BY GREG SELBER
PORT ISABEL – It had been a beautiful night for football, warm and
sea-breezy, pleasant, yet with the high-dollar chips on the table. After it was
done, the brawl, and the Bobcats had taken down the Tarpons on their home
grass, the Rio Hondo faithful were ready to celebrate.
There was hardly room to maneuver in the cramped space underneath the
visitors stands, as a melange of hundreds of merry makers milled about, taking
photos, slapping backs, smiling broadly, and just soaking it all in.
They
had filled the stands Friday night to witness a collision of evenly matched
clubs vying for a leg up in the district race, and there was not an open seat
to be had anywhere at Tarpon Stadium. Now, after the hard-fought 21-14 Rio
Hondo triumph, which made the Bobcats 2-0 in 16-4A and 6-1 overall, the rooters
were bent on congratulating their kids.
And there were many members of Coach Rocky James’ roster who would come in
for commendation, from senior receiver Derek Salazar to junior defensive ends
Albert Magallanes and Isaiah Heredia, and from hard-nosed runner Marcos Garate
to well, name the guy, and some Bobcat some time somewhere Friday did something
positive to help the charge.
Start with the rangy Salazar, who erupted for his greatest day as a ‘Cat,
catching five balls for 137 yards; for the season, Rio Hondo was averaging less
than half the 205 yards it put into the air at PI in this huge triumph.
“I have always thought that it was there, that we could be as equal and
balanced on offense,” said Salazar, who was active and deadly on the inside
screen and provided a huge boost near the end of the first half when he came
wide open and hauled in a 69-yard TD bomb from Eli Pitones with just 16 seconds
left on the clock. “The receivers really came through tonight.”
That includes junior Josue Garza. Salazar’s home run tied the game at 7
heading into the break, and Garza gave the Bobcats a 14-7 advantage with a
63-yard touchdown reception midway through the third period. Both scores came
after Tarpon coverage broke down, and the Bobcats took advantage of the
opportunities to shine.
For the night, RH outgained PI (1-1, 6-1) 354 to 268, and the impressive
‘Cat defensive crew out there was paced by many stalwarts, among them the quick
and nasty junior ends. Heredia, surrounded by friends and family, was in the
middle of a mass selfie under the stands, sign of the times. He flashed the
winner’s smile and said that Rio Hondo was super pumped for the game.
“This is a rival, PI, and we wanted to beat them,” said the end who had all
six of his tackles in the second half, when the ‘Cats clawed their way into the
driver’s seat. “Motivation for this game was definitely no problem.”
His bookend pal Magallanes, whose fumble recovery with 4:40 to go led to the
game-winning drive, was also with his peeps, enjoying every minute of the
program’s sixth success against PI in the past 11 seasons. It has become a real
slugger’s rivalry.
“I was surprised…and I just saw it there and had to get it,” said the
strapping junior, of the loose ball that he corralled at the PI 44, the fourth
lost PI fumble on the night. “Me and a teammate were fighting over it, but I
got it! That was a game-changer right there!”
Indeed, as Garate then clinched the night’s effort with a 4-yard run at
0:34, after Rio Hondo ran eight plays and nearly ate the entire clock. On the
tie-breaking run, Garate, who pounded and zipped (he does both) for 167 yards,
just did what he had to do.
“I wanted it so bad, for my team, I just kept pumping my feet and got in
there,” said the senior who has now rushed for 1,038 yards in 2014 with a
combination of quick feet and vision plus sheer leg strength. He is a load,
though not terribly heavy.
The party is probably still going on, though in Rio Hondo of course, after
the Bobcats went on the road to defeat a difficult foe. The contest was
hard-hitting and not without its mistakes, as Rio Hondo gave away two turnovers
in the first half and was stopped on downs at the PI 1 in that half. The
Tarpons rode the skills of senior J.J. Gonzalez (210 yards, simply tremendous
game) into the night but were flagged with a dozen penalties and suffered the
four fumbles. Though at times they looked like the PI of old, especially on
that goal-line stand in the first, the Tarps were not sharp enough, something
Coach Monty Stumbaugh noted after the game.
“We gave them two cheap touchdowns, and to their credit, they capitalized,”
said the veteran mentor. “That’s a fine football team in Rio Hondo, this was a
tough game and both teams played hard. I felt like our defense played their
butts off but when it came down to it, you can’t turn the ball over in games
like this, and we did.”
His counterpart suggested that the mistakes made by both clubs had something
to do with the atmosphere leading up to this huge clash. And James also
commented that for a while there, the ‘Cats were not able to exploit the openings
presented.
“The stands were full, both sides…this was a big game,” said the ex
Harlingen linebacker whose defensive group appears to be quite up to program
snuff, circa 2008, the greatest ‘Cat unit in decades. “We had three
opportunities in the first half and got no points, that worried me. But our
defense got some stops when we needed them, and we were able to take some
passing advantage against their man defense. This was just a great win for our
guys, the seniors had never beaten PI, and this was what they wanted to
accomplish.”
JITTERS AND HITTERS
The night started ignominiously for the home side as the Tarpons muffed the
opening kickoff at their own 18, senior Jose Garate recovering for the Bobcats.
But three plays into what looked like a promising drive, RH ran afoul of junior
Javi Hernandez, who jumped in front of a receiver for a pick to save the day.
Rio Hondo got contributions from both Eli Pitones and junior Josh Gonzalez
behind center as it happened, but that first chance, as James later lamented,
had gone away.
Later in the quarter Rio Hondo got another sniff after Garate’s 32-yard run
had the offense rolling. But stocky Pedro Gonzalez of PI pounced on a fumble at
his own 24, ending the second visitor chance.
Then came Tarpon Time, as the 155-pound Gonzalez, who might be the toughest
pound-for-pound runner in the Valley, exploded for a 76-yard scoot up the
middle for a six-pointer at 2:33. Despite having played poorly, the Tarps had
the lead, and we all know that once the Fighting Fish get going, it’s hard to
hook them back in again. Gonzalez is not just flash and dash, he will attack a
tackler and become a small battering ram when necessary.
The Bobcats, though, just kept on coming, driving all the way to the PI 1 aided
by a 24-yard pass to Salazar. But junior Alan Alfaro was stuffed for a 1-yard
gain on third down, and the fourth-and-goal carry from the 1 by M. Garate was
snuffed out, senior Agustin Hernandez leading the hammer surge by the Sea Wall
D.
It looked like 7-0 at the break until Salazar struck for the long bomb with
scant ticks left on the clock.
“That touchdown seemed to fire up the kids a lot, it was big for our momentum,”
said James, after the ‘Cats had outgained PI 206 to 136 for the first two
periods but had to scramble for the intermission deadlock.
Hernandez for PI was one of a number of warriors who saw time on both sides
of the ball Friday, and such is the magic of 3A football (OK, 4A now, still 3A
to some diehards). Raul Villarreal, the long-legged D-end, went out for some
passes on offense, while for the ‘Cats, Salazar (corner) Marcos Carrizales and
Roel Benitez were among the defensive kids who also did some offensive reps.
Hernandez never seemed to come off the field; he is a horse!
The intense nature of the ball game was illustrated by the buckets of sweat
pouring off all the players, all night. It was a madhouse from start to finish
and the importance of the deal could be seen in the eyes of all the
participants, from the players and coaches to the wild fanatics chanting and
swaying in the stands. Helluva great night.
STARTING TO START
As well as Gonzalez ran for the Tarpons, and as gutty as Gonzalez,
Villarreal and Hernandez were for the D, the PI effort was still dogged by
lapses of discipline as the third period began. The first series was littered
with a fumbled snap, a delay of game, and a motion call, and the second gave
the ‘Cats another opportunity.
Soph Andy Vazquez of Rio Hondo came up with a turnover when PI fumbled at
the RH 22 early on, after the Tarps had benefited from a 6-yard Rio Hondo punt
into the wind to start shop at the ‘Cats 46. Three plays later, the ‘Cats
bolted into the lead after the 63-yard catch by Garza, who spun out of a tackle
at the 15 to complete the nifty effort at 4:46.
But PI is PI, and of all the teams around here, they are the one folks can
count on to come back swinging, especially at home. Methodically, the offense
grinded out a drive to tie the game, doing so at 11:55 of the fourth on a
24-yard pop up the gut by Gonzalez. With JJ A-OK (he went over a grand for the
season), the other PI runner of note, junior Alex de los Santos, spent the
evening on D, making eight tackles.
It was going to come down to execution…maybe OT.
Rio Hondo appeared to take a step toward the tie-breaker by reaching
midfield, but Villarreal came up with an enormous sack for minus-14, leading to
a Rio Hondo punt. Villarreal led the Tarps with nine stops Friday, along with
Gonzalez. Underclassmen Dylan Athanas (sophomore end) and Omar Silva (soph DB)
combined for 14 hits.
PI went nowhere though, as Heredia and big Mike Lozano clobbered Gonzalez
twice and soph QB Trey Mock once to force a punt. It was just helmet to helmet
now, no funny business, just toughness and endurance on the stage.
The Tarps returned the 3-and-out favor and with 6:13 got the ball back at
their own 21. Gonzalez blew for 12 and 11 but then Mock lost the handle,
leading to Magallanes’ heady recovery and the winning drive. Mock ran well
against Rio Hondo and established himself as a terrific punter, with continual
spiraling shots into the cool night, averaging more than 40 yards per kick.
In crunch time, James’ crew took advantage of its final opportunity, rolling
from the PI 44 to the winning points on Garate’s bull-like rush from the 4.
Seconds later, the fun and games began for the ‘Cats, while the huge
overflow Tarpon crowd somberly made its way out to the parking lot. Surely the
Bears of West Oso, who are unlucky enough to be next on the PI sked, will pay the
price for what the ‘Cats were able to pull off Friday. Stumbaugh is interested
in what the next week has in store, starting now.
“We are going to see what type of team we really have now,” said the master
mentor, adding that he believes his team is still right in the race.
So, PI has been derailed from what seemed like a non-stop journey to the
pumpkin patch for a Halloween showdown with 6-1 Orange Grove, a team that took
out another Valley 16-4A entry, Raymondville, last week, with relative ease.
First the Bulldogs of Orange Grove – who crowned Progreso, 61-0 Friday – must
come to Cameron County to battle the Bobcats, Oct. 24. That should be superb.
Stick around, this race is just heating up, and the next two weeks will be
something else. PI and Rio Hondo put it all on the line Friday by the shore,
and they both have reason to be proud of their efforts. A game between rivals
that comes down to the last 34 seconds – in front of a terrific, festive crowd
– and still leaves them both in contention for a title…well, anyone who says a
discouraging word about so-called Small School Ball (and there are some folks
who do) need to have their heads examined, for faint signs of brainwave
activity. This was Valley Football at its finest! And on real grass, to boot.
