By: Constancio Martiz Jr
Special to the PRESS
On August 14, the 4A Port Isabel Tarpons scrimmaged the 5A Weslaco East Wildcats at Tarpon Stadium. The teams scrimmaged each other last year, with the Wildcats outpointing the Tarpons, 3-2. This year, the results were the same, although the Cats brought back a veteran team while the Tarpons only brought a handful of starters back.
This season, fans can expect a transformed Tarpons offense. Their game plan will be to increase their passing game production to have a more balanced offensive attack.
As far as the Wildcats, they too were once a run-heavy team, but in the last four years, they have increased their passing offensive output to about 21-39% for the year. And it showed during the scrimmage, as their passing offense seemed more refined, polished.
The Wildcats opened the controlled part of the scrimmage from their own 30-yard line. From there, the Cats were able to push the defenders back to pick up 3 to 5 yards a pop. They mixed in a quarterback keeper and a pass completion until they reached the Tarpons’ 10-yard line. Three plays later, the Wildcats ran it in for the score as they went up 1-0.
The Tarpons started their drive from their own 40-yard line. On the second play of the drive, QB Bryan Martinez pitched the ball to running back Luis Ramos, who then dashed by several defenders for a 9-yard gain. Unfortunately, the team suffered a couple of setbacks as the drive stalled.
On the Tarpons’ next drive, QB Martinez found receiver Grayson Estes open for a 35-yard catch-and-run pass play, but that was a far as they got as the Tarpons used up all their allotted plays for the series.
The Wildcats’ second-string offense had its way with the Tarpons’ backups as they drove down the field on a 5-play scoring drive to go up 2-0.
On the Tarpons’ next drive, Luis Ramos secured a long pass by QB Martinez down to the Cats’ 14-yard line. Two plays later, QB Martinez connected with Angel Dominguez for a 15-yard TD reception to make it a 2-1 score.
Not done with their series, the Tarpons reset back to their own 40-yard line. QB Martinez rolled out and found Ramos open for a catch-and-run play for 12 yards. To the delight of the hometown fans, Ramos had juked out five defenders as they collided with each other and fell down like bowling pins. On the next play, Ramos took the handoff up the middle and sidestepped more defenders on his way to a 16-yard gain, but the drive stalled soon after.
As the live portion of the scrimmage got underway, the Cats marched down the field on an 11-play scoring drive to extend their lead to 3-1.
The Tarpons seemed to be on their way to a score as well, but turned the ball over on a fumble around the Wildcats’ 20-yard line.
On the next Weslaco East drive, the Cats managed to reach the Tarpon’s 15-yard line, where they faced a 4th down situation. As the play got underway, PI linebacker Michael Finona broke into the backfield and tackled the runner for a big 6-yard loss, ending their drive.
The Tarpons started their final drive at the 50-yard line. On the second play of the drive, the defender hit the QB, sending the ball in a high arc. Luckily, PI’s JoJo Martinez outjumped all the players for the 10-yard gain. A few plays later, running back Angel Dominguez took the handoff, sidestepped the congestion in the middle, and dashed to the corner of the endzone for the touchdown. Scrimmage over, Cats led 3-2.
Wildcats’ new Offensive Coordinator, Mark Calvillo, was upbeat with his offense’s performance. “I thought the scrimmage went well for being the 1st one for both of us! My goal was to get the players as many reps as possible and really polish up our passing game. I really stayed very Vanilla and tried to get new backs and receivers reps. I know what our running game can do, just wanted to experiment with new formations and sets,” Calvillo said. “East is like double the size of us, so I was very pleased with our team. We have multiple players going both ways, so I was very pleased with our effort, but it’s just the start.”
On a side note, the PI JV team came out on top with a final of 4-1 in their scrimmage.
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