Special to the MonitorPort Isabel quarterback Don Guillot drops back to pass during a 1981 state quarterfinal game against Hondo. The Tarpons won the game 10-0 and advanced to the state semifinals.
100 Greatest - No. 4 Team: 1981 Port Isabel
’81 team punctuated PI runAugust 6, 2008 - 6:47PM
By Brian Sandalow | The MonitorAfter Port Isabel beat Hondo 10-0 in the 1981 state quarterfinals, there was only a minimal sense of achievement or happiness. Yes, that win gave the Tarpons the first 13-win season in the Rio Grande Valley since Weslaco's run in 1955, and it also got them into the semifinals after two straight years of quarterfinal disappointments.
But, frankly, coach Tommy Roberts and his team, which was voted the fourth-greatest in the history of Valley football, expected more. The goal for that Tarpons team was easy to identify: a state championship.
"We felt like we could go all the way, and we had the opportunity to do it," Roberts said. "Those kids had been with us since freshman year. They had been through the offseason program and came up with the Tarpon spirit. They were confident they could go and felt like they had the opportunity."
That opportunity ended in the state semifinals with a 25-14 loss to Cameron Yoe. Not only was it the first loss of the season, it punctuated Roberts' four-year run at Port Isabel, with the veteran coach resigning one month later. That defeat also marked the end of one of the most dominating seasons in the Valley, one in which the Tarpons outscored their opponents 419-53.
"My senior year we should have won state," PI quarterback and safety Donald Guillot said in 2006. "(Cameron Yoe) was a good team and well-coached. They just capitalized on our mistakes."
Roberts said the game was "very emotional. It didn't take anything away from that group of kids. They were winners all the way."
The defense, led by all-state selections Donny Martin and Guillot, allowed only 150.8 yards per game. During the playoffs, the Tarpons allowed 40 of the 53 total points they surrendered, with Hebbronville scoring 15 on Port Isabel in a 33-15 bi-district win. Up to that point, PI hadn't allowed double-digits in any game.
Roberts remembers the reaction La Feria fans had when the Lions scored the first touchdown of the year against PI, in the Tarpons' seventh game.
"I very seldom notice anything in the stands, but one of my coaches came up to me and said, ‘Listen to what they're screaming up there,'" Roberts said. "The La Feria fans were screaming, ‘We scored on you!'"
That Tarpons team, however, didn't win games just because of its defense. Led by Guillot (637 yards, nine TDs) and running backs Terry Roberts (134 carries, 850 yards, nine touchdowns) and Mike Markle (113 carries, 716 yards), the Tarpons' offense averaged 307 yards per game, the third-highest total in the Valley that year.
"We had a tremendous defense and a great offense, and you put them together ... And, I don't ever want to fail to give the coaching staff accolades, too. We had a great staff," Roberts said. "We had it all. We just ran up against a really strong team. It could have went either way."
Since that 1981 team, only two others (1994 Tarpons and 1997 Edcouch-Elsa) have won 13 games. Roberts, who went on to coach in the USFL and then San Benito, sounded genuinely appreciative of the chance to coach the '81 Tarpons.
"Great players make you a great coach," Roberts said. "Yes, we had speed, strength, intelligence at all positions. We were there.
"That team just did everything right. They were a team that had been together for three years. They had all the components. They had camaraderie, the chemistry was there. Just the things you want, and that's one of the years we made it through."
Brian Sandalow covers high school sports for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436. For this and more local stories, visit
www.rgvsports.com.
THE SERIES
With the 100th season of high school football in the Rio Grande Valley upon us, The Monitor will take a look at the top 25 coaches, top 25 teams and top 50 players of all time.
THE TEAMS
1: TBA
AUGUST 10
2: TBA
AUGUST 9
3: TBA
AUGUST 8
4: PORT ISABEL
1981
5: PSJA High
1962
6: Mission High
1990
7: Weslaco High
1955
8: San Benito
1961
9: Edcouch-Elsa
1997
10: Donna
1935
11: Mercedes
1957
12: Port Isabel
1994
13: McAllen High
1952
14: Edinburg High
1999
15: Mission High
1987
16: Edinburg High
1953
17: Harlingen High
1989
18: Harlingen High
1994
19: Los Fresnos
2006
20: Edcouch-Elsa
2005
21: Port Isabel
1990
22: Port Isabel
2003
23: McAllen High
1975
24: Sharyland
1961
25: San Benito
2004
WHY THEY VOTED:
Here's a summary of Port Isabel's 1981 season, which played a major part in their ranking at No. 4:
In the previous two seasons, Port Isabel had been eliminated in the state quarterfinal round, losing 21-6 to Edna in 1979 and by penetrations to Van Vleck.
Prior to the Tarpons' 13-win season, only Bobby Lackey's 1955 Weslaco Panthers had won more than 12 games in a season.
During the regular season, opponents only scored 13 points against P.I. The Tarpons reached the state semifinals with wins over Hebbronville (33-15), Refugio (36-0) and Hondo (10-0).
Since 1981, only two Valley teams have matched the Tarpons' win total.
www.rgvsports.com/articles/roberts_2439___article.html/tarpons_state.html
