Tarpons roll over Kats, 42-19

PORT ISABEL — Forrest Gump would have been proud, as the Tarpons just kept running.

Port Isabel gained more than 430 yards on the ground as they cruised past Raymondville 42-19 in their final home game of the season.

With the win, the Tarpons improve to 2-4 in district 32-3A and 3-6 overall and will face Progreso in their final game of the regular season. Raymondville falls to 2-4 in district and 4-5 overall.

“We like to run the football and we felt we could do it tonight,” said Port Isabel head coach Monty Stumbaugh.

“Our plan all along was to run it and keep Raymondville’s offense off of the field. But there were a few times that it didn’t take them long to score. Raymondville has a very good football team, but we were fortunate to get the win tonight.”

Port Isabel took an early 7-0 lead as running back Joe Vega scampered 45 yards to the house with 6:30 left in the first quarter.

Tarpons fullback C.J. Barrera punched it in from one-yard out to extend their lead to 14-0 with 59 seconds left in the first quarter.

Raymondville answered as Skylore Janes scored on a 53-yard touchdown run and cut the lead to 14-7 with 11:49 left in the second quarter.

However, on the ensuing play for the Tarpons, Matthew Garza turned on the afterburners and scored on an impressive 85-yard run with 11:30 left in the first half, giving them a 21-7 lead.

Janes scored his second touchdown of the night as he tore downfield for a 63-yard touchdown run as Raymondville once again cut the deficit to 21-13 with 8:47 left in the first half.

Port Isabel stretched their lead to 28-13 as quarterback Kyle DeMoss ran it in from 27 yards out with 33 seconds left in the second quarter.

Vega scored his second touchdown of the night on a 55-yard touchdown run as the Tarpons took a demanding 35-13 lead with 1:02 left in the third quarter. Vega ended up with 212 yards on the night, which put him at 1,106 yards on the season.

The Tarpons put the nail in the coffin as DeMoss ran it in from one yard out with 6:31 left in the fourth quarter.

Raymondville put up their only points of the second half when quarterback Bobby De La Paz found Richard

Villagomez in the end zone from 20 yards out as they trimmed the lead to 42-19 with 5:50 left in the contest.