Holy Cross 17, S.A. Christian 7
Quick take: There aren’t many schools in TAPPS Division II football that have played a tougher schedule to date than Holy Cross. If there were any benefits of grinding against toptier programs early in the year, it paid off in Thursday night’s district victory against San Antonio Christian.
The Knights (5-3, 2-0 TAPPS District 4) overcame multiple offensive miscues and a secondhalf injury to their starting quarterback to defeat the Lions (3-4, 0-1 TAPPS District 4) 17-7.
Highlights: San Antonio Christian got off to an inauspicious start on its opening possession, losing a fumble at its own 43yard line. On the ensuing play, senior quarterback Gilbert Salas III dropped back on a play-action pass and delivered a strike to sophomore receiver Marcos Jimenez-cedillo for a 27-yard pickup. The Knights capped off the drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jimenez-cedillo to lead 7-0 early.
Later in the quarter, San Antonio Christian senior running back Garret Bates plowed through the Holy Cross defense for a 26-yard run, which turned into a 39-yard gain after the Knights were penalized for grabbing onto Bates’ face mask. The Lions missed their chance to capitalize on the big play, however, coming up short on a 47-yard field goal attempt.
Bates continued to run the ball well on San Antonio Christian’s following possession, stringing together a 16-yard run and a 19-yard run on back-to-back carries, the latter of which ended with the senior tailback hurdling over a Holy Cross defender and diving forward for extra yardage. The pair of long runs didn’t result in any points for the Lions, as the score remained 7-0 after the first quarter.
The second quarter saw Salas use his legs to attack the Holy Cross defense, starting with a 25-yard scramble down the left sideline to the Holy Cross 13-yard line. A few plays later, Salas was rushed out of the pocket and heaved the ball into the end zone, where Lion cornerback Colton Rubsamen was waiting to intercept the pass, coming down in the end zone for a touchback. Holy Cross senior kicker Rudy Flores hit a chip-shot field goal from 32 yards out to make it a two-score game with less than a minute left to play in the half. The Lions threatened to score before time expired after a 37yard pass completion from senior quarterback Grant Satcher to senior wide receiver Kale Odom, but a couple of negative plays pushed them out of field goal range and the half ended with Holy Cross leading, 10-0. San Antonio Christian scored its first points of the game in the fourth quarter when Satcher scrambled out to his right for a 7-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 10-7. With five minutes left in the quarter, San Antonio Christian had an opportunity to take the lead after forcing Holy Cross to punt, but the Lions fumbled on the return and turned the ball over at their own 30-yard line. The Knights capitalized on the mistake and scored on a 9-yard run by senior running back Jacob Olivares, icing the game at 17-7.
What it means: With the win, Holy Cross inches closer to securing a berth in the TAPPS playoffs, while San Antonio Christian’s postseason hopes dwindle. Quotable: “You go through those battles against top-notch football teams,” Holy Cross coach Mike Harrison said, “and I don’t care if they’re public or private, those guys can all play football, and then you get into district, I think it kind of seasons you a little bit for those moments. I thought tonight it really helped us a lot. We fought hard. Our kids are undersized, probably on the back end, but they play with a lot of heart, and I’m very proud of them.”
Game balls: Olivares finished with 15 carries for 79 yards and a touchdown and adding one catch out of the backfield for 15 yards for Holy Cross. For San Antonio Christian, Bates led the way on the ground with 11 carries for 70 yards, while Satcher completed 13 of 20 passes for 113 yards to go with five carries for 12
yards and a touchdown.
Up next: Holy Cross will have a two-week break before returning to action against Brownsville St. Joseph at 7 p.m. Nov. 8, at Wheatley Heights Sports Complex in the final game of its season. Meanwhile, San Antonio Christian will return home to take on Brownsville St. Joseph at 7 p.m. Oct. 25.