By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds are blessed with a football player in Kai Money who can basically do it all.
The standout sophomore’s skillset includes kicking and punting. He is called upon to play in the defensive secondary at times, and on top of it all he’s pretty good at quarterback, too.
Money, 5-foot-10 1/2 and 160 pounds, is The Brownsville Herald’s 2015 All-Metro All-Purpose Player of the Year.
Just one season ago, as a freshman, he was chosen the All-Metro Newcomer of the Year.
This marks Money’s second straight season as a QB to top 1,000 yards in both rushing and passing yardage.
“It’s very fulfilling to coach a talented player such as Kai who has a humble attitude and a love for his teammates,” said SJA coach Tino Villarreal, who believes his young QB’s poise and smart play greatly contributed to the Bloodhounds’ 8-3 season.
“These awards are great for our school,” Villarreal added. “We don’t really play for personal accolades and we’re big on playing for the team, so I think Kai and I both consider these things as kind of a team award, even though it is an individual accolade. We’ll just take it for the Bloodhounds as a team.
“Some people were wondering if Kai was going to go through a sophomore slump, and I think he answered that with the way he prepared in the offseason. Everybody knows when they play St. Joe they have to stop No. 12. Kai has done an excellent job, even with that target on his back. You see it when you look at the number of yards he’s accumulated, his (pass) completion percentage and the lack of turnovers. With his smart play getting us into the end zone, we’ve averaged 51 points a game. He’s showing he’s willing to step up to the challenge (of leading the team).”
As a freshman, Money passed for 1,295 yards and 13 touchdowns with six interceptions, and he rushed for 1,087 yards and eight TDs.
He improved this season, completing 65.2 percent of his passes (133 of 204) for 1,666 yards and 23 TDs with only two interceptions. He also rushed 177 times for 1,602 yards and 23 TDs, averaging 9.1 yards per carry. He fumbled the ball away only once, meaning he only committed three turnovers all season, which included 11 games.
“I just have a lot of great teammates and coaches around me that have given me the opportunity to do my best to receive this (all-purpose) award,” said Money, also voted TAPPS all-district punter this season. “It’s a great honor.”
When asked what factors contributed to the improvement he showed during his sophomore season, Money said he and his teammates put in a lot of hard work during the offseason to get better and added he attended some quarterback camps during the summer, such as the Manning Camp, and those things have helped him elevate his game.
The talented sophomore also has a wealth of football experience to draw upon from his father, Phillip Money, who was an All-Valley quarterback at Edinburg High in the late 1970s before going on to play the position four years at Rice University (1980 through 1983).
“My dad has a lot of great advice for me, and I go to him for almost everything,” the young QB said. “He’s taught me almost everything I know about the game. Whenever I have a question about something, I’ll go to him as my first opinion so he can tell me how to improve my play.
“All my coaches and my dad tell me that there’s always room for improvement,” he added. “They say to never be satisfied because there’s always some way to get better. That’s the mentality that I have right now. I look forward to the next two years so I can continue to get better.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.