By ROY HESS
Staff Writer
MERCEDES — A remarkable, back-and-forth playoff game ended with the Port Isabel Tarpons coming up just painfully short.
The West Oso Bears survived a missed 27-yard field-goal attempt by Port Isabel’s Angel Fernandez on fourth down with seven seconds remaining to prevail over the Tarpons 57-56 on an action-packed Friday night at Tiger Stadium.
After the missed field goal, West Oso took over at its 20-yard line with two seconds left and ran out the clock.
The one-point win advances the 7-4 Bears to next week’s area round of the Class 4A Division II playoffs to face Llano, a bi-district winner against Hondo.
The Tarpons close the season at 4-6, having returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence.
“This was a hell of a game, and it’s a shame someone had to lose,” first-year Port Isabel coach Jason Strunk said. “This is no indication of our sophomore kicker. We win and lose (together) as a team.”
For those who like to see plenty of offense, Tiger Stadium was the place to be Friday night.
West Oso led 14-0 after one quarter, and the score was tied at 22 at halftime after the Tarpons scored three straight times to get back in the game during the second quarter. The Bears took a 43-42 advantage into the final period.
The loss overshadowed stellar offensive performances by Port Isabel quarterback Cesar Aguilera and running back Brayan Medina, who rushed for 291 yards and 184 yards, respectively, and scored multiple touchdowns to keep the Tarpons locked in the battle for the victory.
Aguilera rushed 30 times for 291 yards and five TDs on runs of 49, 4, 7, 43 and 13 yards. He also threw TD passes of 14 and 42 yards to Medina.
In addition to catching the pair of scoring passes from Aguilera, Medina rushed 29 times for 184 yards and one TD, which came on a 1-yard run.
West Oso went ahead 57-56 with 5:35 to go when Bears QB Malachi Flores completed a deep scoring pass of 56 yards to Craig Clemons. Armando Sarmiento added the all-important extra point. A Port Isabel defender who was covering Clemons on the play fell down, allowing the West Oso receiver to casually trot into the end zone untouched after making the catch.
Port Isabel started its ensuing possession at its 30-yard line with 5:20 left and put together a 12-play drive that carried to the West Oso 7-yard line before the Tarpons were penalized 5 yards to the 12.
After timeouts by both teams, on fourth-and-goal for the Tarpons with seven seconds showing, Fernandez attempted the 27-yarder, which initially looked like it went through the uprights, and the Port Isabel fans began to cheer. But the officials waved the attempt no good, and everyone on the West Oso side started to celebrate.
It all started when the Bears went up 14-0 during the first quarter on a 43-yard TD pass from Flores to Jose Hernandez and a 1-yard scoring run by Cameron Williams.
Medina caught a 14-yard scoring pass from Aguilera and then rushed for the two-point conversion. The TD came on the first play of the second quarter to make it 14-8.
Aguilera’s 49-yard scoring burst up the middle gave the Tarpons their first lead, 15-14, after Fernandez’s extra point with 6:58 showing in the second quarter.
A 4-yard scoring run by Aguilera with 1:46 to go before halftime increased the Tarpons’ advantage to 22-14.
That advantage didn’t last long, however, as Clemons broke loose down the left sideline and raced 65 yards to the end zone with 1:34 remaining before the half. Clemons’ two-point conversion run deadlocked the score at 22 at intermission.
A 64-yard scoring pass from Flores to Clemons on the second play of the third quarter put West Oso in the lead again at 29-22 with 11:40 showing in the period.
Thanks to a 67-yard return of the ensuing kickoff to the West Oso 11-yard line by the Tarpons’ Daniel Martinez, Port Isabel scored two plays later on Aguilera’s 7-yard run to tie the score at 29 with 10:45 left in the third period.
West Oso’s Dominique Baker caught a 29-yard TD pass from Flores with 8:55 showing in the third as the Bears went ahead 36-29. But the Tarpons refused to go away, and Port Isabel tied the score again at 36 when Medina went in on a 1-yard run and Fernandez converted the extra point with 3:28 remaining in the period.
West Oso’s Hernandez returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a TD just 16 seconds later to put his team back in front 43-36.
The third quarter featured a combined 41 points by the two teams, and the final score of the period came on a 42-yard TD pass from Aguilera to Medina with 30 seconds to go in the period. The extra point sailed wide left, and the Tarpons entered the final quarter down 43-42.
Clemons was on the receiving end of a 60-yard pass from Flores as the Bears took a 50-42 lead at the 11:49 mark of the fourth period.
Aguilera’s 43-yard scoring run with 9:16 showing pulled Port Isabel to within 50-48 of the lead. A rush for the two-point conversion to create yet another tied score came up just short.
The Port Isabel QB’s fifth rushing TD of the night, a 13-yarder, came with 6:15 to play and gave the Tarpons a 56-50 lead after Aguilera completed a two-point conversion pass to Sebastian Martinez.
Then Clemons caught his wide-open 56-yard scoring pass from Flores with 5:35 left to put the Bears in the lead for good, although they still had to survive Port Isabel’s 27-yard field-goal attempt in the final seconds.
In all, Flores threw five TD passes and Clemons caught three of them.
It was a wild playoff contest on a cool evening with four lead changes and three ties at 22, 29 and 36.