Refugio Bobcats blank St. Joseph Flyers
Flyers' Vesely forces two interceptions, gives team hope to build on
Flyers head coach John Mares said he saw a lot of good things from the defense against Refugio.
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Hayden Vesely's job is to know what to expect. Even though the St. Joseph Flyers lost their season opener to the Refugio Bobcats 21-0, Vesely saw what was coming.
Playing free safety, it was going to be his responsibility to keep the Bobcats' pass-happy offense at bay. He and the rest of the defenders answered the call, picking four interceptions and keeping the Flyers in the game until late. Vesely had two of the interceptions.
"We had pretty good pressure and I got a couple good jumps on the ball," Vesely said. "We knew they were going to do that, and we had a good idea of when."
The game plan leading up to the season-opener was to limit the free-gunning offense of the Bobcats and to take away the long ball, a favorite for the combo of quarterback Kyle Hendley and Jourdan Ortiz of Refugio. Ortiz made plays, but the Flyers took away the pass for the most part, limiting the Bobcats to 11-20 passing for 111 yards.
Hendley threw three of the interceptions.
Vesely's first pick came in the first quarter, when he read a deep fly route to Ortiz down the sideline. The cornerback was beat, but Vesely flew in to make the grab and return it 22 yards.
"We had to keep them from going deep," Vesely said. "Fortunately, I jumped in at the right time."
His second pick came in the third quarter and was almost identical, with Refugio threatening to build on a 7-0 lead. Hendley went deep down the sideline for Ortiz, and Vesely read his eyes again, stepping in and taking it back 18 yards to keep the Flyers' hopes alive.
Vesely said the coaching staff had been preaching reading the quarterback all week, and as the free safety, it was his responsibility to not allow anything to get by.
"I have to roam back there and hem them in," he said. "I just saw the quarterback's eyes on those plays. That's what they've been telling us. Read, read, read."
St. Joseph coach John Mares said Vesely, a junior, was coming into his own as a leader and made strides during the game. He said that despite the loss, the defensive effort was encouraging against a strong offense like Refugio's.
"I saw a lot of good things out there tonight, I think we're coming," Mares said. "Hayden played a good ballgame."
Vesely also wants the team to build on the defense's strong performance. With four games and a month before TAPPS Division II, District 3 games, he said they have time to make adjustments.
"Our defense played well, and we've got a lot to improve on, but we have a lot to take from this," he said.
Comments
I agree that the interview was without merit;remember the Flyers are the local team. This reporter repeatedly shows boredom when reporting on Flyer games! His tweets were as bad as the article. Your readers deserve more!
August 30, 2009 at 3:34 p.m.This was not a game report. This was a personal game interview with Hayden Vesely. He played a good game, but report the whole story. 424 yards total offense versus 103 for STJ. 31 first downs to 5 for STJ. How was that much offense accumulated?
August 29, 2009 at 5:20 p.m.I'm sure you have a few upset readers from Refugio regarding the total lack of a game summary and replacing it with a one player interview.