By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
PORT ISABEL — Omar Silva put Port Isabel on his back once again against Raymondville.
The senior finished with 183 yards and three touchdowns — including 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns by halftime — to help the Tarpons shut down the Bearkats 36-6 in The Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week on Friday night in Week 10 at Tarpon Stadium.
“We wouldn’t be able to do what we did without the line,” Silva said and of the big night for the run game. “It was a team effort. We had some good holes to run through and just played our game.”
Travis Camacho added 45 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Port Isabel (8-1, 3-1) clinched a postseason berth with the District 16-4A Division II victory while Raymondville (3-6, 2-2) will have to wait and see.
“It feels great, I’m happy for the kids,” Port Isabel coach Monty Stumbaugh said. “All the stuff we do in the offseason and all that hard work is what’s it’s about, to get into the playoffs. I’m very happy and very proud of them. Their job is to carry on the tradition at Port Isabel and they did.”
The Tarpons’ defense did its part, finishing with a pair of sacks, an interception by Carlos Orduna and held the Bearkats to 157 yards. The unit also didn’t allow the visitors to score until the fourth quarter.
Port Isabel built a 21-0 lead by halftime and totaled 412 yards on offense for the game, including 335 on the ground.
After the Bearkats’ offense opened the game with an interception, Port Isabel capitalized on the short field. Silva found the end zone after a 2-yard run and gave the Tarpons a 7-0 lead with 7:49 left in the first quarter.
After a Raymondville punt, Port Isabel scored on its next drive, capped by an 8-yard run by Camacho for a 14-0 edge.
Silva added another touchdown with just more than a minute left in the half on a 15-yard scamper, and the Tarpons took their big cushion into the break.
Port Isabel wasted no time continuing its momentum in the second half. On its opening drive in the third quarter, Camacho ran for a 12-yard touchdown, and with the 2-point conversion, P.I. took a 29-0 lead.
The Tarpons scored again on their next drive, a 40-yard gallop by Silva to the end zone and a 36-0 advantage.
Raymondville finally found pay dirt late after Marcus Capetillo ran for an 8-yard touchdown, but the extra point was missed.
The Bearkats were forced to punt five times during the game and weren’t very consistent offensively.
“I felt we moved the ball well, we just didn’t finish,” Raymondville coach Frank Cantu said. “Somewhere down the line we’d make a mistake. Defensively, we couldn’t get the stops when we needed them.”
Capetillo finished with 77 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown for Raymondville.
Cantu took the blame as Raymondville fell short, but still has a chance to earn a postseason berth.
“I take full responsibility,” he said. “You want to play these games, but you want to perform a lot better than we did (Friday).”
Orange Grove edged Rio Hondo 34-26, also Friday, which means the Tarpons now share the lead for the district title. Stumbaugh was unaware of the result following the game, but said his team’s effort was indicative of a squad focused on the task at hand.
“We were focused and came out and took care of business,” Stumbaugh said. “We’ll see what happens, we could get a share of the championship. Now we just have to finish next week and take care of business.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @andrewmcrum.