Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Mathis caravan prepares for final trip

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Friday, December 10, 1999

Mathis caravan prepares for final trip
Pirates fans expected to turn out in force for Saturday's state championship
By Stu Duncan
Caller-Times

George Tuley/Caller-Times

Mathis fans, including Erin Burrows (left) and Michelle Gillum, (right) cheer during a pep rally for the Astrodome-bound Pirates in Mathis Thursday night.

Make those last-minute face-painting preparations. Don't forget to lock and load those silly-string shooters. And for goodness sake, warm up those vocal chords for more cheers of "Hit someone."
   Mathis High School's traveling caravan is headed to Houston this weekend, though the Pirates football fans don't seem to mind the additional travel time. The estimated 4,500 Mathis fans at last week's state semifinal game in San Marcos reaffirm that.
   And with Mathis' first state championship on the line, who knows how many more will make the journey to the Astrodome. Many Pirates fans have waited a lifetime to watch the Mathis football team make its first state title game appearance. They'll get their chance Saturday at 3:30 p.m. when the Pirates (12-2) play Texarkana Liberty-Eylau (13-1) in the Division I, Class 3A title game.
   "The feeling is unbelievable," said Ysidro Villarreal, whose son Tito Villarreal plays cornerback for the Pirates. "I wish everybody could go through it."
   "The true fans have always stuck by them," said 1971 Mathis graduate Robert DeLeon Sr., whose son Robert DeLeon Jr. is a senior lineman for the Pirates. "We've been waiting a long time for this, baby."
   "We're all floating around on air," said Mathis High School cheerleading sponsor Dolores Moreno, who is a 1981 Mathis graduate and mother of Pirates offensive tackle B.R. Moreno. "It's wonderful. Nothing has ever been this exciting. I've never seen fans being so supportive. Nobody is trying to get on the bandwagon. They've been with (the team) from the very beginning."
   That includes 46-year-old Mathis native Joe Dominguez. Dominguez was part of Mathis' Class of 1971 and has been the announcer at the Pirates football games the last three years. Dominguez's son Tommy Dominguez was an all-state wide receiver for the Pirates during the 1997 season and his daughter Jackie Dominguez is currently a Mathis cheerleader.
   Dominguez has seen more than a few Pirates football games in his life, including Mathis' 1972 state quarterfinal playoff loss to Boling, 33-22.
   Because of the Mathis football team's recent success, Dominguez said past failures - which includes, at one time, an 18-year playoff drought - have been forgotten.
   "There hasn't been a winning tradition here," said Dominguez, who is also vice president of Mathis' Booster Club. "At Mathis, we almost expected to lose the big game. A couple of years ago, though, (the Pirates) saw they could win and we have ever since.
   "I believe everyone has their turn in life (to succeed)," Dominguez added. "This is our turn."
   "Mathis has been a hard-luck town," said 40-year-old Beeville dental hygienist David Salinas, who played junior varsity football for the Pirates and graduated from Mathis in 1977. "When things seemed to be going our way, at the last minute something happened and we'd lose. These kids have gotten past that mystique. They're moving on."
   On to where no Mathis team has gone before. With several thousand of their closest friends cheering them on.
   And to the Mathis players and coaches, that's all the additional motivation the team needs.
   "It just gives me the chills during pre-game to see all of our fans out there," Mathis junior quarterback Justin Soza said. "During the game, we can't hear ourselves think because it is so loud."
   "I don't know it there's any better fans in all of South Texas than here in Mathis - with the exception of maybe Alice," said Pirates defensive coordinator Bobby Lindquist, who also played guard for Alice in 1979. "The community has been absolutely wonderful. When we pulled out (on the team bus) the last two weeks to go play, we've had Main Street lined with people sending us off. You just get goose bumps running up your back when you see all those people."
   Another sendoff for the Pirates football team is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. today.
   Though Pirates fans won't be allowed to use confetti inside the Astrodome, Colleen Soza - the wife of Mathis football coach Chris Soza - said alternate means of support are on the way, including clappers and Pirates flags among other items.
   "We're going to go with the noise-makers now," Colleen Soza said.
   But what will become of all the excess confetti?
   Dominguez has an idea.
   "We'll use the leftover confetti during the celebration after we win," Dominguez said.



Staff writer Stu Duncan can be reached at 886-3702 or by e-mail at duncans@caller.com

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