BY MARK MOLINA | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
RAYMONDVILLE — Facing a 17-7 deficit at the half, the Port Isabel Tarpon defense rose up after the break and held the Raymondville Bearkats to five points.
Mistakes and missed opportunities on the other side of the ball, however, proved too much to overcome for the Tarpons as they fell to the Bearkats 22-7 in a District 16-4A DII matchup Friday night at Burnette Stadium in Raymondville.
Port Isabel fund success on offense and drove inside the Raymondville 30 on its first two possessions of the third quarter, but a couple of penalties and a dropped pass in the end zone led to a pair of turnovers on downs.
“It’s what loses games for football games; it comes down to turnovers and penalties,” Port Isabel head coach Jaime Infante said. “I thought we stalled ourselves with untimely penalties in that second half. I thought our defense stepped up and did a great job. We found ways to move the ball well in the second half, but it seemed like every drive we had an offside or a holding, but those are the things that lose tight ball games.”
The Tarpon ground game led by a couple of long gains by Travis Camcho led the way in the second half, but the Raymondville defense would tighten up at the end of drives, putting them in a couple of long fourth-down situations.
“We bend a little, but we didn’t give up the big play,” Raymondville head coach Frank Cantu said. “We felt that we could put a little bit of pressure and that really helped us. Port Isabel is tough and all credit to these guys. There aren’t a lot of us, but credit to them because they manned up, played tough and I’m happy with the win tonight.
Port Isabel drops to 2-6 on the year and 1-3 in district play, while Raymondville rebounds from last week’s first loss of the season and improves to 8-1 and 3-1 in district.
While the Bearkats locks up its playoff position, the Infante is confident the Tarpons can do the same next week when they host West Oso.
“We’re in a must-win situation and I feel confident we can win next week,” he said. “I thought we could win tonight, but it all boils down to execution. That’s any football game at any level.”
The Port Isabel Tarpons looked to riding their momentum after last week’s win over Progreso early on against the Raymondville Bearkats, but their offense would hit a wall.
After exchanging three-and-outs with the Bearkats to open the game, the Tarpons got things going on their second possession when quarterback Jeremy Martinez connected with receiver for a 73-yard catch and run down to the Raymondville 17.
That set up Travis Camacho for an 8-yard touchdown three plays later to give the Tarpons a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Port Isabel looked to add more after its defense forced a Raymondville on the ensuing possession on the Bearkat 24, but Martinez lost the ball as he was hit trying to avoid a sack.
Raymondville linebacker Noe Zambrano scooped up the loose ball and returned it 64 yards to make it a 7-7 game late in the first.
“We found ways to sputter,” Infante said. “I thought that was a big turning point in the game. It seemed like we got out of sync there and it certainly gave them a boost.”
Port Isabel would struggle to move the ball the rest of the half, while Raymondville would tack on a 27-yard field goal and an 11-yard run from Jacob Posas for a 17-7 lead at the break.
Raymondville’s only scores in the second half came on a 43-yard Saul Garcia field goal and safety when Darian Cortez sacked Port Isabel quarterback Jeremy Martinez in the end zone late in the fourth.
Camacho finished with 82 yards rushing and score on 10 carries, while Martinez went 11 of 19 through the air for 133 yards.
Raymondville’s Capetillo had a strong night aside from his first-half fumble, rushing for 105 yards .