By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Porter Cowboys came alive during two quarters of game conditions to defeat the St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds in Thursday’s scrimmage at Porter.
The two teams each went scoreless during the controlled portion of the scrimmage before the Cowboys tallied a pair of touchdowns after halftime while shutting out the Bloodhounds.
“To be honest, we started off a little slow,” Porter coach Carlos Uresti said. “No excuses for that. We came out in the live portion (of the scrimmage) and showed a little more heart and played a little stronger, and it showed. We had a good showing at the end.”
Porter running back Joey Saldana broke loose and sprinted 68 yards down the left sideline on the first play of the second half to give the Cowboys a first down at the SJA 2-yard line. Two plays later, Porter quarterback Kevin Garcia went 2 yards up the middle for Porter’s first score.
Then, with time in the fourth quarter winding down, Porter scored on a 35-yard touchdown pass from sophomore QB Kyle Aguirre to freshman receiver Gunnar Williams. It was a deep pass caught in the right corner of the end zone by Williams as the time ran out on the scoreboard clock.
Throughout the scrimmage, SJA moved the ball at times and had some standout moments on defense, but just couldn’t manage to put a score on the scoreboard.
“We knew coming into tonight that Porter was going to bring a heavy blitz, and we were going to see how we responded,” SJA coach Tino Villarreal said. “We didn’t respond as well as we would have hoped to Porter’s blitz. They found a weakness in what we’re doing, and that’s something we have to work on if we want to move the football. Porter is doing a good job of being more physical and more aggressive, and they won the physical battle up front against us today. That was a difference-maker for them.
“We’re young and we’re trying to work on our upbeat tempo,” Villarreal added. “That’s the name our our game, and today unfortunately, we were one block away and one holding call away from keeping drives alive. We call those things ‘drive killers,’ and we just had too many of those ‘drive killers’ today to sustain our drives.
“But overall, I’m proud of the effort our team showed today, and these guys have been showing that type of effort since the first day of two-a-days. Nights like tonight don’t stop our boys from having a great attitude. We’re preparing for what’s ahead.”
Although it didn’t count, the Bloodhounds had a pick-six interception during the controlled portion of the scrimmage. Aguirre threw a pass into the left flat that was picked off by SJA’s Alejandro Padilla. Since the interception came during the first-half controlled conditions, the refs immediately blew their whistles after the pick, but Padilla still returned it untouched down the sideline and into the end zone.
Uresti said his team is also gearing up for the regular season.
“I was telling our players that these scrimmages are glorified practices and they help us get ready for the season,” the Porter coach said. “The games count now, and it’s time to really get to work. The scrimmages are great, but now the games count, and it starts (next) Friday with Port Isabel.
The Cowboys open the regular season against Port Isabel next Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium. The Bloodhounds begin the regular season at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at Canales Field against Grulla.