St. Anthony Football Wrap-Up

Now that the 2016 High School football season is officially over, I can finally publish my wrap-up article for the St. Anthony Yellow Jackets.  It has been sitting comfortably in my back-pocket for a few weeks, but I have been updating it daily.

It was my absolute pleasure to be a writer/photographer for St. Anthony football this season.

I want to say thanks to Rene Escobedo, the Principal; Kevin Smisek, the head football coach; the rest of the coaching staff; the players; and the fans for treating me like I was part of the family.  Thanks also for the comments, likes, and retweets (especially for my photos) on social media.

I covered St. Anthony games this year at St. Gerard, Wheatley Heights, TMI, and Central Catholic.  I also covered 2 games at Lang field, the home for St. Anthony.  And, for each of those stadiums, it was my first visit to them and I can finally cross them all of my unpublished list of stadiums I wanted to visit!!!

Let’s take a look at a brief summary of each of those games along with some photos:

Week 1 – St. Antony at St. Gerard

Even though I jotted down a list of questions I wanted to ask Coach Smisek before the game, I deferred to Mark Thomas, who was the voice of Yellow Jacket football on the Texas Sports Radio Network.

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.

Olan Vining, our running back and Jay Ortiz, our quarterback 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

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.

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.

Olan Vining III, the senior running back for St. Anthony, had 20 carries for 143 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Week 3 – Cornerstone at St. Anthony

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.

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.

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!

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.

Olan Vining III had 39 carries for 132 yards with 1 touchdown.

Week 6 – St. Anthony at  Milton Lee Academy

In Week 5, St. Anthony lost to Lytle 21-18.  I know that a team coached by Coach Smisek will never put their heads down after a loss, they will learn from whatever mistakes happened in Week 5, and they will be ready for the next game (which just happened to be against a winless team).  Basically, what I am trying to say is that I had a feeling that St. Anthony would dominate this game.

When the 1st quarter ended, the game was over as St. Anthony had a 26 to 0 lead. At halftime, St. Anthony led 53 to 0.  They had offensive and defensive touchdowns and on the majority of them, the player who scored for St. Anthony didn’t even have to break any tackles.  It looked easy from my vantage point.

A lot of the larger schools have an advantage of resting starters for the 2^nd half when they have a huge lead, but that isn’t the case for St. Anthony since they only have about 40 players on the team.  It was really interesting to watch the coaching staff work on substitutions.  I almost volunteered to put on a uniform!!!

The final score was 60 to 6 and with that win, St. Anthony improves to 4 and 1 under first year head coach, Kevin Smisek.

Olan Vining, III, the senior running back for St. Anthony had a very productive day at the office.  He had 7 carries for 150 yards with 4 touchdowns (all in the 1st half).  For the season, he has 891 yards. Chris Hernandez, a senior for St. Anthony had 13 carries for 66 yards with 1 touchdown and his brother, Diego Hernandez, a sophomore, had 2 carries for 22 yards with 1 touchdown.   The back-up quarterback for St. Anthony, Zach Sanchez, a junior, had 5 carries for 54 yards.  On the defensive side of the ball for St. Anthony, Kyle Davila, a junior; Stephen Satsky, a senior; and Ashton Vienne, a sophomore each scored touchdowns.

Week 8 – St. Anthony at TMI

St. Anthony received the opening kickoff and Olan Vining, III scored on a 94 yard kickoff return, but it was called back because of a penalty.  No breather for Olan because 81 seconds later, he ran the ball for a 24 touchdown.  Also in the 1st quarter, Zach Sanchez, the junior back-up quarterback, ran for a 9 yard touchdown.  With just under 2 minutes left in the 1st quarter, Jay Ortiz, the senior quarterback, threw a 30 yard touchdown pass to Kyle Davila, a junior.  That was the first touchdown pass of the season for St. Anthony!!!   St. Anthony led 22 to 0 after the 1st quarter.

As the 2nd quarter ended, Brandon Johnson, a senior nailed a 42 yard field goal.   TMI tried to ice him twice before that kick by using their time-outs.  At halftime, St. Anthony led 25 to 0.

In the 3rd quarter, it was the Olan Vining, III show as he scored 2 more rushing touchdowns…one was for 31 yards and the other was for 6 yards.  Victor Castillo, a junior, scored on a 6 yard touchdown run in the 4th.

The final score was St. Antony 47 and TMI 0.  St. Anthony improves to 6 and 1 this season.  It’s the first time since 2005 that the they have had 6 wins.

Olin Vining, III, had 27 carries for 189 yards with 3 touchdowns.  For the season, he has 1,080 rushing yards with 14 touchdowns.

After the game ended, Coach Smisek told his team:

You did what you had to do.  Everything that we have done so far means exactly squat and has been expected.  0 and 0 that is the only thing matters.  When you get back to the school tonight, you get that RED school on your mind because that is all that matters.  Your moment is here, your moment to really make a difference, your moment to impact our family, our program…I am proud of you.

Week 9 – Antonian at St. Anthony

Usually when you have a game that features an undefeated team and a one-loss team so late in the season, it should get a lot of coverage and that is exactly what happened as I wasn’t the lone media person at the game.  But, I really think it happened because of the Antonian Apaches.  St. Anthony doesn’t get the respect that they deserve and it’s a shame because the Yellow Jackets have done a lot more than a lot of other teams this season — all under a 1st year head coach.

I was a bit distracted at the game because my wife and son came with me along with my parents.  St. Anthony; however, wasn’t distracted.  They had RED (red and blue are the colors of Antonian) in their minds since the last win last week against TMI, they were focused on football and nothing else, they were prepared physically, mentally, and emotionally, and they had absolutely no fear about playing an undefeated team (who were ranked in the top 10 by the San Antonio Express News.

Even though St. Anthony lost the game by a score of 18 to 15, I am so proud of them and everything they have accomplished.  They come so close to beating an undefeated team!!! They had the ball with under 2 minutes remaining and only trailed by a field goal.  I really wanted to ask Brandon Johnson, the St. Anthony kicker, what his range was but I didn’t want to jinx it had they called upon him.

Olan Vining, III, had 34 carries for 218 yards and 1 touchdown.  On the season, he has 1,294 rushing yards.

After the game ended, the players and coaches exchange handshakes.  Instead of a congratulory thank you from the Antonian head coach, Coach Smisek was told:

Let me tell you what your kids did. You know what that means?  That means it’s not your kids played hard, you guys did a great job, keep up the hard work. You have arrived as a football team and gave them everything you had.  St. Joseph is faster and as hard you think Antonian was, St. Joseph will be harder.  Don’t hang your head and don’t feel sorry for yourselves.  And, understand, I’d never been more confident.

Week 11 – St. Anthony at Central Catholic

This would be the final game for the Yellow Jackets and I know that they wanted to end with a victory which would give them 7 wins for the season.  That would be an absolutely remarkable feat as it hasn’t happened since 2005.  And, Kevin Smisek, the head football coach, is only in his 1^st year as a football coach.   He has my vote for Coach of the Year.

Coach Smisek told Mark Thomas in the pre-game show interview:

We talked all season about changing the culture and mentality of the program and I think we have done that.  We got a lot of respect throughout the city especially after the Antonian game, lost a little after the Brownsville St. Joseph game, and hopefully tonight we can get that back.  I told my team that this isn’t about playing for respectability or playing our last game, we play to win just like we do every game.  That is our game plan and that is what we are focused on.  We have to be really good tonight to do that; we had a really good week of practice and we are ready for the Buttons.

For the seniors on the St. Anthony team, it is likely the last time they will play football.  It’s a shame that college recruiters don’t visit the smaller schools.  They are missing out on a lot of talent.  If I cover St. Anthony football next year, I would love to help the seniors by promoting them as much as I possibly can.

For all the underclassmen on the St. Anthony football team, they will take what Coach Smisek has built and expand it big time.  One of the assistant coaches told the team, “NEXT YEAR BEGINS NOW” as they were going to the locker room before the 1st quarter started.

I have a feeling that because of the success the team had, more St. Anthony students will try out for the football team and who knows, maybe a player on another team will want to play for them as well.

At Halftime, Central Catholic led St. Anthony by a score of 13 to 0.  St. Anthony, despite not scoring, was only down 2 scores!!!

The first drive of the 3rd quarter is always extremely important for both teams. St. Anthony got the ball 1st and less than a minute later, Kyle Davila, a junior, scored an 83 yard rushing touchdown.  WOW!!!  Just like that, St. Anthony trailed 13 to 7.  We got a game!!!  You could feel the mojo on the St. Anthony side-line!!!  I smell an upset brewing!!!  Well, Central Catholic didn’t smell anything and they scored a touchdown with less than 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd.

After 3 quarters, St. Anthony trailed Central Catholic by a score of 20 to 7.  Still just down 2 scores!!!

Olan Vining, III, the senior running back for St. Anthony cut the deficit to 20 to 14 as he scored on a 5 yard run with less than 4 minutes left in the game.  Olan has been the offensive leader all season for St. Anthony.  Central Catholic answered that with 2 more late touchdowns to give them the win and the District championship.  The final score was Central Catholic 34 and St. Anthony 14.

St. Anthony finishes the season with a record of 6 wins and 4 losses and they were 0 and 3 in district.  I am so proud of the team and everything they have accomplished.  I can’t wait to see what happens next for the football team.

Olan Vining, III, had 26 carries for 80 yards.  For the season, he had 1,444 rushing yards with 16 touchdowns.  Kyle Davila, a junior, had 5 carries for 99 yards with 1 touchdown.

It was a very surreal moment when the game ended as I saw several St. Anthony football players taking pictures with their teammates. I mean, this could be the last time they see each other on the football field as life happens.

St. Anthony finished the season with 6 wins and 4 losses and were 0 and 3 in District TAPPS 2-1.  Senior running back, Olan Vining, III finished with 1,444 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns.

So, have you had enough of my words?  I have!!!   Let’s read some thoughts by 1st year head coach Kevin Smisek; Rene Escobedo, the Principal; Olan Vining, III, a senior; and Kyle Davila, a junior.

Olan Vining, III

Football has been a very impactful component to my life. Growing up as a kid playing the sport and playing in high school especially taught me things that I wouldn’t have learned anywhere else. I learned the meaning of family and skills that I will take with me off the field such as work ethic, character, sportsmanship, integrity, and humility. Football has given me people in my life that have had the biggest impact in my life from the coaches, other players, and the people who have pushed and supported me along the way.

In conclusion, football has molded me into the man I am today

Kyle Davila

Incredibly thankful for this football season.  Incredibly thankful for my senior brothers who led this path of success, by never quitting and leading all of the underclassmen to follow their lead.  Incredibly thankful for the coaches who showed us how to be a family, and who showed us discipline and respect.  Incredibly thankful for our student body who have supported us like never before.  Incredibly thankful for the parents that had a part in this season.  It all means a lot to us.  And especially incredibly thankful for all of my teammates.  The change we have gone through in under 6 months is incredible from 3 and 7 in 2015 to 6 and 4 this year. 

Next year it’s going to be more tough but I wouldn’t want to go through it without any of my brothers, who have stayed by my side through the whole season. 

Thank you to everyone and especially the seniors who made our season memorable. 

Rene Escobedo

I am extremely proud of our football team. Overall they played with pride and represented our community well. There was a noticeable change in the way the team played and practiced and the entire community felt it. I was very pleased with our football season. Coach Smisek did a fantastic job in instilling a positive work ethic and a sense of pride that had not been seen in some time. We are proud of our football team and look forward to next season.

Kevin Smisek

The 1st thing we have to do make sure our kids rest and heal.  Our style of football is tough, not pretty so we give them two weeks off of doing nothing during that period.  They will go thru our stretching routine but that’s it…no lifting, no running, no nothing — just rest for 2 weeks.

Then we max the returning players on the big 3 lifts (power clean, squat, and bench) and time them in the 40 and the shuttle run (pro-agility or 5-10-5 run) and start a short program until the final exam week.

After we return from Christmas vacation, we will lift the kids back for another short two week period…then, we begin our BOOT CAMP.  Boot camp will last for 4 weeks and our kids will either survive and be the best they have ever been or they will decide that football isn’t the sport for them.

We will have Spring football in May and then prepare for our Summer workout program.

Thanks for all of your hard work this season with our football program.