By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Last year, the Hanna defense was near the bottom of District 32-6A, allowing an average of 350 yards per game.
This season, although it’s only after one game, the Golden Eagles are near the top.
The difference was their ability to get constant pressure with the defensive line. Edinburg Economedes had seven different players that ran the ball Saturday, but none of them topped 45 yards on the night. The Hanna defensive line forced Economedes to make quick decisions and made them gamble on fourth down a few times. The Eagles stopped three fourth-down plays during the first half and added another one in the second half.
Many times during the game on third down, the Hanna defense came up with a sack or a loss of yards to help the offense with good field position and easier scoring opportunities.
Before Hanna’s game-winning drive, the Eagles’ defense had forced Economedes to punt near its own end zone and, after a decent punt and short return, allowed Hanna to start just inside midfield.
“They made the plays when they had to (Friday night), so that’s what’s important,” Hanna coach Rene Medrano said of the defense. “The defense came up with the plays when they needed to. That was big. That was really big.”
RUNNING WILD: Brownsville Veterans Memorial made it a point to gain a more balanced offense.
Against Donna High, the Chargers threw the ball more often, but their rushing attack looked as good as the one that led the district last season.
Senior quarterback Marcus Castillo was on point, completing 9 of 12 passes for 118 yards and one touchdown to senior receiver Jeremiah Meyers.
But Castillo used his legs more often, scrambling and weaving for 278 yards and four touchdowns. Running back Carlos Garza had 143 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Chargers accumulated 422 yards on the ground against the Redskins.
Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said running the ball ultimately helped the passing game down the stretch.
“We needed to control the clock a little bit more near the end, and we were able to throw it for some big conversions at the end,” Cantu said.
TOO MANY TURNOVERS: Lopez started off the season with too many miscues.
The Lobos didn’t help themselves against La Joya Palmview by turning the ball over seven times — four times during the first quarter and another three times in the last three quarters. Lopez threw five interceptions and fumbled the ball away twice.
La Joya Palmview took advantage, building a 36-point lead by halftime.
Despite the high number of mistakes, Lopez coach Jason Starkey said the game would have been different if the Lobos didn’t help La Joya Palmview start drives with good positions.
“That’s it right there (seven turnovers),” he said. “Field position is a killer when you turn the ball over, it changes, as does momentum. That’s what we’ve got to look at and see why that’s happening.”
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.