Converse Judson carried by its tradition

CONVERSE — Losing three of the last four games of the season isn’t something that happens often at Converse Judson High School. Scraping into the playoffs with a 6-4 regular-season record simply isn’t enough.

So to say the Rockets’ season is a success to this point would be inaccurate. Yes, they recovered from a bad finish to advance to the Class 5A regional semifinals, where they’ll play the La Joya Coyotes at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Laredo’s Student Activities Center, but playing into December is simply an expectation.

The Rockets (8-4) have won six state titles and reached five more state championship games. Since 1977, the Rockets have had no losing seasons and built one of the strongest traditions in the state.

“The program, and the success of the program, and the history of the program means a lot to these kids,” said Bobby Stautzenberger, a member of the 1988 state finalists and current Rockets play-by-play announcer. “Even though this group this year has struggled, and they’ve had their struggles in the last few years, once they get into the playoffs they’re kind of a different animal.”

That transformation was especially obvious against San Antonio Southwest last week. Southwest entered the game undefeated, but lost 24-16 to a team that finished fourth in District 26-5A.

Despite a district split in 2005 that took half the coaching staff to the newly-formed Wagner High School, Stautzenberger said the school’s heritage still matters to the current Rockets.

“In the kids’ minds, it’s still real important for them to carry on the tradition,” said Stautzenberger, who said the Rockets’ program has been negatively affected by the split. “The last five or six years haven’t been up to their standards.”

In the last six years, the Rockets have made four playoff appearances and won the 2002 state championship. However, a 6-4 regular season, which included a loss to Wagner, caused some to doubt whether this year’s Rockets could advance. Two of those losses in district, however, came against Smithson Valley and San Antonio Reagan, teams that are still alive in the postseason.

“Traditionally, Judson seems to get better when it makes the playoffs,” Judson coach Jim Rackley said. “You know, you’ve got an older brother or somebody in the neighborhood or somebody that you know is reminding you that there’s certain things we do.

“We believe that we’re going to out-hustle everybody we play. That may not be true, but we believe it, and that’s what they’re trained to believe.”

Brian Sandalow covers District 30-5A for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956)-683-4436.

Editor’s Note

La Joya football coach Leonel Casas denied The Monitor interviews with his players this week, as has been the case all season. As such, we featured the Converse Judson Rockets in today’s paper. For more information, contact the La Joya athletic office at (956) 580-5465.

The Schedules

CONVERSE JUDSON

8-31 at Leander W32-26

9-7 at Kerrville Tivy L40-21

9-22 at S.A. Churchill W28-7

9-28 S.A. MacArthur W28-0

10-5 at S.A. Roosevelt W34-7

10-12 S.A. Madison W20-17

10-19 at Converse Wagner L21-14

10-26 S.A. Lee W37-21

11-2 at Smithson Valley L31-17

11-9 S.A. Reagan L36-22

11-17 vs. Austin W21-10

11-23 vs. S.A. Southwest W24-16

LA JOYA

8-30 at Brown. Rivera W34-17

9-8 at S.A. Warren L41-0

9-14 at C.C. Calallen L23-14

9-21 C.C. Carroll L21-17

10-5 Donna L21-14

10-12 at McAllen Rowe W21-14

10-19 at McAllen Mem. W28-17

10-26 Sharyland W26-21

11-2 at Rio Grande City L21-7

11-9 McAllen High L37-7

11-16 at Laredo United W37-0

11-23 PSJA High W28-14