Harlingen High’s Debra Hernandez and her Lady Cardinals start the District 32-6A schedule with a tough game against crosstown rivals Harlingen South Friday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. at Boggus Stadium.
Hernandez will lead the Lady Cards against her former coach Omar Pedroza in a highly anticipated matchup. Hernandez played four years for Pedroza and was also his assistant before taking over the Harlingen program.
“I’m a little nervous,” said Hernandez. “But we’re just trying to prepare ourselves the best we can to go out there and get the win. The girls feel confident, but at the same time a little nervous because they want to be as prepared as possible. As of now, South has been one of the dominate teams of the group.”
Meanwhile, Pedroza has plenty of respect for this former player.
“Debra was one of the best players that ever played for me,” he said. “She was a really good player and I have a lot of respect for her as a coach as well.
“But anytime you play these games against Harlingen it’s always going to be tough no matter what the record is because there are always families that are split between the two schools.”
Both teams will be looking to start the season off with a win in an extremely completive District 32-6A. Last years realignment added Weslaco High and Weslaco East to the league. However, it also dropped power programs like Brownsville Lopez and Brownsville Veterans Memorial.
“We have a tough start to the season,” said Harlingen South head coach Omar Pedroza. “We start off the season against a tough Harlingen team that won the Edcouch tournament and then play Los Fresnos, then Brownsville Hanna.”
SHAKE UP IN CLASS 4A: District 32-6A wasn’t the only area conference to experience some changes during the offseason. Some teams that played in 32-4A are now in District 31-4A.
Port Isabel, Brownsville IDEA Frontier, La Feria, Rio Hondo Raymondville and Lyford (girls only) make up District 31-4A.
The newly realigned district begins its schedule next month.