By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
A steady drizzle fell throughout the night, but it didn’t dampen the spirits of the Raymondville Bearkats and the Porter Cowboys as they scrimmaged Thursday on the Porter campus.
The stands remained full of fans until the very end despite the arrival of swarms of flying insects along with the rain.
Raymondville finished with four touchdowns compared to two for the Cowboys, who were playing their first and only scrimmage of the season. Porter also scored on a field goal.
The Bearkats were coming off last week’s scrimmage against PSJA Southwest. In that one, the teams tied 1-1 during the controlled portion before the Javelinas won handily 3-0 during the game conditions.
For Porter, it’s a matter of continuing to get better before the Cowboys’ season opener next week.
“We’re nowhere near where we need to be, but it was a good first step,” Porter coach Tom Campos said.
The first two touchdowns of the scrimmage were scored by the Bearkats on a 3-yard run by Derrick Saenz and a 13-yard sprint around the left side by Albert Najera.
Also for Raymondville, 6-foot-2 wide receiver Sergio Gonzalez and quarterback Daniel Gutierrez later combined on a pair of medium-range touchdown passes. Gutierrez is a sophomore who replaced senior QB Jacob Perez after he got hurt last week.
“Sometimes you wonder just how tough you are as a team, and I was pleased to see the toughness we showed tonight,” Raymondville coach Frank Cantu said. “Our guys made some tough tackles, and I’m really pleased with the intensity they showed against a hard-nosed Porter team.”
Trailing by two TDs, Porter’s initial score came when QB Ernie Martinez found tight end Frank Alvarez open in the right corner of the end zone for a 20-yard completion.
Also for the Cowboys, Anthony Cuellar made a 30-yard field goal, and near the end of the scrimmage, running back George Gutierrez burst up the middle and scored from 41 yards out. He plowed through a defender at the 5-yard line and bulled his way into the end zone standing up.
“We improved tonight, so that was a good thing,” said Campos, who is beginning his third season as the Cowboys’ coach. “We just need to keep improving from one year to the next, and we are. There are a few things we need to clean up such as our blocking scheme and some things with our scheme on defense, but overall we couldn’t ask for a better effort from our players, and that’s the main thing right there.”
Porter, 2-8 last season, travels to Progreso to open the regular season next Friday. The same night, the Bearkats, coming off a 6-5 season and a trip to the playoffs, will play host to St. Joseph Academy.