By MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER
The Hanna Golden Eagles have already clinched a share of the District 32-6A title for the first time since 2009, but they have no intention of sharing.
The goal is to win it outright and Hanna can accomplish that with a win over Harlingen South in tonight’s season finale, which is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“ We set our goals on winning a district championship last year,” Hanna head coach Mark Guess said. “It’s been on our minds for a while. When you want to get something and you’re willing to work hard for it, good things happen. You just might accomplish your goal and hopefully tonight we can come out and play well enough to beat Harlingen South; that’s a good opponent.”
While Hanna (7-1, 4-0) will aim for the district crown and its seventh win in a row, Harlingen South (4-5, 2-2) will be locked into the No. 4 seed no matter the outcome of tonight’s contest.
The lone motivation for the Hawks will to be trying to end a two-game skid and grab a win before heading into the playoffs where they are face either Weslaco East or Edinburg Vela out of District 31-6A.
“ Our kids had a good week of practice; they’re focused,” Harlingen South head coach Brian Ricci said. “They know that playoff seeding is set, but you want go into the playoffs with some momentum. We have an opportunity to play a really good Hanna team and get better so we can head into that first round with a little momentum.”
Guess and company know that an outright district title will not come easy especially against the Hawks.
Hanna has beaten South the last two seasons, but they have been close contests, with the Eagles winning 19-16 in 2016 and 21-17 last season.
“ Football is a funny game and both games the last two seasons have been decided by a total of seven points,” Guess said. “So we know we’re in for a game because that’s always the case between us. We just have to make sure we do things the way we’re supposed to and take care of business.”
The Hawks’ offense presents challenges on the ground with the running back trio of Emilio Quiroz, Corban Hendrick and Orlando Muniz combining for 1,605 yards and 16 touchdowns this season.
Ricci expressed the importance getting them going will be important early in order to get quarterback David Torres (995 yards, 3 TDs, 5 INT) going
“ We like to get the chains moving by running the ball, which opens up a lot of options for us,” Ricci said. “That’s something we’ll look to do early. Our running backs have done a good job of holding on to the ball, so we haven’t had too many turnovers when it comes to fumbles.”
Sustaining the running game could be easier said than done against Hanna’s defense, which is first in the district, allowing 269.3 yards per game, but Guess believes the Hawks offense is still a threat.
“ They are always a tackle away from breaking a big play,” he said. “Their quarterback does a great job of hitting his receivers on their timing routes and when he has to look for someone. He does a good job of putting the ball where his receivers can catch it.”
Hanna’s offense is second in the district, averaging 416 yards per game, led by running back Cesar Mancias (146-931, 8 TDS) and quarterback Victor Campos (1,357 yards, 15 TD, 3 INT).
Mixed in with a bevy of other weapons in the form of receiver Miguel Payan (23-505, 7TD) and running back Aaron Frausto (60-303, 2 TDS) , Ricci said the Hanna offense is a well-rounded challenge for the South defense, which comes in fifth in the district, allowing 345 yards per game.
“ They have multiple receivers that can run and obviously have decent hands,” the Hawks coach said. “The quarterback is a phenomenal athlete and they have a running back that runs really hard. You have your hands full when you say all those things.
“ We just have to play defense, we have to run to the ball, we have to tackles and we have to rally to the ball. It’s going to take more than one person to bring down some of their guys.”