Moments after the final seconds ticked off the clock in Southside’s 38-19 season-opening loss to Brother Martin, Sharks coach Jess Curtis had a message for those doubting his team.
“We’re a lot better than we played,” Curtis said after the Sept. 6 loss. “People can bury us if they want. We will be back.”
In the next four games, the Sharks went 2-2 with losses to Westgate and Sam Houston, bringing their record to 2-3.
The 28-14 loss to Sam Houston annoyed Curtis the most.
“That was one of the most frustrating losses of my career,” said Curtis, whose Sharks will travel to face Acadiana at 7 p.m. Friday. “We went there and didn’t have the intensity and we didn’t play our style of football. It was very frustrating for us, and it was really a watershed moment for us.”
Despite the loss, Curtis’ belief in his team never wavered, stating the Sharks were “better than how they had played” in the first half of the season.
Since that Week 5 loss, the Sharks have been on a roll. They’ve won three games in a row, knocking off Sulphur, Lafayette High and St. Thomas More.
“Every season’s a journey,” Curtis said. “We had a brand-new defense that we were trying to work through and find the right guys and put them in the right spots on the bus. Throughout this season, it has been gradual growth for this team.”
That growth was on display against St. Thomas More, which appeared to be the District 3-5A favorites after defeating both Acadiana and Barbe.
“Playing a team, a program like St. Thomas More, that was a really good measuring stick for us,” Curtis said. “It showed us and the kids that if we play clean football and play Southside football, we can beat anybody.”
Playing a rugged schedule was intentional by Curtis, who wanted his Sharks to be battle-tested for the playoffs.
“We put those games on the schedule for a reason,” Curtis said. “You want to win them, but in the end, they make you better and they show you things you have to work on so you can get better and be better at the end of the season.”
The win over STM was a good start, but the question is whether the Sharks can continue to excel at the little things over the final two weeks of the regular season against Acadiana and Barbe.
“It’s all about paying attention to detail,” Curtis said. “To win games and do big things, we have to do a bunch of little things well. We kind of lost sight of that.
“It’s a bunch of little things that add to the big things, and I think we’re doing that now. Right now, we are playing with the intensity and passion that we want to play with here at Southside.”
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