Zapata rallies for victory over Port Isabel
The Zapata Hawks reached another gear during the second half and escaped with a come-from-behind 35-28 overtime win against Port Isabel on Friday night at Tarpon Stadium.
Zapata (4-4, 4-1 District 32-3A) was energized by Andrew Magee, who didn’t touch the ball during the first half, with his 148 yards on the ground and a 49-yard halfback pass to Ricky Martinez. Magee punched the ball into the end zone on the second play of overtime to give the Hawks the first lead of the game, one they would not give back.
The Tarpons (2-6, 1-4) could not respond in overtime, as DeMoss took a 10-yard loss on third down when he slipped while making the drop into the pocket. Two false start penalties in a row put Port Isabel at fourth-and-29, needing a miracle to win the game.
The Tarpons almost received that miracle when DeMoss launched a pass into the end zone that was tipped up by two Zapata defenders, but unfortunately for the Tarpons two of their own receivers ran into each other trying to make the catch and the ball fell to the ground.
"We can’t be (committing penalties) at inopportune times like that," Stumbaugh said. "It really limited our options, and we had to throw a Hail Mary down there that was almost caught."
Zapata quarterback Manny Salinas powered the Hawks in the first half by scoring twice on the ground with runs of 4 and 29 yards. No Zapata player other than Magee had more than 70 yards of total offense, but the burst provided by the junior was all that was necessary to pull out the win.
The driving force for the bad-luck Tarpons was once again was the explosive running game, as they rolled up 305 yards on the ground in 58 carries. Matthew Garza was the big-play man for Port Isabel, as he had 73-yard touchdown dash in the second quarter and a 41-yard touchdown catch with six minutes left to play.
Joe Vega, who had 131 yards on 28 carries, was the workhorse for Port Isabel as he moved the chains and set up scores for the DeMoss. DeMoss only attempted five passes but scored twice in the first half on runs of 1 and 12 yards. CJ Barrera was also an explosive force for the stout Tarpons running game, putting up 68 yards on 11 carries.
Zapata had trouble moving the ball during the first half, going three-and-out on their first two possessions. Quarterback Manny Salinas couldn’t find his groove through the air, so he used his feet and scored on a 29-yard scramble. It was the Hawks’ lone score of the first half.
The Tarpons held a 14-7 lead with 1:59 left in the first half but refused to go to the air even with the final seconds ticking off the clock. Vega and Barrera scampered down the field and out of bounds to save enough time for DeMoss to score with 19 seconds left. Port Isabel was given a scare when DeMoss didn’t get up after his dive into the end zone, but he eventually walked off the field.
"He just had a stinger in his neck," Stumbaugh said. "We don’t have a lot of players, so we have a lot of kids hurtin’ and playing hard."
