By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
Earlier this week, Hanna coach Mark Guess said his defense takes it personally when opponents score on it, and after Harlingen High quarterback Jaime Galvan beat the unit for 21 first-quarter points, it showed how much.
Hanna’s defense held Galvan and Harlingen High to just one score during the next three quarters and its offense heated up, paving the way to a 44-27 District 32-6A win Saturday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“We came out kind of funky in the first quarter defensively,” Guess said. “We were lethargic and like we weren’t really awake yet. We had a talk on the sideline and told them, ‘Hey, man, we don’t look like the defense that we’ve been playing all year. Finally, the defensive line took control of the game and really helped our secondary, and forced some bad throws.”
Harlingen High led 21-7 at one point but was outscored 37-6 the rest of the way.
“It’s all based on effort, and Hanna outdid our effort today,” Harlingen High coach Manny Gomez said. “Hanna is a great team that has been challenged over the years and has taken on some great opponents and got some great wins. They definitely have a lot of confidence and momentum going for themselves. That’s why we have two halves. We showed up in the first half and disappeared in the second.”
The Hanna offense had little trouble digging out of the 14-point hole as its offense put up more than 500 yards of offense for the second straight week.
Hanna quarterback Victor Campos threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns on 13 of 20 passing, and running back Cesar Mancias rushed for 112 yards and two scores.
The first quarter produced plenty of fireworks as the teams combined for 38 points.
Harlingen High needed just four plays to go 90 yards on its first drive as Jaime Galvan broke a 61-yard run to put his team up 7-0 with 8:54 remaining in the first.
Hanna answered after a 56-yard Cesar Mancias run set up a 5-yard quarterback run by Victor Campos to tie the game.
Galvan and Joe Reyna showed off their connection on the next two drives, connecting on touchdown passes of 54 and 45 yards to put the Cardinals up 21-7 with 3:43 to play in the first.
On the ensuing possession, Campos escaped pressure to the right and heaved a pass into traffic, where he found a leaping Josiah Meyers for a 77-yard catch and run for a score to pull Hanna within one score.
Campos had success evading the defensive pressure and finding receivers downfield field for chunk yardage.
“I can’t say enough about those (receivers), Guess said. “Victor does a good job of getting the ball to those guys. Sometimes it gets a little sticky, but he manages to get out of it. He’ll find an open receiver, and sometimes they aren’t open and he just chunks it. I tell you, those receivers just go up and get it.”
Hanna defensive lineman Brandon Esteves came up with a strip sack of Galvan late in the first quarter, allowing linebacker Jose Cruz to make the recovery.
That was the turning point and the first of three first-half turnovers for Galvan and the Harlingen High offense, which got nothing easy the rest of the way.
“We talked about our early mistakes and came together, and agreed to do our responsibilities and just play to our full ability,” said linebacker Jose Cruz, who came up with the fumble after the strip. “We understood what (Galvan) was capable of, so we did the changes and had the responsibility of keeping him inside the pocket so we could hold the coverage a little bit longer.”
Galvan still finished the day with big numbers, throwing for 319 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, and he rushed for 90 yards and one score.
After the recovery, the Golden Eagles added a Miguel Payan 36-yard field goal to make it 21-17, the score at halftime.
Hanna took its first lead on its first possession of the second half on a 34-yard touchdown from Campos to Payan to make it 24-21 with 6:18 to play in the third quarter. Payan hauled in nine passes for 200 yards to lead the Hanna receivers.
The duo hooked up again on the next possession for a 50-yard score as Campos found daylight out of the pocket once again.
“You can’t go out there and make the tackle for them,” Gomez said. “It’s part of it. Hanna has a really good quarterback. He’s a good-sized kid, and he made plays when he had to. Great players make great plays and as I said, they have some great players who made some great plays.”
Mancias scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, one coming from 2 yards out and the other from 25 to answer a Cardinals score and put the game away with 2:02 to play.