By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The football series between Port Isabel and St. Joseph Academy probably won’t ever be considered as one of the Rio Grande Valley’s most storied rivalries, such as Weslaco High vs. Donna High, the “Battle of the Arroyo” between Harlingen High and San Benito or even the “Sugar Bowl” between Santa Rosa and La Villa.
The Tarpons and Bloodhounds haven’t played each other regularly in football on a yearly basis like some of the other Valley teams that boast annual rivalry games. But their series can be viewed as a unique matchup between a Valley public school and a private school that dates all the way back to the 1950s.
Since then, the series has been characterized by games between the two ballclubs over periods of about four to six seasons followed by extended years when they didn’t play each other. Their contests all have been non-district games that at one time were usually played as a season opener or during the second week of the season.
Yet another non-district game in the SJA-Port Isabel series takes place at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Canales Field as the Bloodhounds (3-1) play host to the Tarpons (3-0).
This week’s action for Metro-area teams kicks off at 7 p.m. Thursday as Mercedes (1-2) takes on Pace (0-2) at Sams Memorial Stadium in a District 32-5A opener.
There are three District 32-6A openers involving Metro-area teams scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Friday as Hanna (2-1) travels to San Benito (2-1), Rivera (0-3) visits Harlingen High (2-1) and Harlingen South (0-2) takes on Brownsville Veterans Memorial (3-0) at Sams. Also at 7:30 p.m. Friday, it’s Porter (2-1) at Donna North (0-3) for another 32-5A opener.
District 32-6A action continues at 7 p.m. Saturday at Sams as Lopez (0-2) plays host to Los Fresnos (3-0).
The Tarpons and Bloodhounds went for a period of 10 seasons (2002 to 2011) when they didn’t play each other before they resumed their series in 2012, and they’ve played every year since then. Prior to that, the two teams played in 2000 and 2001 following a long break in the series.
Both sides welcome the renewal of their matchups.
“Let’s face it, Port Isabel is the pride of the Valley in football,” said longtime SJA track coach Meme Garza, who served as a football assistant for the Bloodhounds from 1975 to 1990. “They’re one of the premier teams in South Texas, and home or away, playing them is a special event. It’s another treat to play again (this year) for both schools. They love their football and so do we.”
Added SJA coach Tino Villarreal, now in his first season as the Bloodhounds’ head football coach, “We may not have played them every year in football, but our teams play them every year in every other sport, so yes, there’s a rivalry there.
“(In football), it’s fun,” added Villarreal, a 1999 SJA graduate. “You’ve definitely got two different styles of football, and you might say it’s old school vs. new school because we like to run a high-tempo offense and they like to run the ball and control the clock.
“It’s private school vs. public school, and the colors are different — our red against their blue. The fan bases get into it, maybe even with a little bit of strong feelings, so it’s got all the things that make a rivalry.”
According to records, the last time SJA beat Port Isabel was 1977, when the Bloodhounds prevailed 28-26 in a season opener. After Port Isabel won 27-0 in 1983, it appears the two teams didn’t play again until 2000, when the Tarpons defeated the Bloodhounds 13-7. In 2001, Port Isabel won 26-21, and since 2012, the Tarpons have triumphed by scores of 51-30, 49-18 and 44-21, which was last year’s result of the game at Tarpon Stadium.
“At the realignment (of 2012), we had some teams drop us (because of their new schedules), and we needed a game,” said Port Isabel coach Monty Stumbaugh, now in his 15th season of guiding the Tarpons. “St. Joe needed a game, too. They wanted to play a team that ran the ball, and we wanted to go against a team that runs the spread (passing attack).
“It’s been beneficial for both teams in helping us each prepare for our district races,” Stumbaugh added. “It gives us the experience of going against a team that likes to play at a fast pace. It’s different than we are (on offense) because we try to (run the ball and) control the clock. There’s a little contrast in (offensive) styles with everybody we play.”
One game in the series that stands out for longtime observers from each team took place in 1975 or 1976 when the Tarpons and Bloodhounds played at Canales Field. SJA led the entire game until Port Isabel tight end Juan Castillo, who won a national championship as a linebacker at Texas A&I in 1979 and now coaches in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens, got open with about one minute or so remaining and caught a pass over the middle to complete a scoring play of approximately 25 yards, giving the Tarpons a 15-14 come-from-behind win.
“That was a good, close game that went right down to the wire,” said Gualberto Gonzalez, a 1971 Port Isabel graduate who has been the announcer for the Tarpons’ home games for 39 years. “St. Joe has had some good players over the years, and that was one of the closest games (in the series) that was decided in the last minute. That was in the 1970s, I believe, and in the 1980s, Port Isabel became more of a powerhouse and we stopped playing St. Joe (in favor of non-district opponents from a higher classification such as Los Fresnos, Edcouch-Elsa and Raymondville).”
Garza remembers that game quite well, too. He was a coach on the SJA sideline that night, and he recalls that there was a standing-room-only crowd with a large number of Port Isabel fans gathered on each side of the field.
“It was a classic game with Port Isabel making the right play at the right time,” Garza said. “Castillo was open on that drag route, and when he scored, I heard this incredible roar (of cheers) right behind me. I turned around and there was this wave of like 300 blue shirts there, and only a rope separating us. They had been pretty quiet all night until that play, and then they exploded. I can still picture it very clearly.
“Juan Castillo has reached the pinnacle of his football career (as a coach in the NFL), and I guarantee you that he has never forgotten scoring that touchdown,” the SJA coach added.
Garza also remembers another Port Isabel-SJA game played at the Tarpons’ old stadium that was situated in a more central location of town and not on the school campus as it is now. It was probably the late 1970s or early 1980s, he said.
“There was maybe an hour or less left before kickoff and we were out on the field (as a team) working on our special teams and things like that,” Garza said. “I looked up into the (home) stands, and among all these 1,000 or so (Tarpons) fans packed together and wearing blue shirts, right in the middle of them with the best seats in the house were these two nuns dressed in their nun’s attire.
“I remember thinking, ‘We’re in trouble now, they’ve even got the nuns on their side,’” Garza added. “We were the ones who were supposed to have the Catholic ‘mojo’ on our side.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.