By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
On Friday, Nov. 22, Tarpon fanatics made their way to Kingsville to watch their (9-2) Port Isabel [PI] Tarpons go up against the (8-3) Lago Vista Vikings in an Area Round matchup. As always, come playoff time, the rowdy PI nation outnumbered the opponent fans in what seemed to be a three to one ratio.
Lago Vista, who finished second in the District 13-4A Division, entered the game having defeated (7-4) Bandera 42-10 in the Bi-District Round. Meanwhile, PI was coming off a 28-21 win over (5-6) Ingleside.
The Tarpons received the opening kickoff, but had a hard time advancing against the Vikings’ stout defense and were forced to punt. On the Vikings’ possession, they managed to cross midfield, but were eventually stopped by the Tarpons’ defense.
The game turned into a defensive battle as both teams stood their ground, ending in a 0-0 score after one quarter of play.
Port Isabel got their first good field position on a punt out of bounds at the Vikings’ 41-yard line.
Unfortunately, the Tarpons could not pick up a first down on 4th and 2, and turned the ball over on downs.
From their own 35-yard line, the Vikings’ quarterback [QB] Tripp Henderson found his receiver wide open for a 65-yard touchdown [TD] pass play. The blown coverage gave Lago Vista a 7-0 lead with 9:45 left in the second quarter.
The Tarpons’ offense was once again shut down, as they had yet to pick up a first down in their first five possessions. Meanwhile, Lago Vista’s offense gained momentum as they went on a 40-yard scoring drive capped by a three-yard TD run. The Vikings now led 14-0.
With two and a half minutes to go, the Tarpons picked up their first first down on a 19-yard pass play from QB Bryan Martinez to wide receiver [WD] Anthony Garcia. Unfortunately, a personal foul by PI and another sack by the Vikings erased any gains the Tarpons had, and the teams headed into the locker room at the halftime break.
The Vikings took the second half kickoff and had a big return down to the PI 28-yard line. Quarterback Henderson found his receiver open in the endzone for the TD pass play as Lago Vista extended their lead to 21-0. In a wise move, the Viking’s coaching staff virtually eliminated the Tarpons’ special teams play by punting the ball out of bounds or kicking the ball into the endzone during kickoffs.
With about five minutes to go in the third quarter, things started to get heated between the teams, which led to several players being involved in a brawl and ultimately game ejections.
After play resumed, Lago Vista went on to outscore PI 17-0 in the second half on their way to a 31-0 shutout win over the Tarpons as their football season came to an end.
PI’s defense had a stellar first half, but wore down in the second half. Meanwhile, the Tarpons’ offense struggled all game long. The Vikings stacked the line of scrimmage with nine players and outmuscled the Tarpons’ offensive line as they contained the PI rushing game. Then, when PI tried to throw the ball, the PI QB wasn’t given enough time to find his receivers. Possibly implementing some modern-style football formations would’ve given the PI QB time to be more successful, but throwing the ball from under center was doomed from the start of the game.
Lago Vista will be playing Sinton for the Regional Championship, with the winner possibly playing Wimberley in the Region IV Quarterfinals.