Cardinals’ defense key in early success
Friday, October 2, 2015
by Jose Torrés, Gonzales Inquirer Sports
Gonzales Inquirer Article | St. Paul Cardinal Football | St. Paul Cardinal Sports
SHINER — The Cardinals are at the midpoint of their season and with a 5-0 record (1-0 in district), head coach Jake Wachsmuth has seen improvement with his squad from start to finish and has been pleased with the team.
"Probably one of the biggest factors is defensively, even going back to the scrimmages, we’ve been pretty hard to put points on," Wachsmuth explained.
The Shiner St. Paul coach talked about how nothing necessarily has changed in terms of scheme, but their experience on that side of the field definitely plays a factor into their success.
"We got some pretty good players that we got on the defensive side with experience."
Offensively the Cardinals has had some moments of inconsistencies, according to Wachsmuth, but last week they’ve definitely improved and tonight they look to do so some more against a winless Marble Falls Faith Academy team.
Marble Falls FA will run out of a spread, mostly in shotgun formation with either two running backs or one running back. Although out the spread, the Flames will run out that formation as well.
In terms of a key player to look out for, the Flames don’t necessarily have that go-to guy, Wachsmuth scouted, but their quarterback will have designed runs although the two running backs will be the ones to share the load.
On defense, Shiner St. Paul anticipates an eight-man front, with the Flames playing their athletes up close to the line of scrimmage.
The Cardinals are known more for their running ability, hence the loaded box, but last week they showed the ability to pass, with quarterback Austin Barton going a perfect 10-for-10 for 242 yards and three touchdowns.
Wachsmuth knows that opposing teams will want to be aggressive up front, so his offense has been able to take advantage.
Early in the year, the head coach talked about wanting to get as many athletes involved as he can and doing so has kept his team relatively healthy.
"We’ve been pretty fortunate health wise," he reported.
After all, different athletes getting more touches keep players fresh. And the more people that a team can get involved, the more it causes a strain on the opposing defense as well as takes away the multiple blows Cardinals’ running backs take with the heavier load.
Wachsmuth did say that there are times where one of their star backs T.J. Bell has had to run the ball over 20 times, such as the game against Flatonia. But in an ideal situation, the Cardinals want to have multiple athletes with carries, such as last week when Bell only had seven carries.
"[It’s] hard to defend, keeps people fresh," Wachsmuth explained.
The team is fortunate this year to have those options, he said, and this season will be a success of St. Paul can keep gaining those yards with every athlete they line up.
Tonight’s game is at home in Shiner, with kickoff scheduled at 7:30 p.m.
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