Brownsville HannaBy ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Hanna’s offense already seemed to be running on all cylinders.
Andres Lopez, the junior quarterback, did it through the air and on the ground, leading Hanna to a 21-14 win during the live action portion of a scrimmage against Weslaco High on Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“Andy ran when he needed to run, threw the ball well,” Hanna coach Rene Medrano said. “The receivers had some clutch catches to help continue drives, and we got some decent running out of our backs at crucial times when we needed it. Some good hard yards that I’m looking for.”
The Eagles and Panthers played to a tie during the controlled version of the scrimmage as each team scored twice.
Weslaco High didn’t waste anytime, hitting a streaking Brian Guerra on a 70-yard pass play on the first play from scrimmage. The Panthers continued to run the ball but failed to get anything else going during their first 15 plays.
Hanna didn’t waste time to even the score. Lopez hit Lucas Olivares on a 66-yard catch and run for a touchdown on its second play from scrimmage.
The second teams for each squad followed a similar script. Weslaco High again got off to a quick start, using three runs to cover 70 yards, capped by a 13-yard run for a touchdown by Eric Gonzalez. The Eagles evened the score again five plays later when Olivares, once again, got open and caught a 17-yard pass in the end zone.
“We came out and executed. We wanted to have a good practice against a really good team, so we came out and did that,” Medrano said. “We may have got a big play here and there, but we still have a lot to work on and there’s no reason to get excited now.”
During the live action portion of the scrimmage, Weslaco High drove 70 yards in 14 plays finished off by a 27-yard pass caught by Gonzalez to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead.
Hanna answered with a 70-yard drive, aided by two Weslaco High penalties, and finished with a 9-yard touchdown run by Jamie Gonzalez.
“I thought our defense play really well, but in the game situation we had two unsportsmanlike penalties that resulted in scores,” Weslaco High coach Tony Villarreal said. “We teach aggression, but you have to be under control. We were out of control and it cost us, but I would rather it cost us now than later.”
After the Hanna defense forced Weslaco High to punt and two more plays, Lopez found an open man for a 70-yard strike to give the Eagles a 14-7 lead.
After Hanna punted to start the second quarter, Weslaco High evened the score two plays later as Guerra found an opening down the sideline for a 73-yard score.
“We had a few situations where we needed to straighten up, but I was impressed with our top running backs,” Villarreal said. “Our fullbacks did real well, and all those guys are returning starters. So we expected our backs to run well, our line broke down here and there, but they’re new, our secondary is new and that’s where they torched us.
“It’s a process, we’ll improve. Hanna did a helluva job, they deserve all the credit. They did a great job.”
After the teams traded punts, Hanna took the lead for good with a 13-yard run from Gonzalez to seal the victory.
But Medrano was cautious to take much from the Eagles first scrimmage.
“We’re going to go back and see the film, and we’re probably going to see a lot things we did wrong,” he said. “I guarantee that we need to correct. It’s good to get out (of) here without anyone really injured, and we’ll move on.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.