Brownsville St. Joseph Academy comes into the 2026 high school football season with several changes to the team after graduating 13 seniors, among them star quarterback Gavin Cisneros. 

"When you lose a big group and a group like that with some talented players, you can't really replace one player with another, but I told the guys what you can replace a strong class is with a strong team," Brownsville St. Joseph head football coach Tino Villarreal said. "Unity has been a real key for us and these guys have been very united, it's a brotherhood and they understand what's at stake and they understand we like to play the toughest opponents that St. Joe can. We respect them all, but we want to play them tough."

Stepping in as the new starting quarterback for the Bloodhounds is Albert Chavez who is familiar with the offense having played at St. Joseph Academy his freshman year before leaving to play at Brownsville Hanna. 

"He picked up right from where he left off," Coach Villarreal added. "We had Albert here during middle school and his freshman year, and having him come back and just know the base of the system. Again, working ahead and just had a great summer and is a student of the game, sits down and asks a lot of questions, so we're really pleased right now with his performance and what he brings not just as a quarterback, but also as a leader."

The Bloodhounds open the regular season at home on August 28th to face Brownsville Veterans. District play begins on October 9th with a road game against St. Anthony's. They wrap up district play on October 30th visiting Hyde Park from Austin.