By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Two-weeks on the sidelines with an ankle injury apparently improved Omar Silva’s running abilities.
Port Isabel’s senior running back continued his recent tear since he returned from injury, scoring two touchdowns within a two-minute period to open the second half to help lead the Tarpons to a 33-27 victory over St. Joseph Academy in The Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week on Friday night at Canales Field.
“I just followed my blocks,” Silva said. “They did a hell of a job blocking. Without them I wouldn’t have done anything.”
A week after he rushed for 441 yards and three touchdowns against La Feria, Silva rushed for 221 yards and the two scores to keep Port Isabel (5-0) unbeaten on the season.
After halftime, Port Isabel trailed 17-14 in a tight game. But on the first play from scrimmage, Silva found a seam and went 75 yards for the go-ahead score. The Tarpons defense held the Bloodhounds (4-1) on their first possession of the second half and Silva made them pay again.
Port Isabel seemed to run almost the same play again and this time Silva ran away from the St. Joseph defense for 57 yards and put the Tarpons up 27-17 with 9:33 left in the third quarter.
“We needed to come out and regroup,” Port Isabel coach Monty Stumbaugh said. “We ran the counter weak and fortunately we were able to (score) on the same play, twice.”
St. Joseph coach Tino Villarreal said it was just a slight mistake by his defense, but it proved to be costly.
“We knew all it took was for us to misalign and that’s all it takes for Port Isabel to take advantage of it,” he said. “They found a formation that hurt us and they struck quick and twice on it. We were able to adjust and fix it after that, but those two scores to start the second half really put us in a bad position against a really good team.”
After a 22-yard field goal by the Bloodhound’s Jose Kauchi, Port Isabel scored on their third straight drive as Cesar Aguilera hit Jesus Saldivar on a 19-yard strike for a touchdown and a 33-20 lead with 10:18 left in the fourth quarter.
St. Joseph didn’t give up and quarterback Kai Money scored on a 22-yard run with 5:56 left in the game to pull within 33-27.
The Bloodhounds had one more chance after the defense forced a fumble on the next Port Isabel drive. But the Tarpons’ defense held St. Joseph as it turned the ball over on downs to seal the win. The unit got an interception from Daniel Martinez and made things tough on the St. Joseph offense all evening, holding it to less than 200 yards and 20 points below its average.
“Luckily our defense held and made a great fourth down (play) and we were lucky to come out with the win,” Stumbaugh said. “I thought we did a good job of containing the big plays. When we messed up, they exploited us. It was a great effort by our kids. They have a great offense. They’re a good football team, and it was a great challenge for us.”
The first half remained close as the teams traded scores.
St. Joseph took the early lead with 8:54 left in the first quarter. Running back Mario Garcia ended the Bloodhounds opening drive with a 30-yard run into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
Port Isabel answered after using nearly the rest of the first and Cesar Aguilera scored on a 1-yard run to tie the game.
After an interception on the Tarpons next possession, St. Joseph capitalized with a 46-yard field goal by Kauachi to break the tie.
The Tarpons answered with 4:15 left in the half as Carlos Orduna broke free and scored on a 71-yard run to give Port Isabel a 14- 10 lead. Orduna finished with 119 yards on the ground and that score.
St. Joseph responded with another touchdown from Garcia, this one a 21-yard run to give the Bloodhounds the lead 17-14. The senior running back finished with 115 yards and two touchdowns.
Port Isabel had one last chance in the first half, but fumbled into the end zone and St. Joseph recovered with a 17-14 lead as the first half ended.
For St. Joseph, it didn’t capitalize on three Port Isabel turnovers by committing too many penalties.
“You can’t make mistakes against good football teams,” Villarreal said. “It seemed like every time we got the ball, we were doing something wrong. I call those drive killers. I thought we played good, but we have to clean some things up.”
Port Isabel heads into a bye week before district play with plenty of momentum.
“Now it’s for real, it doesn’t matter what we’ve done in the first five,” Stumbaugh said. “The kids are believing and buying into (the program) and they’re playing hard and for each other. I’m proud of the kids. Hopefully we can maintain it in district.”
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.