Seawall Tester

Port Isabel's defense faces quite a challenge to start the football season.

The Tarpons play their season opener at home at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Class 3A state-ranked West Oso and its standout group of running backs led by Shedrick Howard.

In preseason polls, West Oso is ranked 10th by Texas Football magazine and 15th by The Associated Press.

The Bears have seven starters back on offense and eight on defense from last year's 8-3 ballclub that thrived behind Howard, a speedy, shifty tailback who averaged more than 100 yards rushing a game and was named District 31-3A offensive MVP.

Actually, Howard is not West Oso's only weapon.

The Bears boast one of the most talented backfields in South Texas this season. Besides Howard (5-9, 165), there's Markieth Smith (5-10, 170) and David Foxx (5-9, 155). All three seniors have 4.5 speed.

And if that's not enough, sophomore backup running back Darius Dorsey (5-10, 160) is pretty quick, too.

"If it's the one (Howard) I'm thinking about, this will be his third year starting, and we've been chasing him around for two years now. This will be the last time, I hope," PI coach Monty Stumbaugh said. "He's a tough, little runner. You've got to be a sure tackler with him, and their other running backs, too,

"We had a hard time tackling them last year, so it's going to be a big challenge for us," he added. "They're not big kids, but they're very explosive. They have a lot of speed, they're quick and they can get on the edge (around the end) in a hurry. They're shifty and have lots of moves. It's going to be an impor-tant factor for us to stop them."

This marks the fourth straight season for the Tarpons to play West Oso. The past two years, they've met in the regular season. West Oso triumphed at home over PI a year ago 20-14 in overtime, and in 2006, the Tarpons beat the Bears 27-19 at Tarpon Stadium.

In 2005, PI played West Oso in the first round of the 3A Division II playoffs at Texas A&M-Kingsville and won 41-14.

The Tarpons return six starters on offense and three on defense from last year's 7-4 team.

The PI players are familiar with Friday night's opponent and know exactly what they must do.

"The key thing is going to be containing them, breaking down (their blocking) and holding on to make sure we make the tackle," said Luis Flandes, PI's 5-foot-9, 170-pound senior middle linebacker. "My re-sponsibility will be basically making sure we get our defense aligned correctly and we fill in the gaps."

Added senior defensive tackle Javier Roque, a 5-10, 265-pounder and two-year starter: "Like my team-mate said, we have to contain them, play together as a team and play with a lot of heart. Last year, I didn't get to play because I was injured, so this year I'm excited because I'll be on the field.

"Playing (scrimmages) against Harlingen and Mercedes has helped us because they're strong teams, and now we're going against another strong team in West Oso," Roque added. "It just helps us get better and better and helps prepare us for the 3A teams (in District 32-3A)."

Both players agree they'd much rather face West Oso at Tarpon Stadium instead of traveling to the Coastal Bend like last year.

"We're happy for the support of the community," Flandes said. "Watch out for us. We'll be there."