By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
The St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds celebrated homecoming with a 28-13 victory against the San Antonio Christian Lions on Friday night at Canales Field.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Bloodhounds.
SJA improved to 2-6 on the season and 1-1 in TAPPS Division II District 4 competition. The Lions slipped to 1-6 and 0-2.
“This (win) is a big load off our shoulders,” SJA coach Tino Villarreal said. “Winning heals a lot of things. We’ve built a (football) culture around here where losing is just no longer acceptable, and we were in that ‘L’ column for a little too long. This win means a lot to me because I wanted it so badly for our boys. They’ve been working so hard.
“I told the guys, ‘If you win the line of scrimmage, you’re going to win the football game,’” Villarreal added. “I’m very proud of the job our offensive line did, and I thought our defense, particularly the defensive line, was all over the place tonight causing havoc. To me, that was the difference. We won the up-front battle, and we allowed everyone else to get involved.”
The Bloodhounds were ahead 7-3 after one quarter and 14-10 at halftime. SJA took a 21-13 advantage into the final quarter before adding an insurance score early during the fourth period.
“This game was just as important as every other game we play, and sometimes they don’t go our way,” said SJA’s David Rodriguez, a senior running back-free safety who was honored by Texas Football Magazine as an impact student-athlete prior to the game. “We always battle to the end, and this night was just the night that everything clicked for us and went well.”
Added teammate Mikey Mar-Maxwell, also a senior running back and defensive back, “A win like this is great for the team and gives us some momentum that we need. It’s just a great win and something we’ve been working for.”
The Bloodhounds especially thrived with their running game against the Lions. The SJA running backs, along with quarterback Tomas Edge, ripped off some big ground gainers, and it helped take time off the clock and keep the ball away from the Bloodhounds’ potentially dangerous San Antonio opponent.
Mar-Maxwell finished with 120 yards rushing on nine carries and scored his team’s initial touchdown during the opening quarter on an 18-yard run with 3:36 showing on the scoreboard clock.
The SJA score came after the Lions went up 3-0 on Jake Carter’s 23-yard field at the 6:42 mark of the first period.
Rodriguez added 86 yards rushing on 11 carries. He caught a 24-yard TD pass from Edge early during the second period for a 14-3 lead and sprinted up the middle 32 yards to the end zone to make it 21-13 late during the third quarter.
The Lions pulled to within 14-13 of SJA’s lead when Brandon Richard caught a 62-yard TD pass from Grant Satcher with 1:16 to go in the half and Carter converted a 32-yard field goal with 4:33 left in the third period.
That was before Rodriguez burst up the middle for his rushing score late in the third quarter to make it 21-13.
SJA’s Pablo Zolezzi’s 4-yard TD run at the 11:30 mark of the fourth period gave the Bloodhounds’ a 28-13 edge after Luis Elizondo’s fourth extra point.
From there, SJA’s defense, sparked by Rodriguez and Jonathan Magallanes, a senior defensive end, took care of things the rest of the way to secure the homecoming victory.
The Bloodhounds overcame the standout efforts of Richard, an explosive pass catcher who finished with nine receptions for 137 yards.
The Bloodhounds have an open date next week before closing the regular season at home against district opponent San Antonio Holy Cross on Nov. 9.