Cardinals look to get back on winning track

SHINER — On paper, the Bryan St. Joseph football team doesn’t seem intimidating at all.

The Eagles lost their first four games in convincing fashion. They were outscored, 184-24, and lost each game by 33 points or more.

But, St. Paul coach Paul Johnston isn’t taking St. Joseph (0-4) lightly when the Cardinals host the Eagles at 2 p.m. Saturday at Comanche Field in Shiner. In fact, Johnston is taking his team’s opponent very seriously.

“They’re just like the other teams we faced or will face — bigger and deeper than us,” Johnston said. “St. Joseph has good size and some good backs.”

St. Joseph is a TAPPS Division III team, and is led by running backs Tate Brightwell and Nicky Damon. The Eagles operate out of the pistol, and freshman Luke McClure is the quarterback.

Chris Frieda and Spencer Gray lead the offensive and defensive lines for St. Joseph. Defensively, the Eagles operate out of a 4-2-5.

St. Paul (3-1) is coming off of a 21-17 loss to Flatonia on Sept. 16. The loss snapped a 17-game winning streak for the Cardinals.

“The guys seem to be handling things well,” Johnston said. “I hope we rise up and correct the things we need to correct. The important thing is this loss has no effect on our goals of winning a district championship or making a deep run into the playoffs.”

Following Saturday’s contest, St. Paul has one more nondistrict contest before opening TAPPS District 3-Division IV play Oct. 8.