By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
With only six teams in District 32-6A this season and four playoff spots up for grabs, an 0-2 start creates a big hurdle on the road to the postseason.
After losing to San Benito during last week’s district opener, the Harlingen High Cardinals face that possibility heading into today’s 2 p.m. matchup with the Hanna Golden Eagles at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Still, Harlingen High coach Manny Gomez said his team is in high spirits after what he called a lively week of practice and is still eyeing a district title.
“We still envision being a district champion,” the Cardinals coach said. “In this district, everybody is capable of winning, and only time will tell. We do know that (today) we’re going in excited to play the Hanna Eagles. It’ll be a great challenge, and until then we’ll continue to remain humble and hungry.”
Harlingen High (2-3, 0-1) has an opportunity to end a three-game skid this season and snap a now five-game district losing streak dating to last season. It must get by Hanna (4-1, 1-0) which comes in winning its last three games, including a 48-0 throttling of Rivera last week.
Like Gomez, Golden Eagles coach Mark Guess understands the district parity and is not going to be fooled by the Cardinals’ record.
“While (the) record doesn’t show what kind of team they really are, they’re a good football team,” Guess said. “They have some really good players, are coached well, and we’re going to have to come out and play the same way we have the last several weeks. We have to come out fast, try to get things going in a hurry and try to put the clamps down on people defensively.”
The Golden Eagles come in leading the district in offense (418 yards per game).
Against Rivera, Hanna rushed for 340 yards and had three different players carrying for at least 60, including 95 from leading rusher Cesar Mancias.
Golden Eagles quarterback Victor Campos threw for 191 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Ernest Mendoza, who also rushed for a score.
Guess will rely on that unit to have another big night against Gomez’s defense.
“It’s really nice to have that many different weapons on the field at one time,” Guess said. “I think they’re coached well, they make plays in practice and put in a lot of great effort to make plays in practice, and it carries over to the game. Having receivers able to make plays really opens things up for Mancias or whoever we have back there running the ball. Any given night, one of those playmakers can go off.”
Harlingen High is ready for the threats Hanna’s offense presents, as the Cardinals’ defense is allowing 357 yards and 25.2 points per game per game to opposing offenses.
“Hanna is a well-balanced football team,” Gomez said. “We’re going to look forward to the challenge. Hanna is a well-coached team and at the same time very talented. Our responsibility is to accept these challenges and live up to the hype. We also want to go out there, play hard and have fun.”
Hanna’s defense, which leads the district in allowing 257 yards per game, will have its hands full against dual-threat quarterback Jaime Galvan.
Galvan leads the third-best offense in the district (321 yards per game) and has done it all this season. He leads the district in passing with 904 yards and eight touchdowns, and also has rushed for seven more scores, including four last week against San Benito.
“Our defense does a lot in film study on their own to prepare mentally,” Guess said. “Physically we’ll be ready. It’s just making sure we stay true to what we’re coaching them up to do and making sure they do their job.”
Gomez is a firm believer that his team can get it done on both sides of the ball, the Cardinals just need to put it all together when it counts the most.
“We need a unified team effort,” he said. “We’ve been here and there offensively, and here and there defensively. We need to bring it together as one because that’s a part of the winning or losing factor. That’s been our vision this week, coming together as a team because we have to win big games like they are in 32-6A.”