PORT ISABEL — Port Isabel junior running back Luis Ramos found the end zone from 22 yards out in overtime and the No. 2 Tarpons took down the No. 3 Rio Hondo Bobcats 27-24 in a non-district thriller Thursday at Tarpon Stadium in Port Isabel.
“Honestly, I knew I had it (in overtime),” Ramos said. “I practice hard. That’s honest and true. That is all I do. I keep going and going. I go full speed every day.”
After trading haymakers during the first three quarters, a torrential downpour during the fourth shifted gears in the contest, with both teams unable to get much going.
A late punt by the Tarpons set up the Bobcats with a chance to win the game, getting all the way down to the 25 before attempting the would-be game-winning field goal.
The attempt proved no good, sending the game into overtime.
“We dug ourselves in a hole,” Port Isabel head coach Tony Villarreal said. “We fumbled two or three times in the first half. We just had to really regroup, settle down and play some football. Fortunately, the weather came, and we feel like that is to our advantage. We feel like we have the mud offense.”
The Tarpons did just that in overtime, buckling down on defense and holding Rio Hondo to just three points to set up Ramos’ game winning score on the ensuing drive.
Ramos finished the game with over 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns, also adding the game-tying 2-point conversion during the third.
“The key word is trust,” Villarreal said. “He had 229 yards last week. I don’t know what he had tonight. He also blocks like a son of a gun. We just have a lot of trust in him.”
Early on the Bobcats and Tarpons looked like a pair of heavyweights trading blows, with Port Isabel drawing first blood on a three-yard touchdown run by Ramos. The Bobcats came right back and took the lead on a six-yard touchdown pass from senior Ruben Atkinson to Nate Sosa.
Port Isabel answered with some trickery, calling a wide receiver pass on fourth down from senior Christian Smith to Cleveland Smith to put the Tarpons back on top 13-7 midway through the second.
“I just saw it was the perfect situation,” Villarreal said. “They weren’t expecting it. I called that one. I stepped in there for the offensive coordinator on that one.”
A quick strike from Atkinson to senior Keyan Lopez put the Bobcats on top at the break, extending their lead to 21-13 early in the third on a 10-yard touchdown reception by Sosa.
Rio Hondo would only lead once more, going up 24-21 in overtime thanks to a 42-yard field goal by Leo Quezada, but it proved to not be enough, with Ramos sealing the Bobcats fate with his third touchdown run of the night.
The Bobcats (1-1) will look to bounce back on the road against Hidalgo (1-0) at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at Bill Pate Stadium in Hidalgo.
The Tarpons (2-0) will look to make it three straight wins to start the season when they take on the Valley View Tigers (0-2) at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at Tiger Stadium in Pharr.
“We’re going to build off of this,” Villarreal said. “It was a short week with it being Labor Day weekend. It was tough to get these kids going after an emotional win against Lyford last week. That is back-to-back emotional wins. We have some extra days though so we’ll be ready for next week.”