MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
During their first win over Brownsville Lopez last Friday, the Hawks moved down the field consistently off the legs of their running backs.
Steven Rodriguez is usually the back who has been known to take up the work horse role in the South offense, but this week he was joined by junior Adrian Torres.
The pair combined for 252 yards on 34 carries.
Rodriguez scored two touchdowns, but Torres carried the ball 20 times for 139 of those yards.
It would have been more, but a pair of holding calls negated a pair of long runs, one of which was a would-be touchdown.
CLUTCH CARDS: The Harlingen Cardinals have won four games in a row.
In three of those wins, late surges by the Cards put away close games.
In those games, Harlingen outscored McAllen, Weslaco, Rivera and Hanna 87-28 in the second half.
While it’s good to be clutch, Harlingen head coach many Gomez would like to see a faster start to games.
“We instill in the guys that they have to finish,” Gomez said. “Sometimes I feel that these guys get started late. We can’t expect to just experience challenges, we have to provide them, too; it’s called adversity.
“We’ve handled it well, but we need to provide those challenges, but we’re still a working progress.”
The Cardinal offense has averaged 33.6 points per game this season.
TOUGH STRETCH: The San Benito Greyhounds took their first district loss last week after falling to Los Fresnos 14-7 on a late touchdown.
It doesn’t get much easier for the Greyhounds as they try to keep pace in a competitive District 32-6A.
The Greyhound face two more of the district’s toughest teams when they visit Harlingen this week and then host Brownsville Veterans the following week.
Harlingen has a similair schedule coming up with San Benito, Los Fresons and Brownsville Vets on deck.