By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — As is tradition with all rivalries, bragging rights are on the line.
For Bird Bowl XXII, there isn’t too much else to play for in the season finale for Harlingen and Harlingen South.
When the two meet tonight at Boggus Stadium, only seeding and hopes of a share of the District 32-6A title are all that will matter for the playoff-bound Cardinals, while South tries to finish its season with a win.
Both teams, however, come in with a bit of momentum, as the Cards come in riding a two-game winning streak following losses to San Benito and Los Fresnos last month, while South defeated San Benito in a 21-20 thriller led by their defense.
The Hawks have hadsome close losses due to mistakes by a young squad, but being out of the playoff picture hasn’t changed the mindset for the Hawks going into tonight’s Bird Bowl.
“We’re out here practicing like we have all year. These guys come out here and practice hard and you’d think we were in the playoffs just by how hard we practice” South head coach Lanny Wilson said. “We’ll see how it goes because Harlingen is a great opponent. They’ve gotten a lot better during the season and it’s going to be a big challenge for us. We just have to go out and play as hard as we can.”
The Hawks, like the Cardinals, have had injuries this season.
Both lost their starting quarterbacks.
Harlingen’s Bowie Davis’ season was cut short after a foot injury at San Benito, while South‘s Jimmy Morton hurt his leg in their loss to Rivera.
However, both, have moved the ball better in recent weeks.
Last week the Hawks’ defense was led by a defense that shut out San Benito in the second half and forced five turnovers.
The effort made a touchdown pass from South quarterback Abram Gutierrez to Darren Perez midway through the fourth quarter the game-winner.
With the Hawks playing well, Harlingen head coach Manny Gomez isn’t expecting their cross-town rival to break easily in a rivalry series that Harlingen has dominated.
“South has some confidence and determination. They play hard over there and Coach Wilson does a good job over there,” Gomez said. “You can’t see their record and judge them by their record. As a coach you know the effort and want-to from them. It’s going to be a dog fight and we expect a hard physical football game.”
Last week Harlingen’s Leo Tienda scored a trio of first half touchdowns, two on the ground and another on a pass from quarterback Jesse Castro, helping the Cards to a 35-16 win over the Lopez Lobos.
Harlingen comes in ranked second in the district behind Rivera in total defense, allowing 274 yards a game, while the Hawks are fourth with 310 a game.
For Gomez, the Cards’ resurgence the last couple of weeks has been timed just right.
“What you’ve seen the last few weeks is how we’ve been playing, but the injuries have overshadowed that. Now, the offense has gotten healthy and they’re playing lights out. If you want to be successful, it’s a team effort,” Gomez said. “We have talented kickers on special teams as well; it’s all coming together at the right time.”
Harlingen leads the Bird Bowl series 17-4 and has won the last six meetings.
South’s last win was a 21-7 victory in 2007.