MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — For the first time since their Week One loss to San Antonio Reagan, the Harlingen Cardinals offense looked to be at full strength and it showed as they turned in their best all-around performance of the year in the first half alone.
That’s all the Cardinals would need, however, to take down the Brownsville Hanna Golden Eagles 37-21 on Friday night at Boggus Stadium, giving Harlingen their second district win and their third in a row overall.
For Harlingen (3-2, 2-0), it was an all around performance early as its defense forced the Eagles (1-3, 0-2) into two turnovers on their first three possessions.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals offense punched in four first-half touchdowns behind the efforts of senior quarterback Bowie Davis – who returned to the lineup after sitting out five weeks with a calf injury – and running back Leo Tienda.
“The main thing is that we came out healthy. The effort was there. Bowie went out there and did some things that were good and some things that were not so good, but that’s part of it; he was out of commission for about five weeks,” Harlingen head coach Manny Gomez said. “It’s a great win because it was the next one. We’re 2-0 in district and we’re moving onto the next one.”
Davis posted 117 yards in the first half, including a 14-yard touchdown to A.J. Herrera, while Tienda scored on runs of 5 and 6 yards to start the game.
The win puts the Cardinals above .500 for the first time this season after starting the year 0-2.
On the other side, the Golden Eagles will start out the district season 0-2 after another slow start put them in a hole they could not get out of. A lot of that was due to penalties and the pressure the Cardinals put on quarterback Andy Lopez and the rest of the Eagles backfield.
“We weren’t in sync and they did a good job on defense. We moved the ball in spurts, but we would give up a sack or a penalty to put us back in the hole, so that was tough,” Hanna head coach Rene Medrano said. “We came out a little better in the second half and got some points. However, I told the team they need to come out and put together a complete game; it’s going to be a good team in this district.”
Davis came out passing in the first quarter and helped set up Tienda’s first score on a 5-yard run.
Tienda found the end zone again from 6 yards out late in the first to put the Cards up 14-0.
Hanna’s Lopez had a rough start after getting picked off by Harlingen’s Brandon Flores and Jesse Balli within the first four drives.
Lopez responded early in the second quarter with a 42-yard pass to Lucas Olivares to set up running back Jaime Gonzalez’s 33-yard run, cutting Harlingen’s lead in half.
Harlingen shut the door for good on the next two possessions with two touchdowns.
Tienda finished the night with three touchdowns and 129 yards rushing on 22 carries andDavis finished with 10-of-24 for 124 yards and a touchdown for Harlingen.
Hanna did outscore Harlingen 14-9 thanks to a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Lopez to Olivares. Lopez was 15 of 23 on the night for 278 yard, two touchdowns and one interception. Olivares caught nine passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns.