As The Rolling Stones say, “Please allow me to introduce myself…”
Hi, my name is Mark Lieberman and I am a writer/photographer for St. Anthony football. I am not a rookie, since I was a high school football statistician for the Texas Sports Radio Network from 1997-2014 and Thursday Night Lights on CW35 in San Antonio from 2009-2015. I also covered St. Anthony basketball games in 2013, 2014 and 2016 when Kevin Smisek was the head basketball coach. Coach Smisek is now the head football coach at St. Anthony. You can learn a lot more on my About Me page.
This was my first time at St. Gerard for a football game and, despite it being one of the smaller private schools, I really enjoyed the ambience of the stadium. Once the sun disappeared, the lights of the Alamodome and the Tower of the Americas were prominently on display, creating a beautiful backdrop. The smell of fresh cut grass on the field and the usual Friday night football snacks filled the air. The visitor’s stands were full of St. Anthony fans, who were very close to the team and the field. I like attending the smaller stadiums/games since it gives me a lot more freedom to roam around.
Coach Smisek was the head basketball coach and now he is the head football coach. He led his basketball team this year to the state championship game, where they lost. Wouldn’t that be an awesome story if he could lead the Yellow Jackets to a football state championship? I know I am getting way ahead of myself.
Even though I jotted down a list of questions I wanted to ask Coach Smisek before the game, I deferred to Mark Thomas, who is the voice of Yellow Jacket football on the Texas Sports Radio Network (yes, I have worked a lot of games with Mark through my many years with TSRN). Below are some of the highlights from Coach Smisek’s statement as interviewed by (the other) Mark:
We have an outstanding coaching staff, a solid group of young men, and a great group of seniors. I couldn’t be happier and hopefully we can see all of our hard work pay off this season.
Olin Vining and Jay Ortiz are two outstanding young men and are great representatives of what we want our St. Anthony Catholic High School to be. They are great in the classroom and two of the hardest-working men on the football team. And that says a lot because all of our guys are working their tails off.
Olin and Jay are a pretty good combination because both are really good athletes. Olin is such a strong runner and he is learning what we are asking of him.
Jay is the perfect quarterback for our offense. He understands defenses, is a runner, has a good arm, and is athletic. He is doing an outstanding job of what we’re trying to do and run. The two together are excellent and I am very pleased with both of them.
We have moved some people around on defense and are much more physical than in years past. Kaleb Mendoza is our leader on defense and he has had to deal with a lot of adjustments and responsibilities. Johnny Martinez is now our middle linebacker and is learning and spending extra time watching film to understand what he is reading from the offense. Our corners Ethan Carriedo and James Galan are retuning and Ryan Rodriguez is back in the secondary. Ashton Vienne, who started as a freshman last year is out for a bit, but he will be back later in the season. Stephen Satsky is an outstanding defensive player and a swingman on offense — he isn’t coming off the field. I am excited about the defense.
St. Gerard is a proud program and they will come after us. Coach Mendez is doing a great job with the kids. They are very athletic and their backfield can break one at any time so we have to be ready defensively, because, if not, it can be a long night for us. But we will be ready for them.
I have always wanted to be in the locker room for a pregame motivational speech, a halftime adjustment speech, or even a post-game win or loss speech. My wish was granted on Friday, as Coach Smisek invited me to come into the locker room for the pregame motivational speech. I was caught off guard and I asked Coach Smisek if he was sure. I won’t spill the details, but it was so awesome and I felt something special in the locker room. It was so motivational, I told Coach to put me in the game! I even got a pat on the head from Coach Smisek.
The St. Anthony Yellow Jackets won the first game in the Coach Smisek era by a score of 41 to 6. St. Gerard scored with no time left in the game. Despite the blowout win, I know that the St. Anthony coaching staff will find room for improvement in every aspect of the game.
Olin Vining III, the senior running back for St. Anthony, had 20 carries for 143 yards and 4 touchdowns. Last year, he had 939 rushing yards. I can easily see him with 1,000 yards this season. Jay Ortiz, the senior quarterback, had 9 carries for 32 yards and 1 touchdown. Together, they are the leaders of this football team both on the field and on the sideline.
I haven’t even told you that all the players on the St. Anthony football play offense and defense because they don’t have a huge roster like Steele or Judson. They must be in very good physical condition. I noticed that the refs called for several breaks in action as a water break for everybody.
Here are a few pictures from the game on Friday night:
If you want to view all the photos from the game, please visit:https://thestatmanspeaks.smugmug.com/St-Anthony-Yellow-Jackets/Football/St-Anthony-at-St-Gerard-game AND https://thestatmanspeaks.smugmug.com/St-Anthony-Yellow-Jackets/Football/St-Anthony-at-St-Gerard-warm/
On Thursday, St. Anthony will play the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin. Follow St. Anthony football, presented by Little Caesars Pizza, all season long on the Texas Sports Radio Network at www.tsrnsports.com online or on your phone by downloading the TSRN Mobile app.
I won’t be covering every game as I have a 4 month old at home and this coming weekend I will be home celebrating my wife’s birthday. I have a feeling that you will meet them both at a home game in October.
Here are the games I plan to attend:
Week 3
9/10 Cornerstone at St. Anthony
Week 6
9/29 St. Anthony at Lee Academy @ Wheatley Heights
Week 8
10/14 St. Anthony at TMI
Week 9
10/22 Antonian at St. Anthony
Week 10
10/29 Brownsville St. Joseph at St. Anthony
Week 11
11/4 St. Anthony at Central Catholic
Please follow me on Twitter @ statmanspeaks and like my Facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/statmanspeaks/.
