CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On Friday, the Flour Bluff football team will play in its first state semifinal game in school history. The excitement around town is palpable.
“You can’t even explain how exciting this is for the boys, the families, the fans, for everyone in the community. It’s beyond words to even describe how excited we all are,” said Jenna Alexander, an alumna of the class of 1999, and mother to a Hornet player.
All week, the Flour Bluff community has been talking about the big game.
“They’ve been very excited, it’s been lifting everybody up, and a lot of positivity going on in the community and the South Texas area,” said Perry Sparta, class of 2004, and a father of one of the players. “Everybody is just really excited about it, and we’re just really proud of these young men.”
It’s been a fun, yet stressful, road for the fans to get to this game. The Hornets defeated rival Gregory-Portland with a field goal as time expired two weeks ago, and another rival in Veterans Memorial with a late defensive stand last week.
“It’s been fantastic. We get to beat two of our biggest rivals. For those of us from the Bluff, been here a long time, beating Gregory-Portland, that’s huge, it’s always been big, and then beating the new guys on the other side of the bridge is always great,” said Danny Williams, class of 1999. “It’s just great, it’s exciting. Right now, I’m getting goosebumps thinking about those two games.”
Williams is a youth football coach in town, and former teacher, so it means a lot to see his former players and students excelling on the field.
“Just to see your kids, your friends’ kids, it’s fantastic. These are our neighbors, it’s amazing, we’re super proud of them,” he said. “They’ve done the absolute best job at representing our community, and it’s fantastic.”
The Hornet football team did not always have this level of success, as Nancy Busby, who worked as a teacher and coach for the district for more than 40 years, recalled.
“The first three years I was at Flour Bluff, we didn’t win a game,” she said. “We’ve just continually gotten better, and they brought them to this, it’s unforgettable.”
But the road to Arlington is blocked by one final opponent: the Katy Paetow Panthers, who will not be an easy opponent.
“I feel like these boys are up and ready for the challenge,” Sparta said.
“Everybody’s talking about it at their workplaces. The excitement level and the expectations of this game is beyond everything that we’ve had so far,” said Alexander.
The game will be played at San Antonio’s Heroes Stadium on Friday, kickoff is at 7:00 p.m. Flour Bluff ISD will have a send-off for the Hornets as they leave down Waldron Rd. on Friday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
