Shiner St. Paul athletes named to all-state teams
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
by José Torres, Gonzales Inquirer Sports
Gonzales Inquirer Article | St. Paul Cardinal Football | St. Paul Cardinal Sports
SHINER — Only a handful of teams in the state of Texas can call themselves a state champion.
Five-time state champs
Shiner St. Paul dethroned the Cedar Hill Trinity Christian Tigers 43-40 at Bastrop Memorial Stadium last Friday to earn their fifth state football championship in school history.
[ NOTE: click on photo to enlarge ]photo by José Torres, Gonzales Inquirer Sports
Even fewer can do it after remaining undefeated.
Shiner St. Paul is among that select few of teams who finish their football season as an undefeated champion with a 14-0 record after their 43-40 win in the TAPPS Division III title game.
Two seasons ago, Cardinals' head coach Jake Wachsmuth claimed that their season wasn't a rebuilding year. But who can blame him?
After all, nobody wants to claim that a year is already washed and there's no chance of postseason success.
But indeed, the 2013 season was a tough one for Shiner St. Paul as they finished the year 2-6 just two years after a state loss to their rivals and a year after a state win. However, it was to be expected with the amount of youth on the team.
Two years later, the same group of players outscored opponents 657-100 including a 43-40 state championship victory over last year's title winners Cedar Hill Trinity Christian.
"They went through a tough season, finished 2-6," Wachsmuth said after the game Dec. 4. "They got better last year and this year I mean just look at them. They've played through some pain, they've played through being real tired. It's just a special group of kids, special group of kids."
Wachsmuth expounded on that point, saying "[2013] was a tough season because they went through some hard times and you can just see how bad they wanted it."
In terms of senior leadership, the Cardinals will be losing a top running back in T.J. Bell who played a key role in their state championship win. Other seniors include running back and defensive back Ryan Geiger, defensive back Marco Ynclan who played all around the offense, Derek Kapavik, Jed Janecek, Nathan Pilat, Colton Machart, Reagan Beal, Weston Davis and Dylan Mills.
"They're everything," Wachsmuth said of his senior group. "You're led by your seniors. We got a lot of great young kids but these are the kids that went through the hard times."
Even with those losses, the Cardinals have something they didn't have two seasons ago -- a good mix of players in different grades. When they last ran through multiple sports with state titles, Shiner St. Paul were very much a senior-laden athletic program. But the Cardinals in their opening day roster had 10 seniors, eight juniors, nine sophomores and five freshmen.
If Wachsmuth can keep these numbers and go through their games as dominant as they have this past season, then the Cardinals will be able to work out those younger kids into varsity play and make sure everybody has that experience so that the football program will have sustained success.
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