By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
We’re in Week 3 of the season and the Harlingen South Hawks are still searching for a victory.
In order to get in the win column this week, however, the Hawks (0-2) must overcome a team trying to rebound from their own blowout loss as they host the Weslaco East Wildcats tonight.
South head coach Lanny Wilson isn’t expecting anything less than two much-improved squads from a week ago heading into this one.
“We’re going to get better week after week, but we have another tough challenge,” Wilson said. “East is a tough team with a great coach who does a good job of getting his team tough.
“We’re both resilient teams and we’re not going to just sit back and take losses — I expect a better Weslaco East and a better Harlingen South.”
The Wildcats fell to 1-1 on the year after falling to San Benito 47-23 last Friday thanks to problems on defense and turnovers on offense, but have worked on putting the loss behind them as quickly as possible.
“We can’t go back in time and change what happened,” East head coach Mike Burget told The Monitor this week. “We can only move forward and do our best to prepare and get ready to go up against a good, well coached Harlingen South team.”
In the Hawks’ 70-40 loss to Edinburg Vela, their defense yielded more than 400 yards of total offense and has given up more than 500 yards on the ground this season.
The Hawks have faced a slew of tough offenses this preseason and will see another as Weslaco East trots out 31-6A’s leading rusher Emilio Tamez (309 yards 4TD).
“We’re a young team trying to get the right players in the right positions. We obviously have to get better on defense to be good,” Wilson said. “We played Vela, McAllen Memorial, Weslaco and now Weslaco East during the preseason and they’re good teams — we won’t play many teams of that caliber the rest of the way.”
South has averaged 369 yards per game on offense and have the ability to put up points against a Wildcat defense struggling to find an identity.
“We’re just trying to find out the kids who will step up and make plays,” Burget said. “We’re looking for the ones that will play with good technique and make good blocks, get tackles or create lanes for our running back or quarterbacks. We’re just trying to find an overall 11 that will click together.”
A BOOST AT QB
South got better with the return of quarterback Brandon Villarreal, who missed the first game with an ankle injury.
In his return he rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns and passed for another.
Villarreal’s return gives the Hawks another option at QB.
Second quarterback Troy Jensen has looked good during his first two outings, passing for four touchdowns and 198 yards.
“It’s really good to have them, because both are unique,” Wilson said. “Brandon is a good runner and can throw, but I think Troy throws a better ball. It’s nice to have just in case of injuries like we’ve had in the past.”