How two brothers are helping turn around a defense — and a formerly struggling program

St. Martin’s defense has been a different animal through the first three weeks of the South Mississippi high school football season.

The Yellow Jackets’ opponents are scoring 25.3 points per game, a long way down from the 46 points per game they were allowing at this point a year ago, against the same competition.

Depth, experience and trial by fire are key reasons for the turnaround. But another major factor has been the play of two brothers within the St. Martin front seven.

Noel Estrada is the team’s top tackler, and his younger brother Caleb is leading in tackles for loss. Together, they anchor a defense that has made head-turning strides and have the Yellow Jackets off to a 2-1 start.

“I wish we had about five or six more of them,” third-year head coach Ty Smith told the Sun Herald of the Estrada brothers and their impact within the program.

Noel is a senior linebacker who just eclipsed 100 career tackles and already has a career-high two sacks this season. Caleb is a junior defensive lineman who has outgrown his older brother in size and used that leverage to record a career-high four tackles for loss against Hancock last Friday.

The pair have been in Smith’s program from year one and — like many around them — were thrown into the varsity fire at a young age. Caleb made four appearances as a freshman and Noel eight as a sophomore.

They both became starters last season and forged through a difficult 0-10 season that saw the Jackets give up at least 40 points seven different times.

Smith has reiterated he wouldn’t trade the experience his seven returning defensive starters gained for anything. The Estrada brothers agree.

“We learned through it. We know what it takes,” Noel said. “We know what it takes to win games. We know how to close games, and that’s a really big thing.”

St. Martin has quickly shown a new skill — the ability to finish games. The Yellow Jackets were 2-6 in games decided by two scores or less over Smith’s first two seasons, including 0-2 last year.

A 10-point win over Vancleave to open the season and staving off Hancock for a thrilling 22-21 overtime win last week have the Jackets 2-0 in such games in 2024.

“Sometimes life throws you curveballs,” Smith said. “The biggest thing is getting our kids to understand how to face adversity and how to keep pushing, even when things don’t go your way. And I think we’re a better football team because of it. I think we’re better people because of it.”

Competition breeds success

It’s one thing when you’re competing with a teammate, it’s another when that teammate is your brother.

As Smith put it, “fortunately for us, they’re on the same side of the ball.”

The Estrada brothers compete in every facet. They both have good grades, but they argue over who has the higher GPA. They both claim to regularly beat the other in EA College Football 25, too, and they also argue over who would have the higher overall rating within the game.

But on the field, that competition melds together with common goals in mind: making plays and being leaders.

“We always try to hold each other accountable,” Caleb said. “Because we know a lot of people look up to us outside of football. And I feel like, since we’ve been playing together since we were kids, that competitive edge has always been there.”

“He makes me better and I make him better,” Noel added.

The pair are two of several Yellow Jacket defenders that were put through the ringer a year ago and came back with a new edge to them.

St. Martin’s defensive line is a deep unit that held the Bulldogs’ leading rusher to just 29 yards in Week 1 and made a game-winning goal-line stand against the Hawks.

Caleb’s tenacity on the front line and Noel’s leadership in the middle of the defense has elevated those around them.

“We played so well in our two victories at home and those two guys are a huge reason for that,” Smith said. “Their leadership, their play on the field, their energy, everything they’re doing... Definitely two guys we’re glad are on our side.”

St. Martin stays home for a battle with Stone this week. The Tomcats have also played strong defense up to this point and will provide a test for a Yellow Jackets offense that’s led by sophomore quarterback Kevin Marshall.

But the Estradas will hold down their side of the line of scrimmage, along with stalwarts Jayden Curtis and Romane Grant.

“We’ve got to stay level-headed,” Caleb said. “We’ve got to stay hungry, we’ve got to stay aggressive. We’ve just got to take it a week at a time — the main goal is to be 1-0 every week.”