On Saturday, I made my first visit to Lang Field, which is the home of the St. Anthony Yellow Jackets. Lang Field is the oldest high school football stadium in Texas (it was built in 1910). The only other thing I was able to gather about the stadium was that is was named after Father Lang. If anybody knows anything else, please let me know.
It doesn’t have amenities like a press box or even lights, but that doesn’t matter because the football field is the same length and width as one in any fancy stadium and that is all that matters. The stadium’s ambience made me feel like I was at a park because it was very hot and sunny; there were bunch of tents set up for shade and lots of families watching. The smell of barbecue filled the air and everybody was in a happy mood.
I actually liked everything about Lang Field (except the heat), but I won’t complain about that (I just did, didn’t I?). I though it was supposed to rain, so I wore old sneakers and had an umbrella in my shorts pocket. I got my once-a-year sunburn and I will happily accept the pain and suffering because I am passionate about high school football. When it gets a few degrees cooler (hopefully, in October), I will bring my family to a game.
Something I really like about covering St. Anthony (whether it be football or basketball), is they always have a tremendous fan support from family members, friends, classmates, alumni, cheerleaders, dance team, band and staff members.
In Week 1, St. Anthony defeated St. Gerard by a score of 41 to 6 and last week, they defeated the Texas School for the Deaf by a score of 29 to 12.
The Yellow Jackets’ offense is very simple: they like to run the ball and take a lot of time off the clock. They have yet to complete a pass. Could a passing game be something they are holding back for District TAPPS 2-1? We will all soon find out. But, when you have one of the top running backs in the city (who nobody outside of St. Anthony has heard of), why risk a passing game? Oh, that running back is Olan Vining III, a senior.
The first drive of the game for St. Anthony took almost the entire 1st quarter (unfortunately, the Yellow Jackets didn’t score any points because they fumbled the ball). After the 1st quarter, it was scoreless.
Jay Ortiz, the senior quarterback for St. Anthony, scored on a 25-yard run in the 2nd quarter, which gave them a lead of 6 to 0 at halftime.
Cornerstone tied it at 6 after 3 quarters. In the 4th quarter, Cornerstone scored again and took a lead of 13 to 6 with just under 9 1/2 minutes remaining. Robert Zavala, a senior defensive lineman for St. Anthony, recovered a Cornerstone fumble in the end zone, which obviously resulted in a touchdown for the Yellow Jackets. The extra point was good and the score was again tied at 13 with just under 2 1/2 minutes remaining. A buzz of energy erupted from the players and the fans watching the game. I have seen St. Anthony do that before (but it was when Coach Smisek was the basketball coach). Absolutely amazing! The game ended up going into overtime.
St. Anthony got the ball first and their workhorse, Olan Vining II, scored on a 1-yard run. The extra point was good and St. Anthony had a 20-13 lead. Cornerstone scored on a beautiful 3-yard pass in the corner of the end zone. I was standing 5 yards away, and, I must admit, I was very impressed with that catch. I am glad I am not a coach who has to make the decision to kick an extra point or go for 2 and the win! After timeouts and penalties and even a missed kick, Cornerstone chose to kick an extra point and take the Yellow Jackets to double overtime. How much pressure was on that Cornerstone kicker? I saw the St. Anthony kicker, Brandon Johnson, warming his leg up, in case he was called upon to kick one as time expired in the 4th quarter. I am glad I didn’t say “Break a leg!.”
I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. When I saw the ball hit the bottom of the goal post, that was it…GAME OVER. ST. ANTHONY WON 20 TO 19 IN OVERTIME. Wow! I clapped proudly and cheered silently while the players and fans jumped and celebrated excitedly. And the best way to finish a win at home is with a Homecoming dance!
Olan Vining III had 39 carries for 132 yards with 1 touchdown. Through 3 weeks, he has 91 carries for 512 yards with 6 touchdowns. That is good for number 4 in the city of San Antonio (nobody from Judson, Steele or Clemens is ahead of him). Jay Ortiz had 11 carries for 68 yards with 1 touchdown and Diego Hernandez, a sophomore, had 6 carries for 28 yards. I met Diego’s dad before the game. It’s always very nice to meet my Facebook/Twitter followers.
Even though St. Anthony is undefeated, don’t let that fool you into thinking that everything is working as planned. They haven’t played a perfect game yet. I saw several penalties, missed tackles, and turnovers — that normally doesn’t win games especially when it comes to their district games. But I will tell you something about the St. Anthony football team: they play with passion, they never give up, they respect their teammates and they are starting to understand what Coach Smisek is asking of them. I am very fortunate to have a front row seat to a new beginning for St. Anthony football.
Here are some of my pictures from the game:
If you want to see all the photos, please visit:
https://thestatmanspeaks.smugmug.com/St-Anthony-Yellow-Jackets/Football/Cornerstone-at-St-Anthony/
https://thestatmanspeaks.smugmug.com/St-Anthony-Yellow-Jackets/Football/SA-Cornerstone-at-SA-St/
https://thestatmanspeaks.smugmug.com/St-Anthony-Yellow-Jackets/Football/St-Anthony-vs-Cornerstone/
https://thestatmanspeaks.smugmug.com/St-Anthony-Yellow-Jackets/Football/St-Anthony-09102016-Postgame/
St. Anthony has a bye week this week. In Week 5, they will play at Lytle on Friday, September 23rd. 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.
Here are the games I plan to attend:
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/.
