Villanueva, Ramirez lead Santa Rosa past St. Joe

Santa Rosa began the 2010 season on a positive note with a 34-19 non-district victory over St. Joseph Academy on Friday at Canales Field.

Aries Villanueva and Omar Ramirez highlighted the win for the Warriors as Villanueva rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns while Ramirez gained 91 yards and had three scores. St. Joseph’s Claudio Ramirez led the Bloodhounds by rushing for 129 yards and scoring three TDs.

"It’s always good to win your first game," Santa Rosa coach Josh Gonzalez said. "It wasn’t a pretty win, but we’ll take it. Our players stepped up to the challenge, and I’m happy about what they did tonight.

"We’re going to enjoy the weekend, but we’ve got to get ready to play some football against La Villa next week," he added. "It’s no secret that La Villa likes to throw the ball, so we’re going to have our hands full."

The Warriors surged ahead 21-12 by halftime.

Santa Rosa got on the scoreboard first when Omar Ramirez broke loose on a 49-yard run to put the Warriors up 7-0 after Elio Mosqueda’s extra-point kick with 8:08 showing in the opening quarter. Claudio Ramirez returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for the Bloodhounds’ first score, but the conversion failed, leaving SJA trailing 7-6.

The Warriors took a 21-6 lead on a 9-yard first-quarter run by Omar Ramirez and a 45-yard second-quarter scamper up the middle by Villanueva before Claudio Ramirez tallied on a 12-yard run around right end to pull the Bloodhounds within nine points, 21-12.

Omar Ramirez’s 6-yard run at the 5:35 mark of the third quarter made it 27-12 after a missed extra point. Villanueva added a 75-yard scoring run with 10:34 left in the game to give the Warriors a 34-12 advantage. Claudio Ramirez then scored his TD of the night for the Bloodhounds on a 33-yard jaunt up the middle with 2:15 remaining.

"I saw we need a lot of work, and we have to work on the mental game," SJA coach Christian Putegnat said. "We had a lot of mental breakdowns, and that was rough. But on the same note, we had some great moments. We had some players step up. Claudio Ramirez, Seve Ortiz and Ernesto Danache were some of them along with some of our guys on the line.

"We had some good moments and some bad moments, and we’ll get it all straightened out," he added. "We got three more non-conference games left before we start our (TAPPS) district. We still have time to get better."

The Bloodhounds and Warriors last met during the regular season when they opened their campaigns in 2005 in Brownsville and SJA triumphed 47-14.

Santa Rosa, coming off a 4-6 season and now playing in District 16-2A Division I with Falfurrias, Oden, Bishop, San Diego and Taft, next plays its home opener against neighboring "Sugar Bowl" rival La Villa on Friday.

The Bloodhounds, 2-7 one year ago, continue non-conference play Friday at home against Progreso. SJA opens the season with three straight home games before playing at Marine Military Academy on Sept. 17. The Bloodhounds entertain La Villa on Sept. 10. 

Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.