By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
On Thursday, June 26, the Port Isabel 7on7 team began competing in the Annual State 7on7 Championships held at College Station, TX.
Prior to the state tourney, the Tarpons had won the “Battle by the Bay” 7on7 Tournament at home for the first time ever to qualify for the state tourney. So just reaching the state tournament was quite an accomplishment in itself.
Split into three divisions, the Tarpons competed in Division 2. Port Isabel was placed in “Pool D” alongside the following teams, Benbrook Bobcats, Hardin-Jefferson Hawks and West Trojans.
The Tarpons first matchup saw them go up against Trojans and the game got off to a defensive start as neither team managed to reach the first down marker in their first possession.
On the ensuing Tarpons’ possession, PI QB, Bryan Martinez connected with Bryan Ramirez and speedster Luis Ramos, on a series of completions. As they approached the endzone, Ramos caught the ball and kicked it into high gear as he entered the endzone for the score. Edward Garza caught the ball for the extra point as the Tarpons took an early 7-0 lead.
On the next series of possessions, both teams came up with big defensive plays as both teams made interceptions on back-to-back possessions with Ramos securing one for the Tarpons.
The Tarpons then went a 7-play scoring drive with Ramirez picking up a crucial first down and the score as the Tarpons now led 13-0 at halftime.
After West turned the ball over on downs, PI’s offense went on the march once again this time only taking three plays to score. Ramos secured all three receptions and the Tarpons had now extended their lead to 20-0.
West finally got on the scoreboard on a 4-play scoring drive. A successful 2-point play made it a 20-8 game in favor of PI.
The momentum started to swing in West’s favor as they scored once more to cut PI’s lead down to 20-16 with about three minutes left in the game.
After turning the ball over on downs once again, PI had to lean on their defense to secure the win.
In a tense moment, West threw a long pass play near the endzone, but the ball slipped through the receivers’ fingers. The Trojans then managed to pick up a first down on a catch-and-run play to get them midway. With seconds left, PI defense locked down their receivers on the next two plays. As the gametime expired, the Tarpons clinched their first win of the day, 20-16.
Unfortunately, the Tarpons ended the day with a 1-2 record in pool play, after losing to Benbrook 50-27 and Hardin-Jefferson 27-18.
On Friday, the Tarpons took on Lorena in the Championship bracket, but fell short against the Leopards, 27-13. In the Championship game, Frisco Panther Creek defeated Kilgore 32-26.
Tarpons’ quarterback, Bryan Martinez was proud to lead the team to the State 7on7 Tournament and is now looking forward to the upcoming football season.
“We had a good season this year. Those young guys really played a big part on our team and I’m going to miss playing 7on7 on with them. It was a great opportunity to be able to lead our team to the state tournament and it was a great feeling to win a game. Playing against all those skill guys and all those big schools really helped us see what we need to work on and get better for the regular football season.” Said Martinez. “The teams we played, those are 3rd and 4th round opponents in the playoffs. I’m just ready to go ball out for my city and represent the town of Port Isabel. My teammates and I are ready to make some noise and show everyone what Tarpon football is about.”
On a side note, the last time the Tarpons qualified for the state tourney was back in 2013.
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