By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
The Port Isabel Tarpons play their first road game of the new football season at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Valley View.
Tarpons coach Jason Strunk expects to see an improved Port Isabel squad against the Tigers in the non-district matchup.
“We’re focusing on us and what we need to do to get better,” said Strunk, who is beginning his first season as Port Isabel’s head coach. “(More than anything), we’re worried about us.
“We have a lot of things to fix from last week,” he added. “We hurt ourselves (by the way we played). We expect to be a better team this week.”
The Tarpons opened the season at home last Friday with a 14-3 setback against Porter. The same night, Valley View played its season opener at home and defeated Hidalgo 41-7.
Port Isabel of District 16-4A Division II had issues on offense against Porter as the Tarpons gained only 100 yards. The Tarpons’ only points came on a short field goal in the first half by Anthony Orduna.
The Tarpons boast an experienced senior quarterback in Cesar Aguilera, but he had a rough night throwing the ball against the Cowboys and finished with just 40 yards passing. He’ll look for a better outing against the Tigers of District 16-5A Division II.
Against Hidalgo, Valley View was up 21-7 when the Pirates were driving for a second-quarter touchdown that could have brought them within one score of the lead. Instead, Tigers’ Javier Lopez, a defensive back, returned an interception 104 yards for a TD that put Valley View up 27-7. From there, the Tigers cruised to the 41-7 victory.
Besides Lopez, also highlighting the win were Tigers QB Simon Fernandez, who passed for a pair of scores, and running back Brandon Gonzales, who rushed for two TDs. Fernandez is coming off an injury from last year when Valley View began the season 2-0 but won only one of eight games the rest of the way. The Tigers went 2-8 in 2016.
This is Eli Esquivel’s third year as the Tigers’ head coach. He took over at Valley View in 2016 when the Tigers had only 25 players in the program with no junior varsity or freshman squads.
Valley View went 3-7 one season ago and is looking for a better finish this time around. Likewise, Port Isabel is coming off a 2-7 campaign and seeking a much better showing as well.
The last time the two teams played was 2015 when Port Isabel captured a 14-7 win at home against the Tigers.
Following Friday’s game, the Tarpons and Tigers continue their non-district schedules next week. On Sept. 14, Port Isabel is at home against Hidalgo and Valley View plays host to Rivera.