Shiner, St. Paul football: Cardinals host KNIPP on Saturday; Shiner travels to Hallettsville Brahmas

Shiner football teams open the regular season this week with the Comanches on the road and St. Paul playing Saturday night.
Shiner at Hallettsville
The Comanches open on the road at rival Hallettsville.
“We are going to find out some things about us against a traditionally solid team in Hallettsville,” Shiner head coach Daniel Boedeker said. “They are big up front with some returners on the line.”
Mycole Pegoda was the starting quarterback last season for the Brahmas but has moved to flanker or running back to utilize his speed. Pegoda ran on the first place 100 relay team last spring.
6-3 junior Kason Podhajsky is the quarterback and was a receiver in 2024. Kyle Svetlik (265) and Dillon Brittain (300) are returning starters in the offensive line.
“Mycole is very athletic and they will try to get to the ball to him,” Boedeker said. “Tradyn Williams will be the main running threat. Hallettsville will have good balance on their offensive schemes.”
Defensive end Nathan Henke and linebacker Matthew Montgomery were all district.
“Their defensive line will be larger than our offensive line and the linebackers run to the football well,” Boedeker said. “We have to play good on the offensive line— pad level, execution and communication. We need to sustain drives and not have turnovers in these early-season games.”
The Brahmas won last year 22-15.
Sunnyside KNIPP at St. Paul (Saturday)
St. Paul gets some Saturday Night Lights as they host Sunnyside KNIPP at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The Senators return just nine lettermen, three offensive and six defensive starters from the 2024 team that went 10-2 and won the TCSAA state championship.
Players to watch are ATH Timothy Carter, WR Rodney Wilson, DB Adrian Bernard II, DB Kaden Castille, DL Bruce Hockless, OL Michael Scranton and DB Ra’Mond Bailey.
Sunnyside lost plenty from the state title team but return offensive weapons in Carter (2,829 passing yards, 41 touchdowns, 598 rushing yards, eight touchdowns) and Wilson (1,403 receiving yards, 23 touchdowns).
Hockless (four sacks) and Bernard II (six interceptions) will spearhead the defense.
In last year’s game, St. Paul came up short 30-23.