Tied with four minutes left, the Rio Hondo Bobcats defense forced a fumble and gave their offense one more chance. That was all it needed.
With the ball at Port Isabel’s 44-yard line, the Bobcats pushed the Tarpon defense to the brink and capped it off with a 4-yard touchdown to come away with a huge 21-14 victory Friday night at Tarpon Stadium.
“The seniors had been talking about it all year, wanting to beat PI and they were able to get accomplished, “said Rio Hondo coach Rocky James. “We had gotten in the end zone three times without a point and after that everything we got we had to struggle to get.
“They made it tough all night, but I think down the stretch we were able to just push a little bit harder.”
After trading turnovers to begin the game, the Tarpons struck first when Jaime Gonzalez busted through the line and outran the Bobcats defense on a 76-yard touchdown run that gave Port Isabel a 7-0 lead with 2:33 remaining in the first.
Gonzalez finished the game with 210 yards and two touchdowns.
However, Rio Hondo head coach Rocky James stuck to his game plan and kept feeding Marco Garate and Alan Alfaro, who combined for 100 yards before the half.
Fixated on the Bobcats’ rushing attack, Eli Pitones caught the tarpon defense off guard and when he threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Derek Salazar that stunned the home crowd and leveled the game at 7-7 with 16 seconds left before the half.
But Pitones wasn’t don throwing another 65-yard stunner to junior Josue Garza, who broke a tackle and took it the distance making it 14-14 with 4:46 left in the third.
Senior running back Marco Garate finished the game with 123 yards and one touchdown while quarterback Pitones threw for 191 yards and two touchdowns.
“My defense was fantastic I’ve been saying all along,” said James. “I’ve got guys that have been hustling to the ball and everybody loves to hit.
“I’m very excited about this defense. I know everybody takes a lot of pride in the defense in Rio Hondo and this is just one more good defensive team that I’ve got.”