By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
On Friday, Oct. 18, the Port Isabel Tarpons hosted the Kingsville King Brahmas in a crucial district matchup. After their disappointing non-district loss to St. Joe the week before, the Tarpons regrouped, refocused
and took care of business by trouncing the Brahmas 48-19.
Kingsville got off to a good start as they went on a three-play scoring drive, capped by a 44-yard touchdown play from quarterback [QB] Dylon Evertt to wide receiver [WR] Jasiah Rivera. A successful extra point
kick gave the Brahmas a 7-0 lead with a little over a minute into the game.
The Tarpons responded with a 14-play scoring drive capped by a one-yard touchdown [TD] run by running back [RB] Brian Cinfuegos as the game was now tied at 7-7. The drive’s highlight was a 17-yard pass by
QB Bryan Martinez to RB Luis Ramos.
The Brahmas then started to unravel, committing four penalties during their drive forcing them to punt. Things went from bad to worse as the ball was snapped over the punter’s head as the Tarpons started their
drive at the 11-yard line.
Two plays later, Port Isabel’s RB, Dylan Green, scored from eight yards out with the Tarpons taking a 14-7 lead, as the first quarter ended.
After both teams committed turnovers, the Tarpons went on another scoring drive capped by a four-yard TD run by RB Ramos to make it 21-7, Port Isabel, with 3:26 left in the second quarter.
The Tarpons managed to get the ball back with a minute left until the half. In previous games, Port Isabel would usually run out the clock, but they decided to try to score this time.
On first down, QB Martinez found WR Cleveland Smith wide-open for a 40-yard pass play. Then on the next play, RB Ramos followed a wall of blockers and ran into the endzone for a 21-yard TD run as the
hometown crowd erupted in cheers. A successful extra point extended the Tarpons’ lead to 28-7 at halftime.
The Tarpons received the second half kickoff and went on a seven-play scoring drive capped by a 30-yard TD run by RB Angel Dominguez. The Tarpons now led 35-7.
Kingsville made their first scoring threat since their first drive but was ultimately stopped at the Tarpons’ 21-yard line.
From there Port Isabel gained 23 yards on the ground in two plays, and then QB Martinez found RB Ramos open for a 56-yard catch-and-run TD pass. The Tarpons extended their lead to 42-7 and the backups started
to rotate in.
Kingsville got a big kickoff return to Port Isabel’s 39-yard line. Four plays later, the Brahmas scored on a 12-yard pass play. An unsuccessful two-point play made it a 42-13 game with 9:43 left on the clock.
The teams eventually went on to trade scores including a 25-yard fumble TD return by Port Isabel’s Edward Garza, for a final of 48-19 in favor of the Tarpons.
The bounce-back win set the Port Isabel Tarpons as the number one seed, along with the La Feria Lions in the district standings. The Tarpons’ next game will be against the Lions in La Feria this Friday night at 7:30
p.m.