MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — It looked like the Harlingen South Hawks’ defensive shutout of the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers’ offense in the second half would open the door for the offense to steal a win late.
Instead, the Chargers’ special teams made the play of the night.
On a fourth-and-16 play, Harlingen South’s punt was blocked and returned for the game-winning touchdown by Brownsville Veterans middle linebacker Joe Ibarra to lift the Chargers over the Hawks 28-21 Friday night at Boggus Stadium in Harlingen.
Brownsville Veterans head coach David Cantu wasn’t surprised to be shut out offensively in the second half by the Hawks, but he was confident his team could make a play late.
“We knew we were playing a great football team coached by a great staff. Coach (Lanny) Wilson is the best there is at halftime adjustments; I’m proud we were able to come out on top,” Cantu said.
“We had been working on that punt block all week and holy cow it paid off. Joe Ibarra blocked it and took it in. Coach (J.C.) Ramirez is our special teams coordinator and has worked that all week, so great job there”
The Hawks (1-3, 0-1) did adjust after allowing a pair of 47-yard touchdown runs by The Brownsville Veterans (3-1, 1-0) offense, but held the Chargers scoreless on five drives in the second half.
South couldn’t capitalize in the end after the Hawks got the ball in a tie game with 6:32 left and looked to be in control following a 34-yard pass from Jimmy Morton to Alec Garza.
The next three plays would go for minus 6 yards, forcing the final punt.
It was another example of little things the Hawks could clean up.
“Our effort was good enough, but we still have some small mistakes to fix. We have got to learn to win and we have got to learn to finish,” South head coach Lanny Wilson said. “We are a lot better than we were a few weeks ago, but we need to win. It needs to show up in the win column. There are six more games to go and we’re going to come out and work tomorrow.”
In the first half the Hawks showed no signs of the sluggish offense that posted just 17 points in two outings, as they took their first two drives down for a touchdowns led by Morton under center.
The junior quarterback fed a 14-yard catch and run to Bobby Castro and then ran in a five-yard keeper.
That gave South a 14-7 lead, but two 47-yard touchdowns scored by Brownsville Veterans’ running back Carlos Garza and quarterback Marcus Castillo gave the Chargers momentum.
Following Garza’s run that tied the game at 14 with 5:24 to go in the half, South’s Steven Rodriguez fumbled the ball and the Chargers turned around and scored on a 16-yard Derrick Rodriguez run, giving them a 21-14 lead at the half.
Castillo led Brownsville Vets with 17 carries for 133 yards and one touchdown and added 25 yards through the air and an interception, while Garza rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown.
The second half was a defensive struggle as the Chargers mounted just 72 yards of offense compared to their 203 in the first half and turned the ball over once due to a stout South defense.
The only score came from South on a Javier Olvera run that capped off a 10-play, 63-yard drive that lasted six minutes and tied the game late in the third 21-21.
Morton led the Hawks going 15 of 24 through the air for 175 yards, two touchdowns (one rushing) and an interception, while Rodriguez gained 142 yards on 14 carries.