By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
SINTON — The Port Isabel Tarpons’ trip to the state playoffs was a quick one this year.
With a strong second-half showing, the Sweeny Bulldogs made sure of that Friday by rallying to defeat the Tarpons 36-21 at Sinton’s Pirate Stadium in the opening round of the Class 4A Division II playoffs.
Sweeny (7-4) moves on to face Navarro or Poteet next week in the area playoffs.
Port Isabel, the District 16-4A Division II tri-champion, ended its season at 9-2.
The Tarpons led 21-15 at halftime after following a pretty much perfectly played game plan that featured time-consuming offensive drives to keep Sweeney’s potent offense on the sideline. Plus the Tarpons made some strong defensive plays in the first half, too.
But in the second half, Sweeny came alive and rallied to go ahead for good as Bulldog quarterback Evan Green broke loose for three long rushing touchdowns on plays covering 19, 51 and 37 yards. The 19- and 51-yard scoring runs came in the third quarter and the last of the three, a 37-yarder, happened with 8:02 showing in the fourth period to boost the tally to 36-21 and seal the victory.
Port Isabel coach Monty Stumbaugh said he was proud of his squad regardless of the loss.
“I saw a group of kids tonight who came to play a team that was bigger and faster than they were, but they played their hearts out,” Stumbaugh said. “That’s what I saw.
“We played a really good first half by getting after Sweeney,” Stumbaugh added. “Then we made a bad pitch (on our first drive of the third quarter that resulted in an 8-yard loss). What should have been a second-and-five turned into a third-and-12 or something like that, then we have to punt and they break one (for a TD to get back in the game and gain momentum).”
The Tarpons trailed early 8-0, but made it 8-7 on a 77-yard scoring run by Omar Silva, who rushed for 200 yards on the night and surpassed the 2,000-yard rushing plateau for the season.
Also for the Tarpons in the opening half, sophomore QB Cesar Aguilera rushed 1 yard for a TD and passed 12 yards to tight end Jesus Saldivar for another score with 2:44 left before intermission to make it 21-15.
Earlier, Sweeny’s Donovan Banks crossed the goal line from 1 yard out and the Bulldogs rushed for a two-point conversion to make it 8-0 with 7:00 showing in the first quarter. Exactly one minute later, Silva scored Port Isabel’s first TD by sprinting downfield on his 77-yard gallop to the end zone.
Aguilera’s 1-yard TD plunge put the Tarpons ahead 14-8 at the 10:35 mark of the second period before Banks caught a deep pass from Evans in stride and turned it into a 59-yard scoring play to allow the Bulldogs to regain the lead, 15-14, with 9:38 remaining before halftime.
Aguilera’s 12-yard pass to a wide open Saldivar in the end zone caught Sweeny by surprise and gave the Tarpons a 21-15 advantage that stood until Green scored on his 19-yard run with 5:44 to go in the third period.
“Tonight, Sweeny was the better team, but I’m so proud of these guys,” Stumbaugh said. “They had a heck of a year. Everyone picked us third in our district and these guys brought us a championship, which was something they weren’t expected to do. What they accomplished and the heart they showed, that’s something I will always remember.”