By STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writer
PORT ISABEL — In a showdown of two teams looking to shake off the sting of blowout losses, Port Isabel delivered a knockout blow to St. Joseph Academy with a 55-26 victory Friday night.
Running back Brayan Medina was a battering ram for the Tarpons (2-3), spinning and bouncing off of St. Joseph defenders for four touchdowns.
“We’ve been expecting to bounce back,” Medina said. “It was just a matter of time before our team decided to click. We worked our butts off this week. … We just worked for it, and we wanted it better than they did. We’re on track now.”
Trailing by seven during the waning moments of the first quarter, Port Isabel quarterback Joey Krieghbaum went deep for a wide-open Mac Strunk, who hauled in a 61-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14 with 1:35 to go.
From then on, it was the Medina show. The senor recorded three touchdowns during the second quarter. His first touchdown — a 4-yarder with 8:18 to go in the second quarter — gave the Tarpons their first lead, 20-14, after a failed two-point conversion attempt.
After St. Joseph turned the ball over on downs. Medina carried for a gain of 28 yards on his first touch of the drive, and on his second, he burst through the Bloodhounds’ defense and went 46 yards for another rushing touchdown with less than two minutes remaining in the first half to put Port Isabel ahead 26-14.
Port Isabel coach Jason Strunk said the Tarpons have been missing four to five starters during the first five weeks of the season due to various injuries, but he was impressed by his team’s offensive output Friday night.
After defensive lineman Edgar Orduña forced and recovered a fumble by St. Joseph quarterback John Martinez with 37 seconds to go at the Bloodhounds’ 19-yard line, Medina carried the ball for 14 yards and a first down, and then walked into the end zone from 4 yards out to give Port Isabel a 32-14 edge over SJA (2-3) with 15 ticks to go in the half.
Despite holding St. Joseph to 12 points during the second half, Strunk saw much to be desired defensively from his squad.
“We forced some things and came up with some stops when we needed it, “ Strunk said. “But overall, I’m not happy with the defensive game tonight. We need to get better, we need to improve there. It’s stuff we keep harping on, and eventually it’s going to have to click. It’s not an effort thing, it’s just knowing our assignments.”
Krieghbaum threw his second touchdown pass of the game, a swing pass to Medina, who powered his way past the Bloodhounds’ secondary for a 50-yard touchdown to blow the game wide open, with Port Isabel ahead 40-14 with 9:02 to go in the third quarter.
The Tarpons’ quarterback also rushed for a score, a 4-yarder with a successful two-point conversion by Medina to bring Port Isabel’s lead to 48-20 with 7:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Bloodhounds scored the first points of the night with a 4-yard rushing touchdown by running back Melik Kauachi that helped put SJA up 7-0 with 8:43 to go in the first quarter.
Port Isabel responded quickly, moving the ball upfield with ease in the run game. On the ensuing drive, Mac Strunk carried for a gain of 23 yards to bring the Tarpons to midfield. Then Will Camacho sprinted along the home sideline for a 50-yard rushing touchdown on a jet sweep that helped even the game at 7 at the 7:15 mark of the first quarter.
Martinez led the Bloodhounds back down the field, finishing the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Senad Drvisevic to take a 14-7 lead with 2:04 remaining in the first quarter. St. Joseph did not lead again after the Mac Strunk touchdown at the end of the first quarter.
With the game well in hand for P.I., Martinez tacked on two late touchdowns for the Bloodhounds — a 5-yarder at the 7:48 mark of the third quarter and a 15-yarder that made it 48-26 with 2:50 to play in the fourth quarter.
Port Isabel running back ‪Adrian Nino put an exclamation point on the victory with a 46-yard rushing touchdown with 2:36 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The win came at a crucial point for the Tarpons, as Medina said he and his teammates will need to ratchet up their intensity and focus with just one more non-district game on the road against Grulla at 7:30 p.m. next Friday on their schedule.
“We worked for it,” Medina said. “We could have scored more and we could have stopped them more, but I’m proud of my team and I know we can do better.”
The Bloodhounds are scheduled to play Hidalgo at 7:30 p.m. next Friday.