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Victoria Memorial: New district foe
The Vipers make their return to 29-5A after a two-year hiatus

By Lee Goddard, Caller-Times

   VICTORIA - All the history between Victoria and the Corpus Christi Independant School District schools is pretty much lost on this year's version of the Memorial Vipers.
   The players know there were once rivalries between the Victoria schools and the CCISD schools, but two years in a San Antonio-area district has changed attitudes of players, who were freshmen the last time Victoria schools and CCISD teams squared off as district rivals.
   "I didn't think it was a big deal," Memorial quarterback Nick Burns said of moving back into District 29-5A with CCISD schools. "It will be different. It's someplace new to go. But that's about it."
   Old Victoria schools Victoria High and Stroman used to fight CCISD schools for district titles as recently as the 1999 football season. But the 2000 realignment switched the CCISD teams into facing Harlingen-area schools, while Memorial, the consolidation of Victoria High and Stroman, found itself facing San Antonio schools.
   In the time away, the CCISD teams had better fortunes. Carroll and Miller enjoyed the hiatus to each claim district titles over the last two seasons while Memorial, in its young history, has yet to enjoy a district championship in football.
   Reestablishing the dominance of Victoria football programs is foremost on the minds of the new corps of players.
   "I have no clue (about the style of the CCISD teams)," Burns said. "They'll be good, but we're good. San Antonio or Corpus, it doesn't matter. We just want to win."
   Coach enjoys return
   While Burns and some teammates didn't care who they faced, coach Wayne Condra was more than glad to go back to the pre-2000 setup.
   "We're happy with it," Condra said. "Here in Victoria, we've been a part of it for many years, and there's a lot of competition."
   Victoria didn't completely cut ties with the CCISD teams when they went north to San Antonio; Memorial won two tightly contested non-district games against Carroll over the past two seasons.
   Some inexperience
   Victoria only has one player - Jacobie Tisdale - who is slated to start on both sides of the ball. Tisdale may hold down one position on the defensive line, though Eric Mann (6-3, 210) is the only returning starter up front.
   The linebacking corps will welcome a trio of new starters, but the secondary looks to be a bright spot with returning starters in Jacob Patek (6-0, 175) and Pete Girdy (5-11, 170).
   On offense, the line is as inexperienced as the one on the defensive side of the ball. No returning starters are there.
   "We have skill kids on both sides of the ball," Condra said. "We graduated a lot of kids on both lines, though. We've got some holes to fill."
   As Condra mentioned, skill kids aren't a problem. Burns threw for nearly 1,200 yards last season, and running back Ron Thomas rushed for over five yards per carry. Receiver Bennie Stanley is a big-play man, hauling in only nine catches last season, with over 26 yards averaged per catch.