By JESUS SANCHEZ | The Brownsville Herald
The Hanna Golden Eagles scored on six out of 10 drives and once on an interception, earning a 48-0 victory in their battle against the Rivera Raiders to kick off District 32-6A play.
Eagles receiver Ernest Mendoza led the team with three touchdowns, 56 yards on four catches and 27 rushing yards on one carry.
“ All of our hard work finally paid off,” he said. “All we do is practice every day and go hard, and we knew we were going to come out with the victory but I’m just excited with this dub. Starting 1-0 in district, that’s all we wanted.”
Mendoza was the first Eagles player to hit paydirt after a 24-yard pass from quarterback Victor Campos. The other two touchdowns for Mendoza came from a 15-yard pass from Campos and a 27-yard run.
Campos also threw a 23-yard pass to Miguel Payan early in the first quarter to put the Eagles up 13-0.
On the Eagles’ next possession, the junior quarterback ran 1 yard to the end zone with 52 seconds left in the first quarter.
When it seemed the Raiders were attempting to mount a comeback early in the second quarter, the Eagles’ Johnny Aleman intercepted a pass thrown by Rivera quarterback Andres Perez and ran it back for a 40-yard touchdown.
Hanna coach Mark Guess said the team knew that coming into Friday night’s first district game of the season, all records were thrown out the window.
“ We had to come to play,” Guess said. “Rivera, they can do some damage. They can score quickly and they have some good speed. We just happen to be the better team on the field tonight. We have to clean up our mistakes, we made way too many, and get ready for the Harlingen (High) Cardinals next.”
Right before halftime, Eagles running back Cesar Mancias rushed for 3 yards to extend Hanna’s lead to 34-0.
The Raiders had a few moments in the game, including a 51-yard kick return by Jesus Camarillo and a 13-yard run by Frank Eguia.
“ I feel like we could have executed better,” Eguia said. “Our team wasn’t that good tonight, but we’re working hard every week. Hopefully, we get a win.
“ We just have to focus up and keep working harder. We lost a lot of seniors, Ariel (Gonzalez) got hurt, some people fell, but we’re working hard. We’re (mostly) all freshmen and sophomores, but we’re on it.”
Rivera (0-6, 0-1) is still trying to find the right combination to acquire some victories. Raiders coach Tom Chavez said the team will just have to keep working harder.
“ We didn’t play very well,” Chavez said. “We just have to keep on working. Hanna is a great team and I think they’ll go a long way, but we just have to keep on working.”
The Eagles (4-1, 1-0) turn their attention to the Harlingen High Cardinals, who lost 42-28 to the San Benito Greyhounds in the Battle of the Arroyo on Friday night.
The Raiders will continue the search for their first win of the season next Friday when they take on the Los Fresnos Falcons, who lost 16-7 to Harlingen South in Week 7.