Porter finally ended a two-year winless drought when it took down Port Isabel 14-3 during Friday night’s season opener at Tarpons Stadium.
Cowboys sophomore quarterback Kevin Garcia scored the second touchdown of the game and finished with 140 yards on the ground, and fellow running back Ulises Guzman (one TD) added 104 yards rushing.
“The kids came out to play today,” Porter coach Carlos Uresti said after the game. “We’ve been talking about this moment since last November when our last game ended. All we ask for is for (the kids) to give us everything they got. We were going to play four quarters today. I think Port Isabel had a great team. I take my hat off to them.”
Porter (1-0) clung to a 7-3 lead all the way to the fourth quarter, when Garcia ran for 49 yards and found the end zone, adding another touchdown for the Cowboys.
Port Isabel senior Anthony Orduna put the Tarpons on the scoreboard with an early field goal from Porter’s 8 yard line. Tarpons senior quarterback Cesar Aguilera had a rough game Friday night, throwing 21 times for a total of 40 yards.
Despite of the loss, Port Isabel coach Jason Strunk said his team will learn from Friday night’s game and get better going forward.
“We have a lot of work to do offensively,” Strunk said. “We did some things tonight that we haven’t done in scrimmages or practice. … We’re motioning wrong. We’re lining up wrong. We’re running plays wrong. That’s something we’re going to get in there and fix (right away).”
The Cowboys’ defense did its part early, forcing and recovering a fumble on the second play of the game.
Port Isabel (0-1) was held in check with only 100 yards of offense. The Tarpons are learning a new offensive system under Strunk, who joined the team earlier this summer.
“I took this job because there’s tradition here, they want to win here, and we’re going to win,” the Port Isabel coach said. “It just takes time to get things going. We want to win now; obviously, we’re disappointed tonight, but I’ll be back at 6 a.m. tomorrow ready to go. That’s what we do here. We’re going to be OK. We just have to stick with it.”
Porter struck first with 6:27 left in the opening quarter. Guzman gave the Cowboys the 7-0 lead after a 2-yard run down the middle.
The Tarpons responded by forcing a fumble during Porter’s first possession after scoring. Shortly after, Orduna successfully scored the single field goal for the Tarpons.
The teams traded turnovers and punts during the second and third quarters, and Porter kept its four-point edge heading into the fourth quarter.
The teams went scoreless during the third quarter.
“At the end of the day, like I said, the team with the least mistakes was going to win it, and I think that’s what happened tonight,” Uresti said.
The Porter coach said he is happy with how the defense played Friday night, not allowing the Tarpons to find the end zone the whole game.
“That just shows that our defense has come a long way,” he said. “Three points is not a lot, a shutout would’ve been a lot better, but you know what, I’ll take a win however we take it. My hat’s off to coach (Raul) Gomez and the kids. They worked hard since last November.”