KEVIN NARRO | Valley Morning Star
HARLINGEN — The Harlingen South Hawks will look to right their recent wrongs tonight in the Valley Morning Star’s Game of the Week.
Harlingen South has dropped its first two district games (and last four in a row overall) against tough opponents in Harlingen and Los Fresnos. Tonight the Hawks host Brownsville Hanna, which comes in hot at 2-0 in league play.
“The kids understand the situation,” said Hawks head coach Brian Ricci. “We’re in the toughest district in the Valley, for sure, and we started off with two very good teams. We know we have played a couple of tough teams. I thought last week we played better and although the score didn’t reflect it, I was pleased with the way the offense played. The kids are playing hard and that’s all we can ask for.”
Hanna is under second-year head coach Mark Guess and are led by quarterback Victor Campos and running back Joe Cavazos III.
This season the Eagles have seen their offense average 33 points per game. The rushing attack from the Eagles features multiple backs and last week Cavazos broke out with a 181-yard, two-touchdown performance.
After their Week One loss against Edinburg Economedes, Hanna’s offense has scored 30 or more points in each of its last four games. Their season high in points came in a Week Three win over Mission, 45-28.
Torres tabbed South’s QB: For the first three games of the season, the Hawks turned to senior quarterback Dylan Carreon. However, since their district opener against Harlingen, South has gone with sophomore David Torres.
The young gunslinger threw the ball well in his last outing, going 14 for 32 for 171 yards. Torres will start under center against Hanna tonight.
“He is a student of the game,” said Ricci. “Although he is a sophomore, he has a brilliant mind for the game and I thought he played well against Los Fresnos. Our offense did some good things moving forward. One other positive was we didn’t turn the ball over and that has hurt us in the past.”
Hawks look for balance on offense: Senior running back Jorge Alicea will miss his second straight game tonight. Alicea suffered a sprained ankle against Harlingen and missed last week’s game.
Without their feature back, South looks to spread the ball around through the air and on the ground. Last week Emilo Quiroz led the back field with 29 carries for 95 yards. However, look for the speedy Jaime Belmontes to get some touches out of the back field as well.