(Beeville) – Navarro dominated the Slot-T vs. Slot-T matchup in the 4A Division II area football playoffs Friday evening with 608 yards of total offense in a 55-7 dismantling of Port Isabel at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Beeville.
Nick Billings threw touchdowns passes to 64 and 61 yards to Seth Rodriguez and a 30-yarder to Jaxen Monkerud to finish with 155 passing yards on the night, and Antoine Mebane led the rushing attack with 141 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.
The Panthers decimated the Port Isabel defense to the tune of 453 rushing yards on 41 carries, limited the Tarpons to 187 total yards, build a 49-0 lead by halftime, won the turnover battle 5-1, and kept a clean sheet for most of the evening with only three penalties.
“Very happy with us cleaning it up a little bit, getting down on the penalties, and making sure we’re executing well,” Navarro head coach Rod Blount said. “Outstanding job from all of our guys, and it was great to see those young guys get in the ballgame and get to make some plays, and reward them for the work they’ve been doing for us in practice. It was awesome to see our guys come out and execute and be focused, hitting the good right off the bat.”
Colse Mouser added 97 rushing yards on just eight carries, including a 55-yard touchdown sprint in the second quarter.
Diego Chapa broke free for a 60-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and Ryatt Kluckman did the same from 36 yards out in the third period. Colton Chambers scored Navarro’s first touchdown on a three-yard run in the first quarter.
Monkerud and Jacob Frederick each came up with interceptions, and Monkerud recovered a fumble. Nick Billings and Jaden Gomez each recovered fumbles as well, and Brody Whitson forced one.
The touchdown passes from Billings to Rodriguez came on play-action bootlegs and helped Navarro race out to a 27-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. The touchdown pass to Monkerud made it 34-0 early in the second.
“We knew were going to need to do that,” Blount said. “They packed everybody in to stop the run. Nick did a great job, and sometimes people don’t understand how hard it is to hit that guy standing way over there by himself, and he did a great job of hitting him. Seth did a great job looking it in, making the catch, and doing a great job of running after the catch. Same thing with Monkerud, and that helps open things up.”
“The offense, they were hitting on everything tonight. The offensive line did a great job protecting and opening holes for the run.”
Port Isabel broke up the shutout with 9:59 left in the fourth quarter when Gilbert Medina scampered in from 20 yards out to cap a four-play, 60-yard drive.
Navarro (9-2) advances to face Sinton (11-1) in the Region IV semifinals this Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Texas State’s Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos. The Pirates beat La Grange 49-20 in the area round.
The Navarro – Sinton game will air live on KWED 1580-AM and Seguintoday.com. Friday’s pre-game coverage starts at 7 p.m.