CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Incarnate Word Academy held off St. John Paul II 28-22 in the second annual football Catholic Classic at Bishop Carmody Field. The non-district TAPPS matchup gave private school programs their first action of the season, a week before UIL public schools begin play.
Both head coaches entered the game with optimism heading into the 11-man season.
"Well I'm excited just to get on the field, but really excited to see how they grow as a team because we have so many young guys that we're going to be able to develop over the next 3-4 years that it's going to be really great," said Incarnate Word Academy head coach Craig Charlton. "Right now we're playing for our seniors. We got to get on the deal right now and get it going."
"I think I'm just excited to see what we can put out there on the field," said St. John Paul II head coach Roland Ramirez. "We had a good offseason. We had a bunch of kids come over from the middle school for the first time since I've been here, so that's helped a lot. Our numbers are at 30. Just trying to see what we can do on Friday night." said.
The IWA Angels wasted no time taking control. In the first quarter, quarterback Sawyer Brown found Antonio Nisimblat near the sideline. Nisimblat evaded a tackle, shook off another and was brought down inside the 5-yard line. A few plays later, Brown kept the ball himself, rounded the outside and scored on an untouched 5-yard touchdown run to put Incarnate Word Academy up 7-0.
In the second quarter, Brown showcased his speed again, breaking a tackle and ripping through another on a 47-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 14-0.
Later in the quarter, with St. John Paul II deep in their own territory, Angel's defensive player Diesel Luera stepped in front of a pass for an interception and returned it for a pick six, pushing the score to 21-0 before halftime.
St. John Paul II made a second half comeback. It started when Matthew Molina rushed for a 3-yard touchdown. The Centurions closed the gap 28-22. but that would be the final score.
Incarnate Word Academy won the previous Catholic Classic matchup between the two schools 38-19.
