By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
This past weekend, April 22-23, High School Sports Magazine’s [HSSM] 7on7 Football “Battle of South Texas Championship” was held at Tarpon Stadium. HSSM and T9 Sports partnered up to bring the two-day event to Port Isabel. The event featured twenty-four teams from around the RGV. Athletes from big 6A schools like Harlingen, Los Fresnos and PSJA North down to small schools like La Villa and Santa Rosa, competed in the event.
Port Isabel was assigned to Pool 1 along with Sharyland Pioneer, Santa Rosa and PSJA North. All the pools had a good mix of teams, but PSJA North in particular is coming off a great season. The Raiders finished with a 13-1 record and a trip to the fourth round of the playoffs. As pool play got underway, things didn’t go well for the Tarpons in their first game. They struggled on both sides of the ball as they got shut out by Santa Rosa, 34-0. The Tarpons bounced back in game two as they beat Sharyland Pioneer, 27-19. The matchup turned out to be quite a defensive game as both teams scored on defense several times. PI closed the day with a loss to PSJA North, 33-12.
Later in day, the “South Texas Super Regional” combine was also hosted at Tarpon Stadium. High School football players were tested on the 40-yard dash, bench press, shuttle and leaps. The player workouts were performed in front of NFL veterans and experienced scouts. In attendance and supervising the drills were PI staff in addition to Dallas Cowboys TE, Sean McKeon, Houston Texans WR, Nico Collins, and Shea Patterson, former starting Michigan Wolverines quarterback.
On Sunday the teams participated in single-game elimination 7on7 tournament. Round one results were, Rio Hondo over Edinburg North, PSJA over Edinburg HS, Harlingen South over Donna and Edcouch-Elsa over Weslaco East. Unfortunately, a severe storm approached and the tournament was called early. Undefeated PSJA North was named the overall winner. The PSJA Bears came in second. There was three-way tie for third place between Edcouch-Elsa, Rio Hondo and Santa Maria.
Want the entire story? Pick up a copy of the Port Isabel-South Padre PRESS, or subscribe to our e-Edition by clicking HERE!
Comments