By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial had trouble against the Harlingen High defensive pressure and never got on track.
The Chargers didn’t get their usually high-powered offense going and fell behind early in a 52-28 defeat to Harlingen High during a Week 9 District 32-6A game Thursday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Harlingen High’s defense forced three turnovers and running back Leo Tienda scored four touchdowns to lead the way for the Cardinals.
“That’s what defensive coaches want to do, put some pressure up early on and control the line of scrimmage,” Harlingen High coach Manny Gomez said. “I felt we were able to control the line of scrimmage, and it made them one-dimensional after a while. We knew we needed to come out here and stop the run game, and I thought we did a good job of that.”
The Chargers’ problems started early. The offense drove inside the 5-yard line of Harlingen High, but a fumble gave the ball to the Cardinals. Harlingen High turned it into a 34-yard field goal by Jose Martinez-Lugo in the first quarter.
During the second quarter, Harlingen High took control. Tienda scored on an 8-yard run, and a few minutes later Jesse Castro had a 14-yard touchdown run as the Cardinals were suddenly up 16-0 midway through the quarter.
On the Chargers ensuing drive, Marcus Castillo threw an interception and the Cardinals took advantage. Tienda scored on a 7-yard run for a 23-0 lead.
“It’s little things that we did wrong, and when you do little things wrong they add up and they become big things,” Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said. “Ultimately, that’s what happened. All those things that went wrong were caused by a good Harlingen (High) Cardinals football team, so kudos to them.”
Brownsville Veterans finally got on the board late in the quarter when Carlos Garza scored on a 20-yard run, but the Chargers trailed 23-7 at the break.
During the third quarter, Brownsville Veterans fumbled on its first drive of the half and Tienda scored on a 17-yard run to give the Cardinals a 29-7 lead. Castro added to it with a 5-yard touchdown run, and Tienda scored on a 21-yard run.
The Harlingen High defense also added a safety to take a 45-7 lead.
“You always have to give credit to the offensive line, (without them) you can’t go anywhere,” Gomez said. “(Tienda) is very spirited, he has a lot of want-to, and you put him behind that offensive line and it was a good showing tonight.”
Tienda finished with 267 yards rushing and the four scores on 27 carries.
Brownsville Veterans cut into the deficit during the fourth quarter as Castillo hit Jeremiah Meyers on a 10-yard touchdown pass, and later Omar Rodriguez scored on a 4-yard run to make it 45-21.
But Jonathan Hernandez added an 11-yard run for Harlingen High to push the lead to 52-21.
The Chargers’ Fabian Roque scored on an 8-yard run late in the quarter to make it a 52-28 game, but it wasn’t enough against the Cardinals.
Gomez said the Cardinals previous two games helped his team against the Chargers.
“I truly believe the two intense football games that we played against San Benito and Los Fresnos, that game speed, it prepares you,” he said. “We came off two big games that required a lot of effort, and it prepared us for that. That’s why you want to play stiff competition so it can prepare you, especially for the playoffs.
“Today we came here and did a great job, I’m happy for the kids.”
Cantu said the team couldn’t dwell on the loss. It must fix its issues and get back to work.
“I feel we’re in such a tough district, we’re just going to look forward,” he said. “We’re going to learn from this, learn from the little mistakes we made and move forward.”
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.