MEETING OLD FRIENDS

Monty Stumbaugh will see a lot of familiar faces on the other side of the field.

Before hired as Port Isabel head coach in 2001, Stumbaugh served as offensive coordinator from 1996-2000 with the Cuero Gobblers. As one of the premier powers in Class 3A, Stumbaugh enjoyed much success with Cuero, including the 1998 season where he coached the Gobblers to the state championship game against Aledo, now a Class 4A program.

Seven years later, Stumbaugh goes up against his former team for the first time in the Class 3A Division II area round contest at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi. The seventh-year Tarpon coach said five members of the Gobbler coaching staff are still there and still have plenty of friends that live in the small community.

“You always want to coach against your buddies,” Stumbaugh said. “We figured we were gonna play them in the second or fourth round if we got lucky.”

While the reunion will be nice, make no mistake about it, Stumbaugh is there for one reason and one reason only—to continue the conquest of playing December football. With a win tonight, the Tarpons (7-3 overall) would play in the third round for the first time in three years and would fall either a day short or right on target to playing in December.

“We would love to get back to that third round,” Stumbaugh said. “We had one plan and that’s to play December football. That’s what we talked to the kids about.”

At this stage of the playoffs, Port Isabel knows it has to crank up the volume a few notches. Stumbaugh sees it more like full volume. This Cuero team (9-2) is one he has high praise for. In fact, he called the Gobblers the fastest team the Tarpons have faced since playing against Marlin in the 2003 Class 3A state semi-final. The Gobblers blew out Mathis 64-7 in their bi-district match last week. The attack is led by running back Quincy Whittington (1,278 yards, 17 touchdowns), quarterback Tyler Arndt (107-of-152, 1,985 yards, 20 touchdowns), who hasn’t thrown a single pick this season. It will be a true test for the Seawall Defense that gave up only 146 yards (third lowest allowed this season) and had five sacks against Raymondville in PI’s bi-district win last week. The Tarpons also had three turnovers and 12 penalties for 85 yards. Stumbaugh knows they can’t give Cuero a short field or it can be disastrous.

“They can score like bang,” Stumbaugh said. “It don’t take long. They’re very explosive. We must play good, sound defense and keep the big play from them. They’re gonna score points.”

So the game plan is obvious. Keep the dangerous Cuero offense off the field as much as possible. It also helps that the weather in Corpus Christi calls for wet and cold conditions, which can play into the Tarpons’ favor.

Another breakout game for running back Nolan Nuñez would put him near or even over the 2,000 yard mark. The senior enters with 1,781 yards and has scored 22 touchdowns in 10 games played. Stumbaugh credits the offensive line as well as Roli Alaniz, who Stumbaugh referred him as “a heck of a blocker.” First-cousin and quarterback David Alaniz (60-of-116, 911 yards, seven touchdowns) has the capability to hurt opponents with his arm. The senior was nearly flawless in the bi-district contest completing 9-of-11 for 101 yards and two scores.

“(We have to) try to control the line of scrimmage and not outrun them sideline to sideline,” Stumbaugh said. “Make their secondary make tackles.”

The victor of this game would then face the winner of the Wimberly/Lytle contest in the Class 3A regional round. One thing is for sure, Stumbaugh is not ready to end this ride yet.

“I hope to shake hands with them (after the game) and tell them good luck in basketball,” Stumbaugh said.