By ARMANDO GARZA
Special to the NEWS
Photo by T.J. Tijerina
Port Isabel Tarpons senior running back Juan Aguilera is seen looking for room to run against the Raymondville Bearkats in San Benito on Friday.
Many have come to expect greatness from the Port Isabel Tarpons and on Friday night, Big Blue delivered.
The Tarpons were workmanlike, turning an early touchdown deficit into 42 unanswered points as they dispatched of Raymondville 42-13 in their Class 3A Division-II bi-district game at Bobby Morrow Stadium in San Benito.
With the win, Port Isabel (11-0) will face Orange Grove, a 57-13 winner over Pearsall, in the Area round next week. Raymondville’s season ends at 6-5.
“We started slow, but were able to come back. The kids did a great job and I’m very proud of ‘em,” Tarpon head coach Monty Stumbaugh said. “This was step one and next week we’re playing Orange Grove. I know they’re playing well. It’ll be tough test and we’re gonna have to crank it up a notch.”
The Bearkats actually came out and looked good on their first drive to take a short-lived lead. Quarterback Willie Esparza found Marcus Uribe from eight yards out. It was 7-0 Kats with 8:15 left in the first quarter.
It was all Tarpons after that.
J.J. “The Rocket” Gonzalez (78 yards, TD) answered with a 24-yard touchdown run on the next drive and PI added a scoring run by quarterback Isaiah Martinez (13 carries, 156 yards, 2 TDs) to take a 13-7 edge with 8:21 left before half. On the night, PI rushed for 369 yards.
A key moment in the ballgame came when the Kats’ Romeo Rosales scored a would-be 52 yard touchdown to tie or possibly take the lead, but it was nullified by a holding penalty. Raymondville lost it on downs after that and Juan Aguilera (45 yards, 2 TDs) cashed it in with a nice eight-yard TD and the two-point run to make it 21-7 PI.
“That was a big turning point,” Stumbaugh said. “It was a big swing in momentum.”
Indeed it was.
Raymondville punted with just 25 ticks left and Marco Colorado’s great return set up a 10-yard TD by Aguilera for a 28-7 halftime lead.
After the half, a sloppy third quarter gave way to two more touchdowns from Jacob Losoya (37 yards) and Martinez (53 yards) as the Tarps poured it on. Raymondville’s last score came on a pass from Esparza to Uribe for the final margin.
ZAPATA 49, RIO HONDO 21: At La Joya, the Rio Hondo Bobcats ran into a surging Zapata team and couldn’t slow down the Hawks.
Zapata (5-6) rode workhorse Mike Alvarez’s four rushing touchdowns to an eventual 49-0 lead before the Bobcats were able to put some points on the board. The Hawks will now face Sinton, a big winner over Lytle, next week in Area. Rio Hondo’s season is over at 4-7.
Alvarez has been Zapata’s go-to guy for three years and he meant business as he ripped off several long runs for the Hawks’ Slot-T run attack.
For Rio Hondo, Josh Gonzalez scored twice and Marco Garate added another touchdown as the Bobcats never gave in and fought until the final whistle.
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