Holy Bowl at a Glance
Holy Cross (0-1) vs. Central Catholic (1-0)
When, where: Saturday, 7 p.m., Alamo Stadium
Series history: Central leads 35-11
Last meeting: Holy Cross 21, Central 14, Aug. 29, 2013, Harlandale Memorial Stadium
Holy Cross' last game: Lost to Austin Hyde Park 18-15
Central's last game: Defeated San Antonio Christian 40-20
Notable: The first Central Catholic-Holy Cross game was played in November 1963 at old Missions Stadium. Although Central has a commanding lead in the series, the Buttons are only 8-6 in their last 14 meetings with the Knights.
SAN ANTONIO – It’s Central Catholic vs. Holy Cross, but better known as the “Holy Bowl.”
Think Notre Dame and Boston College, two proud Catholic institutions with distinctly different football histories. One is a traditional power and the other a strong, if not elite, program.
Back in the spotlight after a four-year hiatus, the Holy Bowl is expected to wake up the echoes of one of San Antonio’s most intense rivalries when Central and Holy Cross clash for the 47th time Saturday night at Alamo Stadium.
Central leads the series 35-11, but is only 8-6 in the last 14 meetings. Holy Cross beat the Buttons in 2011, 2012 and 2013 before scheduling conflicts prevented the rivals from squaring off the past four seasons.
“We’re glad to be playing Central again,” Knights coach Mike Harrison, who is 3-0 against the Buttons, said this week. “It’s a big deal for both schools, not only for the players, but for the communities, the alumni, and other fans.
“As intense as the rivalry is, there’s a kind of camaraderie among the players. A lot of them know each other. They might have played together or against each other in middle school. It just makes for a great atmosphere.”
Second-year Central head coach Mike Santiago has had no shortage of people trying to bring him up to speed on the history of the Holy Bowl.
“I’ve heard more stories about the Holy Bowl,” Santiago said Thursday, smiling. “I actually got corrected by Father Sean Downing here at Central Catholic because at one point in one interview, I think I called it Holy Week. It’s not Holy Week. We all know Easter is Holy Week. It is Holy Bowl week.
“I’ve heard all the records, and all the stories, and the history, which is great. But the situation is, it’s my second year. I knew about the Holy Bowl. I really wanted to bring it back. Mike Harrison and I worked on it. We got it done. It’s a good game. It’s two Catholic schools. Let’s play football for 48 minutes and after that, let’s pray together and let’s go on.”
To promote better relations between the schools, Central and Holy Cross students have come together this week to help the Guadalupe Community Center with its food pantry, clothes closet and community garden. The teams also will attend a Mass together Friday at Holy Rosary Church.
Carlos Enrico, former Central player, head coach and athletic director, is perhaps the foremost authority on the Holy Cross-Central rivalry. A 1972 Central graduate, he was involved with the game in some capacity for 43 years before retiring as athletic director in June 2007. Enrico, who went 18-6 against Holy Cross as head coach, called Santiago this week to offer some friendly advice.
“I just wanted Mike to know what he’s getting himself into,” said Enrico, who played quarterback for the Buttons in 1970 and 1971. “After all the Kumbaya stuff is over and they blow the whistle and the ball is kicked off Saturday night, Holy Cross is going to come at Central hard. They’re going to be physical and Central better be ready for anything.”
Enrico returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach in 1976 and was promoted to head football coach and athletic director in 1987. He went 159-107-2 in his 24 seasons as head coach, leading the Buttons to a TCIL state championships in 1990 and a TAPPS state title in 2001. Enrico retired as head coach early in 2011, and stepped down as athletic director after the 2016-17 school year.
“Central and Holy Cross had played each other for many years, but when the game got to be called the Holy Bowl, it made it special,” Enrico, 64, said. “It got its identity, like the Chili Bowl (Fox Tech-Lanier), the Gucci Bowl (Churchill-Clark), Frontier Bowl (Harlandale-McCollum), Salsa Bowl (Kennedy-Memorial), all those games. It gives the Catholics a sense of identity.”
Central Catholic, with an all-boys enrollment of about 600, is the oldest private school in the San Antonio area. Located on St. Mary’s Street, just blocks from downtown, Central has scores of influential, affluent alumni.
Holy Cross is the only Catholic high school located in westside San Antonio. Opened in 1957, it has a coed enrollment of about 210 (128 boys) in grades 9-12. Holy Cross is on San Felipe Street, off Culebra Road and less than a mile from St. Mary’s University.
"It's David vs. Goliath," Holy Cross offensive coordinator Angel Cedillo said. "At the end of the day, we want to beat them a little bit more because they have been the standard forever. They were the ones who set the bar for a lot of people."
The Buttons and Knights traditionally met in the final week of the regular season when they were in the same district. But that changed when TAPPS, the governing body of most private schools in Texas, dropped Holy Cross from Division I to Division II in 2012.
“It never made a difference what our record was or what their record was,” Enrico said. “They were going to be ready to play. Their coaches always did a great job of having them prepared. If they beat us, that made their season. I would tell our kids, ‘This is their Super Bowl.’”
The first Central Catholic-Holy Cross game was played in November 1963 at old Missions Stadium. It was played annually until a five-year hiatus from 1993-97. The Knights beat the Buttons for the first time in 1967, but didn’t win in the series again until 1984.
Holy Cross also won in 1988, 1992, 1998, 2004, 2005 and 2006 before winning three straight (2011-13) again.
While none of the players on either team were in high school the last time the Holy Bowl was played, they’ve heard plenty about the Central-Holy Cross rivalry from older siblings, coaches and fans.
Holy Cross senior running back Ethan Lara was a seventh-grader when the Knights beat the Buttons 21-14 in 2013 at Harlandale Memorial Stadium.
“I was there,” Lara said. “I remember a lot of people being there, and having to stand up because there were no seats. We’re very excited about playing Central Catholic again. All the upperclassmen have talked about the game. We’re looking forward to it and want to win and keep what we have going.”
The allure of the Holy Bowl has captured the Buttons’ attention as well.
“Although I’ve not played in the Holy Bowl, I have heard stories,” senior linebacker John Montelongo said. “I do have older siblings. They have told me about this game and its great significance. Going into this game, we have been told to practice like it’s a regular week. But everyone knows that come Saturday, it’s going to be a high-flying game with a lot of excitement.
“We know we have a great opponent in Holy Cross. They’re going to try their best as well. But we’re going to take the field Saturday night and give it our best shot. A lot of these guys, they were our friends in middle school. We might have even gone to school with them, but now it’s a little different.”
Like Enrico, Cedillo has experienced the Holy Bowl as a player and coach. He was a two-way lineman for the Knights before graduating in 1980, and was head coach at his alma mater for 14 seasons (1990-2003). Arnie Martinez succeeded him and was head coach for six seasons before he stepped down after the 2009 season. Harrison was promoted.to head coach in 2010.
Now dean of students at Holy Cross, Cedillo has worked at the school since 1983.
“Any time we played Central, it was name calling and belittling, and the whole nine yards,” said Cedillo, 56. “What we told our kids was, ‘Well, let’s do the math here. We call them names, we try to make fun of them and then they take us to the wood shed. I’m not sure what you’re calling them, but whatever it is, that puts us just a little below that particular totem pole.’”
Cedillo said the Knights turned the corner after they started respecting the Buttons and aspiring to play at their level. Cedillo, Martinez and Harrison have left their imprint on the program with their passion and commitment to Holy Cross.
“We resigned ourselves to work harder, to line up and to give everything that we have,” Cedillo said. “And the name calling and all that silly stuff, no. It’s going to be with absolute and thorough respect. It’s not going to change how much we want to beat them. It’s going to change how it is we’re going to go about trying to beat them. We’ve had some success since then.”
As Enrico has warned, Central better be ready.