FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer
DONNA — Port Isabel and Donna North held their first scrimmage of the year Friday morning at Bennie LaPrade Stadium in Donna.
The Chiefs took advantage of some early defensive turnovers to grab a 3-1 victory during the controlled portion of the game, while the Tarpons brought their run-heavy offense and controlled the live game portion for a 13-0 win.
“I though our effort was good,” said Port Isabel head coach Monty Stumbaugh. “I thought we got after it pretty good and we had some kids that I saw doing some extra plays, and giving us extra hustle.
“But overall I think we played hard and that’s all you want to see.”
Offensively the Tarpons passed the ball more than usual on Friday.
Port Isabel mixed in a few extra passing plays to keep the Donna North defense guessing and set up the first touchdown.
However, during the live portion of the game the Tarpons reverted back to its run-first mentality and pounded the ball for the second score.
“We know we have to throw the ball,” said Stumbaugh. “We didn’t throw the ball very well last year and we know we have to throw the ball. People are going to man up outside and put nine in the box. We think we have a few kids that can go one-on-one and beat somebody.
“But we have to be able to throw to keep the defense honest to balance it out more. It’s something we’re working on.”
Defensively, the Tarpons struggled early before picking it up a notch for the live game portion.
“We didn’t tackle very well today,” said Stumbaugh. “We came out here like we were practicing, they were running that sweep and we were going inside, and when you go inside you make their receiver look like an All-American and we didn’t do things that we needed to be doing.
“They had a good scrimmage and we need to get better because we couldn’t recognize screens very well. On the big plays we didn’t have players there making tackles.”
Port Isabel has one more scrimmage on its preseason schedule as they will host Mercedes next Friday before beginning the regular season against Grulla on Aug. 28.
On the other side of the ball, Donna North showed it could move the ball as well. Most notably in the second quarter of the live portion when junior running back Dominic Ochoa broke loose on a 60-yard scamper to the end zone in the dying minutes of the scrimmage. However, the play was called back on a holding call
Chiefs head coach Tommy Sauceda said he liked what he saw from his team.
“No doubt about it we’re going to put it on our running backs, our offensive line, and our defense to shorten the field for us,” said Sauceda. “We just have to build on it and continue to get better next week.
“We were moving the ball and then he had to go hurt ourselves penalty wise, but those are the things that can be corrected. We will go back and watch the film this afternoon and get ready to go on Monday.”
Defensively, the Chiefs covered the air with an invisible net, grabbing three interceptions two of which resulted in touchdowns during the controlled portion.
“We are going to be fast and get to the football defensively,” said Sauceda. “We had some good stops and we’re running around for the football, and when you do that good things are going to happen.”
The Chiefs will play one more scrimmage before kicking off the season at home against La Feria on Aug. 28.