By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
PORT ISABEL — Something has to give.
Port Isabel is predominantly a ground and pound offense, looking to run the ball at opponents. Valley View has a stingy defense that hasn’t allowed much this year.
The Tarpons will get a good test against the Tigers when they face off at 7:30 p.m. tonight in a Week 4 non-district game at Tarpon Stadium.
“They’ve been in every ballgame, they’ve had a chance to win every game,” Port Isabel coach Monty Stumbaugh said. “We’re going to have to do a great job of taking care of the ball and controlling the line of scrimmage.”
Valley View coach Carlos Saenz said his defense is playing at a high level right now.
“We’ve played three real close games,” he said. “Our defense has kept us in all three games.”
The Tigers have lost three games, but not by much. Their losses have all been by less than one score — 5, 3 and 8 points.
Port Isabel is unbeaten through two games but hasn’t been consistent on offense. Penalties have wiped away a handful of touchdowns, and the Tarpons must be more effective throwing the ball than they have been through two games.
“Offensively, we have to move that line of scrimmage and control it,” Stumbaugh said. “We’re going to have to throw the ball, we know that. We have people open, we just ain’t throwing it.”
Saenz knows his defense again will be key to get opportunities for the offense.
“Port Isabel is a ball-control offense. They get the ball and take 4 or 5 yards every play if you give it to them,” he said. “Our defense has to get stops, keep the ball away from them. If they keep the ball away from us, they’ll win the football game.”
Those opportunities are vital because Valley View has struggled on offense this season. The Tigers have switched to a spread offense after being a heavy run team in the past, and they’ve had their ups and downs this season.
“We need to cut down on the turnovers offensively,” Saenz said. “If we took care of the football, we feel we could be 3-0.”
Valley View feels the key to success will be if it can keep the football offensively — and out of Port Isabel’s hands — and get stops on defense when it needs to.
Stumbaugh knows this will be one of the toughest tests his team has faced this season.
“They are playing good defense, and they are moving the ball on offense,” he said. “We’re going to have to come with our ‘A’ game or it’s not going to be a very happy Friday.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.