CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — For the first time in the school's history, the Incarnate Word Academy football team is headed to the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools playoffs.
"We always talk about winning the day and now we're focused on winning the playoffs," head football coach Jay Aleman said.
As the Angels prepare for Saturday's game against the Laredo-Saint Augustine Knight's, Coach Aleman said he's been working all season to help his players see the end goal.
“Going to go to the playoffs every year, that’s our bar, we set the bar," Aleman said. "So it was never a question whether we were going to the playoffs, it’s how far are we going to go in the playoffs. So if that’s my mentality, then it kind of permeates through the team and that’s what I preach every single day.”
However, it wasn't easy bringing a football team to the school, especially with it being a six man team, rather than 11.
Athletic Director Kevin Steen said he had to convince the board to offer the program. He prepared a proposal and pitched it, along with detailing how the football team would be funded. Steen and Aleman decided to pay for equipment and uniforms through the support of donors.
With the challenges of offering the program, it finally happened and now the Angels have a 6-3 record this season. Steen emphasized how his team has seemingly earned their spot in the playoffs.
"For us to come together as a group and go 6-3 and now go to the TAPPS playoffs, it’s more than just ‘Oh yeah we chose to go,'" Steen said. "No, we were selected, we were honored, we’ve proven that we should be in the TAPPS division one playoffs.
Some of the players hitting the field are Jeremiah Demas and Ben Pettus. They said seeing the progress of the season has encouraged them to go hard for every game and they plan to do the same against the Knights.
“It’s just encouraging and exciting because when we started this, we had no clue how this was going to go," Angels center Jeremiah Demas said. "We were confident we were going to be a good team, actually, we were going to be a great team. We’re going to play our brand of football and make adjustments, but to see our support growing game by game, week by week, it’s been something really encouraging for us that drives us every single week.”
As the team made their historical debut on the field this season, quarterback Ben Pettus said he and his teammates plan to use that same tenacious energy they've used all season to continue making their community proud and advance to regionals after the playoffs.
"We have the intensity, we just have to keep it for every game. The mindset is that we can't take this team for granted," Pettus said. "Although I am the quarterback, every player on the team plays a big part in how we win. We are a family and I am sure with the encouragement of not only Coach Aleman, but of the community and of each other, I'm sure we're going to go out there and show them that we're here to win."
The Angels play the Laredo-St. Augustine Knights on Saturday Nov. 11 in Freer. Kick-off is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
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