FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer
RAYMONDVILLE — The Raymondville Bearkats continued to flex their offensive and defensive might against the Port Isabel Tarpons on Friday evening at Burnett Stadium.
Raymondville scored three quick touchdowns during the first quarter as the Bearkats defeated the Tarpons 48-0 to remain undefeated in district action.
After the game, the message remained the same for Raymondville coach Frank Cantu: “Keep believing.”
With one more game on the regular season schedule (against the Progreso Red Ants next week) the Bearkats are in the driver’s seat to grab their first district title in recent memory.
“I’m just so proud of the way the guys came out tonight, and they executed well,” Cantu said. “The guys had a rough practice Monday because of the rain, but we had a really good practice Tuesday and Wednesday, and we saw what we wanted to see. We are just so happy that we’re healthy and that we are ready to go.
“We have to just keep believing because we are so close (to winning the district title outright), and we have one more game to go. We have to go play hard and get that district championship. We haven’t been in this situation in a while, and we’re just so proud that we have the opportunity to bring it home.”
The victory extends Raymondville’s win streak to seven games and guarantees the Bearkats at least a share of the District 16-4A Division II crown.
From the get-go, senior Marcus Capetillo gave the Bearkats’ faithful a reason to celebrate. Capetillo took Raymondville’s first handoff of the game and went 59 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
However, things went from bad to worse for Port Isabel, as Raymondville’s Zaraivion Armendarez and Xavier Ledesma each found paydirt to give the Bearkats an early 21-0 lead with 6:05 remaining in the first quarter.
During the second period, the Bearkats’ offense continued to flourish. Raymondville’s Jacob Posas found Justin Cantu for two touchdowns as the Bearkats entered the half with a commanding 34-0 lead.
After the break, Raymondville continued to distribute the ball and keep the Tarpons’ defense guessing. Posas finished the game with 152 yards rushing and one touchdown, and he passed for another 148 yards and three touchdowns by completing 9 of 15 attempts. Capetillo rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.
“We’ve got some people and we shared the ball a little bit more,” Cantu said. “I thought Capetillo had a really good game rushing the ball, as did Jacob Posas with his long TD run (88 yards). We’ve got several ways to score, and we’ve been blessed to be able to have that.”
The loss dropped the Tarpons to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in district action, snapping the Tarpons’ three-game win streak.
Raymondville’s defense continued to play lights out and held the Tarpons to 234 yards, down from the Tarpons’ average of more than 400 yards during the past three games.
“When the offense comes out clicking on all cylinders, it makes it a little easier for the defense to go,” Cantu said. “Then we also had a lot of stops back to back and then we got our confidence going, and all that put together just sealed the deal for us.”
Next week, the Tarpons play host to Rio Hondo at 7:30 p.m. at home.