Cardinals, Indians welcome new foes to district
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wes Bloomquist, Victoria Advocate Sports Writer
St. Paul Cardinal Football | Return to Shiner Home Page
The size of TAPPS Division IV, District 3 doubled over the summer with realignment, giving Hallettsi,rille Sacred Heart and Shiner St. Paul new opponents and different approaches to this season.
"Now a district championship will have a lot more meaning," Sacred Heart head coach Pat Henke said. "You play your first six games to get better for district, not just to get your wins up. Now you want to get mentally and physically ready. You want to play good early, but we want to be ready to go when district starts."
Last year, the Indians won the three-team district that also included St. Paul and Katy Pope John =II. After the realignment, Pope John XXIII is now in Division III. District 4, while Bryan Brazos Christian, New Braunfels Christian. San Antonio St. Gerard and Waco Texas Christian joined Sacred Heart at St. Paul.
"I like the fact that there are more district games," Henke said. "Teams like St. Paul, Waco Texas Christian and Bryan Brazos - we've been playing them for years. St. Paul has always been in our district and then it seems like we always see Bryan Brazos in the playoffs. The other two teams are new to us."
St. Paul returns more starters than Sacred Heart and is under the direction of first-year head coach Jake Wachsmuth. Sacred Heart beat the Cardinals 16-7 last season on its way to the Division III state championship.
"They have a lot of kids back," Henke said of St. Paul. "They gave us all we could handle last year and they didn't lose very much. It's just the luck of the draw that we have to play them in Shiner again, but it's going to be a good game."
Not having to search around for opponents is another advantage being recognized this season with the new district.
"It sure made it easy to schedule," Henke said.
"We used to have to look all over for games all the time, so this is a lot better."
Wes Bloomquist is a sports writer for the Victoria Advocate.
Contact him at 361-580-6588, or by e-mail at wbloomquist@vicad.com.
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