and I think that if we slow it down a little bit, we can get a lot more reps and more continuity in what we’re doing.
“Right now is a time for people to prove themselves and rise to the occasion.”
That includes a roster full of youth. The Bloodhounds have some good experience but have a lot of young athletes looking to find their place. Some could earn starter spots when the campaign begins.
“It doesn’t matter to us … just because you started last year doesn’t mean you’re going to start this year,” Villarreal said. “But we need to get a lot of repetitions out there.”
SJA worked on conditioning and individual drills focused on offense. Practice No. 2 on Tuesday night focused on defense and what work needs to be done to improve footwork, techniques and tackling. St. Joseph has fewer returners on the defensive side and more spots to replace, but Villarreal is looking forward to it.
“With young comes inexperience and that can be seen as a weakness,” he said. “But with youth also comes the opportunity for someone to shine and prove themselves. With such uncertainty, they all believe they can earn a starting role, and that transcends in our locker room and they’re ready to outwork each other.
“So there’s competition and that’s good to have competition.”
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.