PI Tarpons Article

[NewYorkYankee]

http://www.rgvsports.com/articles/stumbaugh_203___article.xml/yards_year.html

[TarponFanInNorthTexas]

GO Tarpons!

Nice article, finally one of the local papers does an article on the Tarpons.

[Old Green]

Good article on the Tarpons.
Of the 21 letterman returning, how many are Starters ?

[TarponFanInNorthTexas]

I'd say about 11 of them were starters.

Several of those 21 were Sophomores as well, some of which earned starting spots as the season went on due to injuries or grades.

Others were backups that had some significant playing time, like the 2 RBs that are coming back, Diego Garcia and Nolan Nunez.

And to top it all off, a "Super Sophomore" group coming up.....gonna be a fun next few years for Port Isabel.

[footballgal]

http://www.rgvsports.com/sports/tarpons_217___article.xml/season_stumbaugh.html

http://admin.onset.freedom.com/pictures/rgvsports/1187056702-portisabelpractice3.jpg

PI looks to continue building on winning tradition
By PAUL CONATZER/Valley Morning Star

Aug 13, 2007 8:56 pm


PORT ISABEL — At 11 in the morning, the South Texas heat is already relentless.

And without any hint of wind, the Port Isabel practice field felt almost like a cauldron on Monday.

Tarpons’ head coach Monty Stumbaugh knows that the groundwork that is needed to meet the expectations that come with being the Port Isabel Tarpons is being laid on this hot August day.

“We’re doing pretty good,” said Stumbaugh, who is starting his seventh season as the head coach at PI.

“We worked hard during preseason,” he continued. “We did a lot of running. I think we are ahead of where we were last year. I don’t know how much, but we are ahead. The kids are in pretty good shape.”

As usual, the Tarpons enter the season with plenty of expectations and Stumbaugh welcomes them.

“The kids know what is expected of them. We want those expectations,” he said.

With three state semifinal appearances (1981, 1994 and 2003) and playoff appearances being routine, the expectations for the Tarpons are high indeed.

So with that in mind, the Tarpons have a grueling next few weeks lined up.

The Tarpons scrimmage against traditional rival Los Fresnos on Aug. 18, follow that up with a scrimmage against Class 4A playoff contender Mercedes on Aug. 24 and then open the regular season at home against Edcouch-Elsa on Aug. 31. The Yellowjackets have won 36-straight regular season games, the longest streak in Valley history.

“We’ll know where we stand after those two scrimmages and that first game,” said Stumbaugh.
The Tarpons have a good mix of youth and experience, including five returning starters on offense and six on defense.

“We need to find a front four,” said Stumbaugh. “We have all our linebackers back (Osiel Perales, Nick LeBlanc and Rolando Perales), but we need the front four to keep guys off them.”

The Tarpons are also solid with quarterback David Alaniz and running back Nolan Nuñez among the returnees.

“We worked really hard in offseason,” Nuñez said. “We want to go further than we did last season.”

The Tarpons went 9-3 in 2006, winning the District 32-3A title. But they lost in the second round of the playoffs to Orange Grove, 12-7.