By MARK MOLINA | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
PORT ISABEL — The Port Isabel Tarpons came out swinging to start the game and took an early 7-0 on the Orange Grove Bulldogs, but their momentum would not be sustained.
The Bulldogs answered with 35 unanswered points and never looked back as they cruised by the Tarpons 37-20 for a District 16-4A DII win Friday night at Tarpon Stadium.
The ground game would be the constant all night as the Bulldogs carved out 270 yards rushing and controlled time of possession throughout.
“Time of possession was the big difference,” Port Isabel head coach Jaime Infante said. “I think (Orange Grove) did a good job controlling the ground game. I though we had opportunities to make stops … we just couldn’t make the tackles. They just did a good job at executing their run offense and took advantage of us defensively.
“They just out-executed us tonight.”
Orange Grove (4-3, 2-0) led Port Isabel (1-5, 0-2) 35-7 at one point in the second half and would continue to make plays to salt the game away with a methodical run game, led by the legs of Tommy Aguilar, who led the Bulldogs with 103 yards n 12 carries and two scores.
That was a welcome sight for the visitors, as they rattled off their fourth win in a row after and 0-3 start.
“We knew what to expect coming in here,” Orange Grove head coach Scottie Pugh said. “We know what a great tradition Port Isabel has. We were in for a tough test and we talked to our kids all week and prepared for a tough ball game. I think we did a tremendous job upfront and, other than late in the game, it was the first time we played four quarters.”
After Port Isabel took an early lead on a 9-yard Travis Camacho touchdown run to open the scoring, Orange Grove got going and responded with three touchdowns on its first four possessions.
Orange Grove’s Aguilar tied the game on a 10-yard run set up by a 24-yard pass from Coleman King to Ethan French.
Bulldog running back Jared Fuhrken got in the mix with two touchdowns coming on scampers of two and 36 yards to make it a 21-7 lead at the half.
Orange Grove opened the second half with a steady dose of Aguilar, giving him the rock six times on a seven-play scoring drive, culminating with him finding the end zone on a 20-yard run.
The Tarpons went three-and-out on the ensuing possession and the Bulldogs blew the game open on a 31-yard pass from King to Jose Aguilar, who came down with the ball in the end zone after two defenders tipped the ball into his hands.
That made it 35-7 with 1:45 to play in the third.
The Tarpons did find a bit of offense after on the ensuing possession by giving the ball to Bryan Medina.
Medina recorded runs of 11, 16 and 10 yards before finding the end zone on a 21-yard scamper.
The point after would be blocked and Orange Grove’s Renier Cross took it the other way 80 yards for two more points, giving the Bulldogs a 37-13 lead.
Port Isabel got on the board once more late in the fourth with the game out of reach.
Medina carried the ball 10 times for 113 yards and a score to lead the Tarpons on the ground.
Jeremy Martinez looked solid under center for P.I., throwing for 139 yards, a touchdown on a 9-for13 night and a turnover on a sack-fumble.
Infante was pleased with the ball movement and the offense’s improvement, but wants to see less mistakes going forward.
“I thought we made more mental errors than we did last week, but I think we’re getting into the flow offensively,” Infante said. “I think we need more time of possession and I think we can move the ball against anybody. Penalties stalled some of our drives. I told the kids we had to play errorless football on offense to keep some drives going.”