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Shiner Catholic School

St. Paul football: Temple Christian hands St. Paul 41-20 defeat to end 2023 season

  • The St. Paul Cardinals line up for point-after play during the bi-district round Friday night against Fort Worth Temple Christian at Comanche Stadium. Photo courtesy of Brian and Louann Heinsohn.
    The St. Paul Cardinals line up for point-after play during the bi-district round Friday night against Fort Worth Temple Christian at Comanche Stadium. Photo courtesy of Brian and Louann Heinsohn.
  • Jack Ehrig carries the ball against Fort Worth Temple Christian. He ran three times for 38 yards and caught one pass for seven yards. Photo courtesy of Brian and Louann Heinsohn.
    Jack Ehrig carries the ball against Fort Worth Temple Christian. He ran three times for 38 yards and caught one pass for seven yards. Photo courtesy of Brian and Louann Heinsohn.

    The St. Paul 2023 football season concluded at home in the bi-district round of the TAPPS IV playoffs with a 41-20 loss to Fort Worth Temple Christian.
    Gus Collins led the Cardinals offensive effort with 148 yards on 26 carries and all of St. Paul’s three touchdowns. Charlie Pilat added 80 yards on 25 carries.
    The defense recovered one fumble in the game.
    Collisn scored on a 3-yard run in the first quarter, a 5-yard run in the second box and on a 14-yard run in the fourth quarter.
    “The kids fought as hard as they could in this game. Our injury situation was just too much to overcome,” St. Paul head coach Mike Jackson said.
    The Cardinals graduate Pilat, Alex Brown, Nathan Timmons, Carter Novak, Zane Barta, Nate Boedeker and Tate Anders.
    “They had great leadership and were all men of character,” Jackson said. “They will go on to do great things in life. I feel bad for them because of the tough end of year we had.”
    Their 2023 final season record is 5-6 (1-2, third place in district)
    “When we were 4-2 after six games, we had a chance to be there at the end,” Jackson said. “The way we were playing football, we were keeping the other teams’ prolific offense off the field. I was especially pleased about the win against Boerne Geneva because they had defeated us pretty good last season and beating a bigger school in Austin Brentwood.”
    In the first two district games, home to Sacred Heart and away to Temple Central Texas Christian, the Cardinals lost a linemen and a majority of their offensive backs to injury.
    “The injuries hit us hard. We will wonder what could have been,” Jackson said. “Our kids showed incredible resiliency. With all our injury situations, it would have been easy to just lay down but they didn’t and kept fighting.”
    Jackson said the Cardinals’ offense in the last couple of games was totally different than earlier in the season.
    St. Paul rushing — Gus Collins 26-148, Charlie Pilat 25-80, Jack Ehrig 3-38, Sam Perez 1-20, Blaine Humes 8-18, Jackson Seibert 1-(2).
    St. Paul passing — Pilaty 1-14-2-7.
    St. Paul receiving — Ehrig 1-7.
    St. Paul kickoff return — Ehrig 4-56, Collins 2-20.
    St. Paul punting — Seibert 1-32.0 average.