• Wes Bloomquist •
• Originally published September 4, 2008 at 12:10 a.m., updated September 4, 2008 at 12:10 a.m.

Improvisation wasn’t St. Joseph’s style last season.

The script, week to week, was to hand the ball off to tailback Brett Stanford and watch him run for touchdowns. Looking back it wasn’t a bad idea.

Stanford set a single season rushing record and ran for 30 touchdowns showing the success of the game plan. But graduation and his departure to Abilene Christian University has created an opportunity for exploration and opportunity in the St. Joseph backfield.

Enter into the scene three juniors ready to fill the void. Kamen Ruelas, John Villafranca and Don Paul Dubose all played roles last season and enter with experience in the backfield.

“Replacing Brett is hard but with the three of us we have a lot of different tools,” Villafranca said. “Don Paul is real fast, Kamen has great speed and I have the power. I think with us back there we should be good.”

St. Joseph fell 34-12 to Refugio in the first week of the season but got strong play from the running backs. The Flyers rushed for 223 yards in the contest and will look for more success from the runners in Schulenburg on Friday.

“The season is early but I’m pleased with what I’ve seen out of them so far,” said St. Joseph head coach John Mares of his running backs. “I think we have a lot of room for improvement but they have potential.”

Ruelas played the least of the three on offense last year, but stepped right in the first week against Refugio. Ruelas, whose dad Romeo is the Flyers’ offensive coordinator, ran for 131 yards on 23 carries against the Bobcats.

“We were able to run the ball against Refugio,” said Kamen who was a starter on defense as a sophomore. “We were able to keep the ball moving with the run. We have to have good security with the and can’t have turnovers.”

While he’s the smallest of the three backs, Dubose comes into the year with the most yards rushing on his resume. Dubose ran for 267 yards on 41 carries as a sophomore backup to Stanford. After Stanford went down with injury in the playoffs, it was Dubose who received most of the carries.

“It helps a lot knowing what’s going on,” Dubose said. “If any of us go down the other one is right there to step up. After Brett went down in the playoffs last year the sophomores had to step up and run the ball a lot. It’s what we had to do last year and it’s going to help this year.”

A big part of the Flyers ability to run the ball this year will come through the offensive line.

All but one starter is back and should be able to create some holes for the running backs.

“Coach Mares is tough on the line and they’re always out here practicing,” Ruelas said. “The blocking is going real well right now and helps us.”

While the running game was there against Refugio, the Flyers quarterbacks struggled. Kevin Daniels and Andre Del Bosque teamed up to go 2-for-11 through the air, including three interceptions. The passing game netted only 52 yards, but with a strong running game the Flyers are expecting to be able to open up the play book.

“It takes a lot pressure off the quarterbacks to have a good running game,” Dubose said. “Our offense is based on good running so it helps the passing game when we get good runs.

“We all got a lot stronger from power lifting so we are a lot stronger in the backfield. We’re expecting big things.”

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