By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Hanna, which trailed at the break, needed a jumpstart in the second half against Weslaco High.
Senior receiver Joe Cavazos III provided that spark, scoring a pair of touchdowns to give the Golden Eagles the lead for good and the defense held stout in the end in a 38-35 win over the Panthers in The Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week on Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
The victory gave the Eagles their second District 32-6A win.
“We just believe in the system and believe in our players,” Cavazos III said. “It feels great, it’s an amazing start and my team and I are going to be confident going into the next game.”
Cavazos III totaled 181 yards on nine carries and scored on a 47-yarder and then an 80-yard gallop for another touchdown to give Hanna a 24-21 lead with 9:48 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles (4-1, 2-0) never trailed again.
Weslaco High (1-3, 0-2) tried to rally in the fourth quarter after trailing 38-21. The Panthers got a 3-yard touchdown run from Matthew De Santiago with 7:03 left to play and when Hanna fumbled on its ensuing drive, Seth Sanchez returned it 82 yards for a score to cut the deficit to 38-35 with 3:06 remaining.
Hanna was forced to punt on its last drive and the defense sealed it with an interception by Andres Sustaeta to quell the Weslaco High comeback.
“We love every one of our guys, I wouldn’t trade them for the world,” Weslaco High coach Michael Salinas said. “I’m a little disappointed in the outcome, but as a head coach, I take responsibility and have to do a better job. A couple breaks here and there, maybe the outcomes different … but we’re faced with adversity and I’m fully confident our kids are going to respond.”
The Eagles defense finished with four interceptions, a forced fumble and a sack and Hanna needed every one of them to hold off the Panthers.
“We felt we had the momentum (going into halftime) and we felt we just had to play,” Hanna coach Mark Guess said. “We had to execute, score when we got the ball on offense, get the lead and get some stops and that’s pretty much what happened.
“I said early in the week that the defense that plays the best is going to win this game … I guess I was very prophetic.”
Weslaco High got on the board first in the opening quarter. Senior running back Matthew De Santiago capped off the first drive of the game with a 2-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead with 9:23 to go in the first.
After Hanna threw an interception, the Panthers took advantage after senior quarterback Marco Leal threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Jay Granados and a 14-0 edge with 7:01 left in the first.
Weslaco High then threw back-to-back interceptions — both picked by junior cornerback Alcee Flores — but Hanna couldn’t capitalize, punting on one drive and threw an interception of its own on the next possession.
The Eagles got on track and sophomore quarterback Victor Campos connected with senior receiver Rolando Ramirez on a 19-yard strike for a touchdown to cut the deficit in half with 5:52 to go in the second quarter.
After another Weslaco High interception — this one by junior linebacker Isaac Iracheta — the Eagles got a 34-yard field goal by Miguel Payan as time expired in the first half to make it a 14-10 ballgame.
“Getting that field goal right before the half ended up being the difference in the ball game,” Guess said.
With the momentum to end the first half, Hanna took advantage early in the third quarter. Cavazos III scored on a 47-yard run to hand the Eagles a 17-10 lead with 10:39 left in the quarter.
Weslaco High answered to retake the lead at 21-17 after a 69-yard burst by sophomore quarterback Jacob Cavazos.
Hanna responded just 12 seconds later as Joe Cavazos III scored on an 80-run to retake the lead 24-21. The Eagles extended that lead after a fumble recovery as Campos found Christian Cavazos in the end zone after a 5-yard pass to push the lead to 31-21 with 6:42 left in the third.
On their next drive, Campos found Christopher Cardenas on a 46-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 38-21 just eight seconds into the fourth quarter before Weslaco High tried to rally.
Campos finished with three touchdowns to go with 99 yards through the air. Junior running back Cesar Mancias ended his night with 43 yards on the ground.
Jacob Cavazos finished with 96 yards and a touchdown on the ground and De Santiago added 93 yards and two scores for Weslaco High.
“Hats off to Hanna, but I feel like we let one slip away,” Salinas said. “As the head coach, that’s my fault. I told them we loved them and we’re going to go back to work … when it doesn’t go your way and you’re faced with some adversity, you have to work a little harder.”
Hanna stayed unbeaten in District 32-6A, but knew it wouldn’t going to be easy coming into the game.
“It’s a big win because Weslaco is such a great team,” Guess said. “We knew it was going to be a dog fight, but credit to them, they played their tails off. In the end we just made a few more plays than they did and it’s big because it gets us to 2-0 in district.
“Nothing else really matters right now.”
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.