By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
The Port Isabel Tarpons will look to avenge last week’s loss when they travel to Corpus Christi West Oso to take on the Bears at 7:30 Fridaynight.
The Tarpons (6-1, 1-1) lost their first game of the season last week, dropping a 21-14 contest to the Rio Hondo Bobcats in the final seconds.
The district’s leading rushing attack was bested by a strong Bobcats defense, but P.I. coach Monty Stumbaugh is confident his team will regroup and show resilience against the Bears (1-6, 0-2).
“We’re not changing anything,” he said. “It’s business as usual. We’re just going to work on things we thought cost us. We can’t make mistakes in big games, and we have to do a better job of taking care of the football.”
This will indeed be another big game, because a Tarpons win would carve a certain path to the playoffs.
Vikings try for two in a row against Chiefs
Pace stopped the bleeding in District 32-5A with a 42-21 win over the crosstown rival Porter Cowboys last week. The Vikings will look to string two wins together for the first time this season when they head to Donna North to take on the Chiefs at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Pace (2-5, 1-3 in district) is sixth out of eight teams and needs a win to keep its playoff hopes alive, and a meeting with the last-place Chiefs (0-7, 0-4) could do just that.
“Coming off a win helps with overall excitement,” Vikings coach William Deen said. “We’ve got to build on our offense from last week and get our defense to play at a high level.”
Last week, Pace made a change at quarterback as Arturo Vilano played under center in place of Alex Cisneros. Vilano completed 5 of 11 passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns, and he also ran for 124 yards on 16 carries.
Vilano will start again this week.
“We’re going to continue to ride the hot hand,” Deen said. “If we think we need to make a change again, we’ll do that.”
St. Joseph, Money attempt to stay hot
The St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds are coming off a dominating 52-34 victory over TAPPS district opponent San Antonio St. Anthony last week.
The Bloodhounds will try to make it two in a row when they travel to the state’s capitol to face the Austin St. Michael’s Crusaders at 7 p.m. Friday.
Freshman quarterback Kai Money continued to impress with a stellar performance, and he will no doubt be a key factor if St. Joseph(5-2, 1-1 in district) is going to defeat the Crusaders.
Last week, Money completed nearly 65 percent of his passes for 218 and two touchdowns. He also compiled 157 yards on the ground to go with four more scores.
Bloodhounds coach Christian Putegnat could not be reached for comment as of press time.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected] Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.