By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
Friday night, Oct. 25, the Port Isabel Tarpons lost 32-27 to the La Feria Lions in a key district matchup. The Lions exploded out of the gate behind their passing game as they jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first
quarter. The Tarpons defense eventually started to stop the Lions while the Tarpons’ offense chipped away at the Lions lead. Unfortunately, the Tarpons ran out of time while near the goal line, thus, losing the all-
important number-one playoff seed.
The Tarpons received the opening kickoff but the offense only netted ten yards on five plays and were forced to punt. Starting at their own 40-yard line, the Lions first play was a 60-yard touchdown [TD] pass play
from Quarterback [QB] Andrew Rivera to Wide Receiver [WR] Austin Vaughan as they took an early 7-0 lead.
The Lions’ defense forced the Tarpons to three-and-out on their next possession. The Lions then went on a three-play scoring drive capped by a 79-yard TD pass play to WR Vaughan as they now led 14-0 with 6:04
left in the first quarter.
The Tarpons’ rushing game continued to struggle in their next possession. Meanwhile, the high-flying Lions’ passing attack struck again, this time on a 63-yard TD pass to WR Antonio Benjamin from QB Rivera.
An unsuccessful extra point kick made it a 20-0 game with three minutes still to go in the first quarter.
The Tarpons started to put on a solid effort on their next possession as they went on a 11-play scoring drive capped by a 24-yard touchdown run by Running Back [RB] Luis Ramos. Port Isabel now trailed 20-7 in
the second quarter.
After the teams forced turnovers on each other, the Tarpons’ defense stepped up their game and forced the Lions to a three-and-out situation.
The momentum started to swing in the Tarpons’ favor as Port Isabel went on a seven-play scoring drive capped by a one-yard TD run by RB Brian Cinfuegos. The drive was highlighted by half-back pass by RB
Edward Garza to WR Anthony Garcia for a big 46-yard pass play, leaving the score at La Feria 20, Port Isabel 14.
On Port Isabel’s ensuing drive, RB Dylan Green escaped for a big 68-yard touchdown run. The extra point kick hit the goal post and the teams went into halftime tied at 20-20.
As the second half resumed, the Tarpons’ defense continued to control the line of scrimmage and forced the Lions to punt for the fourth straight time.
The Tarpons then went on a 15-play scoring drive capped by a four-yard TD run by RB Green. The drive took a big chunk of time out of the third quarter as Port Isabel now led 27-20.
In the fourth quarter, Port Isabel fumbled the ball deep in their own territory. Two plays later, the Lions scored on a 16-yard TD pass to WR Vaughan. Fortunately, the Lions still trailed the Tarpons 27-26 after a
failed two-point play.
La Feria then caught the Tarpons off guard by recovering an onside kick off. Starting from their own 44-yard line, the Lions needed just three plays to score as WR Vaughan was wide open in the endzone for a 29-
yard TD reception, giving La Feria a 32-27 lead with three minutes left in the game.
From the their own 36-yard line, the Tarpons then went on their last drive with just one timeout remaining. Early in the drive, QB Bryan Martinez found RB Green for a 13-yard pickup as the two-minute mark came
around.
The Tarpons stayed on the ground and managed to reach the Lions’ six-yard line with just 22 seconds left in the game as both teams’ fans were on pins and needles.
In a crucial misstep, the Tarpons committed a costly false start penalty and get pushed back five yards but most importantly are deducted a 10-second runoff for committing the offensive penalty.
Now with just 12 seconds left in the game, RB Ramos took the handoff and plowed his way to the three-yard line. The Tarpons quickly got lined up and got off another play. Unfortunately the runner was stop for a
yard at the most as the game clock expired. The game was over and La Feria won.
In other week four action, Kingsville beat La Grulla 53-0, Sinton beat Ingleside 52-21 and Rockport-Fulton beat Robstown 27-14.