By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
This Tuesday, June 2 the Port Isabel 7on7 squad traveled to Weslaco to compete in three games against some stiff competition from Edcouch-Elsa, Weslaco East, and San Benito teams.
The Tarpons got off to a great start as they beat San Benito in their first matchup. In their second game, PI looked to redeem themselves from last week’s big loss against Edcouch-Elsa.
As the game got underway, the Tarpons’ aggressive defense looked sharp as they forced the Yellowjackets to turn the ball over on downs.
Port Isabel struck first as PI quarterback Grayson Estes led the Tarpons on a 4-play scoring drive. The highlight play of the drive was a 25-yard catch and run touchdown by Elijah Alvarez. An unsuccessful extra point try had PI with an early 6-0 lead.
The Tarpons defense came up with another stop, but E-E’s defense answered with a big play of its own, intercepting a pass from Estes.
After another defensive stop by PI, the Tarpons’ offense went on another scoring drive with a little over two minutes to go in the first half. A 12-yard TD reception by Bryan Ramirez and an extra point secured by Alvarez gave the Tarpons a 13-0 lead.
Not to be outdone, the Yellowjackets went to their two-minute drill and finally got into the endzone. Port Isabel held a 13-6 advantage at halftime.
As the second half resume, the Tarpons’ offense picked off where it left off and went on an 8-play scoring drive as they now led 20-6. Armani Reyna had the touchdown and extra point receptions.
Still showing some fight in them, the Yellowjackets went on to score to make it a 20-12 game in favor of the Tarpons.
With four minutes left in the game, the Yellowjackets marched down the field on a series of short completions, ultimately scoring with one minute to go. Trailing by 8 points, they elected to tie the game by going for the 2-point play, unfortunately for the E-E, the throw was incomplete. Port Isabel secured the 20-18 win.
The Tarpons went on to win their next game versus Weslaco East 20-12 and walked away with the 3-0 sweep.
Head coach Felix Bennett was pleased with his teams’ performance that day and throughout the season. “Glad we won today and this momentum is great heading into the state qualifying tournament (SQT).”, said coach Bennett.
The PI squad has been competing against other valley 7on7 teams on a weekly basis and they continue to performed well on both sides of the ball. The team looks ready for their upcoming tournament.
The SQT will be held in Port Isabel this Friday, June 5th with a 9am start time. The 8 teams vying for the lone ticket to the state tournament are Rio Hondo, La Grulla, Ponder, Edcouch-Elsa, Santa Maria, Lyford, La Feria, and Port Isabel.
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