MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

BROWNSVILLE—With the stakes high in a crowded District 32-6A playoff race, the San Benito Greyhounds rose to the occasion and imposed their will on the Hanna Golden Eagles.

Led by the legs of quarterback Smiley Silva and running back Kyler Castilleja, the Greyhounds cruised to a 49-19 district win over the Eagles on Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.

Silva rushed for 209 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries, and Castilleja compiled 146 all-purpose yards and two total touchdowns.

“We were fortunate to be successful against a really good program,” San Benito coach Dan Gomez said. “It’s a program that has good athletes and a program that’s directed by a great coach with a lot of class. We were able to be successful. We’re fortunate tonight.”

With the Hanna offense struggling for the better part of the final three quarters, its defense struggled to get off the field throughout the night as San Benito controlled the pace on the ground throughout.

“We had a good game plan. We knew what they were going to do when they lined up in formation,” Hanna coach Mark Guess said. “It’s 32-6A football, sometimes teams will impose their will on you. We did a lot of that last year, and we had it done to us in this game. I’ll put it on me. I need to coach better and get these guys ready to play better. We just have to get it done. We just have to make plays when it’s our turn to make a play.”

The Greyhounds improve to 2-1 in district play and sit in second place with two games to play. Hanna falls to 1-2 along with Rivera, Los Fresnos and Harlingen South.

Hanna will face Los Fresnos this week and end the season against South.

“We have to win a couple of games here if we want to get that playoff run for the third year in a row,” Guess said. “That’s definitely our goal at this point, to get in. We really feel like we have a good opportunity to. We played two buzzsaws, and Los Fresnos is always going to be a tough game for us.”

Silva hit Castilleja for a 58-yard catch-and-run on San Benito’s fourth play from scrimmage to make it 7-0 with 10:36 to play.

Later in the quarter, Hanna took the lead on a 45-yard run by quarterback Victor Campos to tie the game at 7 with 6:09 to go in the first quarter, but Silva answered with a 73-yard run of his own 22 seconds later to make it 14-7.

Campos led a nine-play, 63-yard drive on the ensuing possession, culminating with a 1-yard shovel pass to Ernesto Mendoza as he was being sacked at the San Benito 1 to make it 14-13 with 2:20 left in the first after a missed point-after attempt.

The ’Hounds blew the doors off the game soon after, scoring 21 unanswered points during the second quarter. Silva scored on runs of 36 and 7 yards in the quarter and Castilleja added a 9-yard touchdown of his own, making it 35-13 at the half.

Hanna had four drives during the second quarter, including an eight-play possession aided by San Benito penalties while trailing by one point, but came up empty.

“We couldn’t get momentum on our side,” Guess said. “We’d make something happen and we’d get a presnap penalty, or we’d miss a tackle or miss a play on third down defensively. We had third-and-long a few times, and we couldn’t get San Benito off the field. We just have to keep playing and playing hard. I’m still proud of our kids because they keep fighting until the end.”

Hanna made it 35-19 after scoring on its opening possession of the second half on a 1-yard run by Marlon Dominguez, but managed nothing else as San Benito put the game away on rushing scores from Silva and backup quarterback Elijah Hernandez during the fourth quarter.

“Everybody came together and played ball at the right time,” Gomez said. “The coaching staff did a great job on both sides of the football and the kids executed the game plan. That’s why we were fortunate to come out with the victory.”

MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

To say there was little pressure on Port Isabel junior quarterback Joey Krieghbaum coming into this season is an understatement.

Not only was the young signal caller going to have to come in and take command of a varsity playoff team from one year ago, but he’d also have to follow what was a monster campaign on the stat sheet for last season’s senior quarterback, Cesar Aguilera.

Now seven games in, Krieghbaum feels he has a handle on it all.

“I really didn’t know what to expect coming in to the varsity from JV,” he said. “I think I’ve come in and filled shoes, even though Cesar Aguilera has big shoes to fill, but I feel I’ve done my best to fill those shoes.”

So far this season, Krieghbaum has thrown for 1,006 yards with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions, and rushed for 213 yards and four more scores.

The junior QB has steadily progressed through the season and has come on strong during the past three weeks, and he is coming off his best outing of the season in Friday night’s 63-0 rout of Progresso in the District 16-4A Division II opener.

Krieghbaum threw for a season-high 254 yards and five touchdowns, and rushed for two more scores on the ground — another season high.

“He’s doing well from where we started during the first scrimmage of the year, to the first game of the year, to last week,” Port Isabel coach Jason Strunk said. “He’s gotten better each week. He’s thrown for over 1,000 yards … he’s doing good things, and he’s really growing into it. He runs the offense as a first-time varsity starter, and he’s done a good job with it.”

Though he’s enjoying his best games of his varsity career, Krieghbaum said working up to those performances and being a much more vocal leader was a long road, but he believed he earned the backing of his teammates way back in Week 2.

“It was definitely the Valley View game,” he said. “That was the game I feel I came out of my shell. We were clicking on all cylinders on offense, and the guys just accepted me and were happy to have me as their quarterback. (The veteran players) supported me; they’re very good teammates.”

Krieghbaum’s emergence has made the Tarpons that much more of a hassle for opposing defenses, who also have had to deal with the Port Isabel running game, led by running back Brayan Medina, who has rushed for more than 800 yards in just six games.

Stunk said having a dependable rushing attack helped in the development of his young QB.

“It helps when you have guys like Brayan Medina back there to lean on and learn the offense,” the second-year coach said. “We brought (Krieghbaum) along well, and he learned pretty quickly. He’s done some really good things and it’s fun watching him grow, and he’s only a junior.”

With first-year hurdles come and gone, Krieghbaum will face his biggest test this weekend when Port Isabel plays host to Raymondville in The Brownsville Herald and Valley Morning Star’s Game of the Week, slated for 7:30 p.m.

The Tarpons QB insists he’s ready the challenge of a high-stakes district matchup, but said it’s a big game for everyone and those involved should be wary of the challenge, even the defending district champion Bearkats.

“I know we’re playing Raymondville and they’re a good team,” he said. “They also know they’re playing us and we’re not going to quit.”

MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER

When Hugo Ramirez left Lopez to become the defensive coordinator at Rivera, he was going to choose his defensive players base on who made an impression on him.

It didn’t take long before strong safety Damian Juarez, a three-year sub varsity player, would be on the new DC’s radar.

Juarez didn’t have many endorsements from those who knew him, but Ramirez didn’t care and trusted what he saw.

“When I got here, I noticed him but people would say ‘No, no, he’s not a starter,’” Ramirez recalled. “I said ‘I don’t know any starters from last year.’ I’m here new, so nobody’s a starter. (Juarez) did everything I told him to do on full speed and I was like ‘Man, I like that kid.’ I kept hearing he was not a starter, but in my book he was because he goes all out and that’s all I ask from the kids.”

Juarez was thrown into the proverbial deep end that is varsity football and has swum, becoming an asset in the secondary while putting his best foot forward to make a lasting impression on his teammates and make every snap count during his lone varsity opportunity.

“I try to bring the fire on every play and I try to get everybody pumped up for every play,” Juarez said. “I feel teammates can feed off what I bring and my mentality to get ready for every play and go again 100 percent all the time.

“This year has been a very big moment for me. I’m really just trying to show everyone what I can do. A lot of people never believed in me and this year, I’m trying to show them different.”

The first-year varsity safety has made the most of his time in the secondary so far, recording three interceptions on the season.

Juarez is proud of the feat, but knows it’s a simply a small reward from a position that can yield some unforgiving results.

“It feels great because not a lot of people can play secondary — it’s a tough position,” Juarez said. “Because you’re either going to make a good play to help out the defense and the team, or you’re going to make a bad play that might cause everyone to go down. You just have to make sure to keep your head up and nit’s everyone’s job to be there to pick up anybody on the entire defense after a bad play and get ready for the next one.”

This season has had its share of bad plays against a tough non-district schedule, which concluded with games against big-play offenses like Sharyland Pioneer and La Feria.

Still, Ramirez said Juarez has kept the right attitude on the field, which is no surprise seeing as the senior defenseman has his future ahead of him as he will attend Texas A&M after high school.

The Rivera DC said Juarez is a prime example for players to come.

“(Pioneer and La Feria) are on fire, but this kid (Juarez) goes out and has a lot of confidence,” Ramirez said. “Believe it or not, he’s also dropped like two or three more (interceptions), but he’s always right there in position. He’s an awesome kid, man. I will use him as a role model and he’s a kid that has everything aligned, everything set and everything planned for his future.”

MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER

While the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers are trying to stay in the playoff race in the 10-team District 16-5A Division I, the Porter Cowboys are trying to shake off a slow start and make a run to get in the conversation over the final five weeks.

Both the Cowboys and the Chargers will look to get a win towards their goal as they face off in The Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. tonight at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville.

BVM (3-2, 2-2) is fresh off a 36-13 road loss at Rio Grande City, while Porter (1-4, 1-3) was blanked 49-9 at the hands of Mission Veterans Memorial.

Chargers head coach David Cantu and his squad are anxious to get on the field after the road loss and are determined to put the ugly loss behind them.

“I think coming off a painful loss as far as just how you feel after a game, I don’t know if I’ve been more excited,” he said. “I feel like it’s a rebirth this particular week. We’re not looking back, just looking forward. I can’t wait to see how these kids play on Friday; I’m pretty excited.”

The Cowboys are in the midst of a three-game gauntlet featuring matchups with Mission Veterans, Brownsville Veterans and Rio Grande City in consecutive weeks.

Porter head coach Carlos Uresti remains confident that his team can be competitive, but only if they are healthy and limit mistakes.

“We had a tough loss last week and had a couple of injuries that didn’t help,” he said. “No excuses and our kids are putting in the time and working hard. We get some kids back for this game, so we should be alright, but it goes back to hurting ourselves. Last week, we had four turnovers and you won’t win the game doing stuff like that. The week before (vs Lopez) we had one penalty the first half. It’s truly us holding ourselves accountable and limiting our mistakes. All three losses in district have been the penalties and the turnovers.”

The Cowboys had a rough time last Friday, turning the ball over four times for the second time in three weeks and gained just 143 yards of total offense against the district’s top defensive team, while giving up 450 yards.

This week, the Porter’s matchup looks to be a favorable one on paper as rushing quarterback Kevin Garcia, who has rushed for 511 yards and nine touchdowns this season, faces a Chargers defense giving up 359 yards per game, which is eighth in the district.

Despite the score in last week’s loss, the Chargers nearly pitched a first-half shutout even after its offense turned the ball over two times in the first 24 minutes.

“We see a very well-coached football team in Porter,” head coach David Cantu said. “They are doing a good job of getting the ball in the hands of their weapons and it all starts with their quarterback Kevin Garcia. Our goal defensively is to do whatever we can to make it difficult for him. That being said, that’s what every team says when going into a game against Porter. That’s a Challenge, but our kids are after it.”

While Porter’s offense goes as Garcia goes, the BVM offense is looking to get some pressure off quarterback Liam Longoria, who felt the RGC pass rush last week, passing for a season low 109 yards, but recorded the team’s only two scores on runs of 50 and 66 yards. He finished the night with a season-high 198 yards on the ground.

The Chargers will look to add running back Mauricio Garza back in the mix at running back after the speedster started the season at receiver. Garza led the district in rushing last season before going down with a broken collarbone and has just nine yards on the ground this season.

Porter had a rough go on defense last week, but feels if its offense can limit turnovers, its defense can find ways to get off the field.

“We gave Mission Vets a lot of short fields, but it doesn’t really show how good our defense played in that first half,” Uresti said. “Even though we gave up a lot of points, we gave up a lot of short fields. I like the matchup this week. Our defense has been coming around from Day 1 and they’re leading our offense, we feed off of them. I’m hoping everything works out for us. It looks like everybody will be able to play this game after injuries.”

MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER

Last season, Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s Damian Maldonado enjoyed success out of tight end sets due to his size and agility, while teammate Mauricio Garza seemed primed to be District 16-5A Division I’s top rusher before going down with a collarbone injury.

Both were looked at entering this season to hone their skills and play as outside receivers full-time, but as pressure on quarterback Liam Longoria has gone up targets have gone down, prompting head coach David Cantu to give his receiver more opportunities at their natural positions.

With Garza mentally ready for the punishment coming off the injury and Maldonado has the body of a prototypical tight end, the Chargers’ coach was excited to hit the practice field.

“It started Sunday when I called coaches and talked about what needed to happen,” Cantu said. “By that point, I knew that Mauricio was ready to play running back again and that’s big for us. Then I called Damian and said “I was so excited that I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to tell you that we’re going to make a commitment to get you where you should be playing.”

For Garza, being back in the back field will be a chance at some unfinished business as he was the top rusher after five weeks last season with 611 yards and seven touchdowns on 68 carries before going down with an injury.

“I’m getting mentally prepared to play running back again,” Garza said. “I haven’t played there since last year, so this week, I’ve been getting my mind ready for those hits and stuff. I’m expecting it to go well. I just have to keep my mind off of my injury last year and just keep grinding.”

It will be a big transition for the Chargers and Garza, who has only carried the ball six times for eight yards through five weeks this season.

As for Maldonado, he is currently on pace for just 20 catches this season, totaling just 10 for 159 yards and one touchdown coming out of a 36-13 loss at Rio Grande City.

He finished with 31 catches and 550 yards and three scores last season when lining up primarily at tight end.

“When I was told to be prepared to get more touches and we’d be running more tight end sets, I was ready. I like playing tight end and who doesn’t want more touches. It’s tough knowing I wasn’t getting the ball as much as I wanted to, but I know if Liam was in a position to get me the ball, he would. There are certain things that hinder him from doing that. I was frustrated, but I try to stay composed. In football, that one big play can happen out of nowhere, so I always told myself to stay ready, run the routes full speed and know that one play you can explode to get a touchdown.”

Cantu is hoping to get his duo going, but also take some of the pressure off of Longoria at the same time.

“I’m sure (Longoria) feels much more at peace with things,” he said. “And that’s important for a quarterback. He’s an accurate passer when he sets his feet and steps and throw. There’s not many better than him. (Opponents’) game plans have been to cause disturbance, but this move (to the offense) provides us with weapons that we can get the ball to quick. That’ll make it more challenging now.”

Garza said circumstances changed the offense a bit last year and believes in that him rushing the ball and Maldonado at tight end provided success that didn’t need fixing.

“It went well last year, so we’re expecting it to go the same way,” he said. “With Damian being an extra blocker, I’m feeling comfortable.”

STAFF REPORT

The Lopez Lobos have reached the season’s midway point and have no wins to show for it.

Despite the 0-5 record (0-4 in District 16-5A Division I), quarterback Jose Cruz has continued to improve week after week and is coming off his best performance of the season in a 42-35 loss at Donna High.

The senior quarterback threw for 215 yards and three touchdowns, and he rushed for 210 more yards and two more scores.

On the season, Cruz has rushed for 525 yards and six touchdowns, and he has thrown for 647 yards and another five scores to lead the Lobos.

FAST FIN

Port Isabel running back Brayan Medina got a late start but has more than made up for it in his four performances this season.

Medina had carried the ball 100 times during that span and has rushed for 634 yards and five touchdowns.

In a 55-26 win against St. Joseph Academy, Medina had his lightest workload with just 16 carries, but managed 116 yards and three touchdowns. It was the running back’s third time in four games to rush for more than 100 yards, only failing to do so against undefeated La Feria in Week 4.

PREACHING PATIENCE

Lyford’s 2019 season has been afflicted with injuries, most notably at the quarterback position with Cayleb Klostermann giving way to freshman Brenden Nunez.

With a young team across the board, a greater share of the leadership mantle has been assumed by junior running back Devon Mendoza. During a 54-19 loss against George West in Lyford’s District 16-3A Division I opener last Friday, Mendoza was the leading rusher for the Bulldogs (0-4, 0-1 district) with 79 yards on nine carries and a 1-yard touchdown run. He also had four catches for 10 yards.

Mendoza said part of the process of rebuilding on a fly with a young team requires patience and some growing pains, particularly when dealing with unplanned adversity.

“We don’t really preach winning (above development),” Mendoza said. “We want to win, but it’s not our main goal.”

Matthew Sanchez was the leading receiver for Lyford, hauling in two receptions for 54 yards. Nunez completed 10 of his 15 pass attempts and threw for 91 yards.

Running back Gavino Morales also demonstrated an ability to produce in district play with 76 yards on nine carries and a 20-yard touchdown run.

RESTING

District 32-6A is enjoying a bye week this week.

Harlingen High, Harlingen South and San Benito all took on teams from District 2-6A last week, with Harlingen High being the only team that came out with the win.

The Cardinals received a strong performance from Jaime Galvan and Rayden Berry. Galvan threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns on 14-for-24 passing. Berry ran for four scores and torched the Midland High defense for an 85-yard score. Berry hauled in five catches for 112 yards and ran 15 times for 112 yards.

Harlingen High now prepares for San Benito in the team’s district opener Oct. 11.

San Benito didn’t have much luck out west against Midland Lee. The offense was limited to 320 yards and 12 points. Smiley Silva ran for 62 yards on nine carries and threw for 87 yards, going 5-for-12 through the air.

Harlingen South also found itself in a tough spot Saturday at Odessa High, dropping its second straight game. The Hawks will meet Los Fresnos on Oct. 11 at Los Fresnos. Last year the Hawks beat the Falcons 16-7.

Mark Molina, Stefan Modrich and Kevin Narro contributed to this report.

MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER

Port Isabel senior safety Jake Pinkerton has seen it all during his time with the Port Isabel High School football program, entering when the Tarpons were under now-Hidalgo head coach Monty Stumbaugh and through Jaime Infante’s one-year stint in 2017.

Now that head coach Jason Strunk is in his second year, Pinkerton believes he, as well as the team, is in a good spot to thrive and build on the program’s new foundation.

“The changing of coaches year after year normally disrupts the team,” the senior safety said. “With coach Strunk, he’s been here for two years and it feels like we’re on a whole new track. Everything is working out good now and we all work as a team really well. We’re all disciplines, everyone is on the ball and we’re ready to go for the rest of the season.”

While Pinkerton is quick to credit Strunk, the second-year coach said having quality players like his safety leading the way has helped the program turn things around in the last year.

“The thing about Jake is he’s selfless,” Strunk said. “He’ll sacrifice everything for the good of the team, that’s why he’s a captain. He’s one of the hardest workers we have and he’s a smart kid who is good in the classroom. He’s just good all around on and off the field. He’s the perfect leader for us. He keeps us stable, he’ll get after people and he’ll wake people up as well. He has all the traits you’re looking for in a captain.”

For Pinkerton, the revolving door of coaches helped him and the rest of the upperclassmen grow up in the program quicker and become leaders.

“Having different coaches teaches you to lead on your own and amongst yourselves,” Pinkerton said. “The coaches can only coach us so far. It’s really the team that leads the team. Just having everyone with the same mindset, that’s what really helps us I think. Altogether we’re a unit and it’s not just me; I couldn’t tell you how many captains are on this team. We’re all leading everyone individually in our own little way.”

Pinkerton’s way is by leading a young secondary, which is coming off a rough outing in a blowout loss to La Feria last week.

Pinkerton takes pride in the rich history behind the Seawall defense and is hoping he can mold the underclassmen to live up to the program’s standard like the seniors did for him when he was just coming into the defense.

“The corners that we have are younger kids who are in their first or second years on varsity,” Pinkerton said. “They’re new to stuff, but for me, it’s fun to teach them like a younger brother and guide them to get where they need to go and along the way. I had seniors telling me the same thing, so I’m just trying to give them back the same guidance that the seniors gave me.”

In Strunk’s eyes, his secondary is trending upward and he believes that by the end of the non-district season, those players will be ready to compete when the game’s matter and Pinkerton will be at the forefront of it all.

“Jake is very good being the veteran that the young guys look up to,” Strunk said. “He’s a three-year starter. He does a lot of coaching there in the back end and we’re going to get better as we go. By the time we get to district play, they’ll be like seasoned veterans and that’s because of Jake’s leadership.”

By MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER

At first glance, Brownsville Veterans Memorial senior wide receiver Elijah “EJ” Masten isn’t an imposing figure — standing 5 feet 6 inches tall and 135 pounds — but in a Chargers offense filled with playmakers, he stands tall.

As a junior, the third-year wide out proved himself to be a big-play threat and led the Chargers in receiving with 56 receptions for 714 yards and nine touchdowns.

Still, Masten feels he is often overlooked because of his size despite being the Chargers’ main option in the passing game, but he enjoys going out and making opponents pay.

“ I’ve always been looked at as small and overlooked as ‘The Guy’ because of my height” Masten said. “My height is just another thing to pull me down in the eyes of critics and opponents. In games, they double the taller player, but that gives me a little more time in the beginning give them a taste of what I can do. Height has never hurt my game; I think I’ve used it to my advantage, if anything.”

While some still don’t give Masten the proper attention before and during plays, Chargers head coach David Cantu views his veteran receiver in a very different light.

The Veterans Memorial coach said Masten is fearless, has great hands and is full of speed that causes mismatches on bigger defenders, which is the matchup the Chargers want.

And more often than not, when the Chargers needed a big play last season, dialing up a play to Masten seemed to work well as he averaged 12.8 yards per catch last season.

“ Our biggest playmaker has been Elijah Masten,” Cantu said. “I hate to admit this, but if it’s third and long or a very crucial situation, usually something is called where the tendency is that he may get the ball. He has the most varsity experience, has played and started the most varsity games and he has the most playoff experience. There isn’t a situation out there that overwhelms him. He has shattered most of our receiving records, but I’ll be honest, that’s not significant to him. He just wants to have a senior season where we win.”

Cantu said Masten is the ultimate team player and has approached this season in a very unselfish way.

With many new pieces along the offensive line, the Chargers will look to air it out and use their speed on offense.

In an effort to do that, the Chargers have added former defensive back Marlon Montelongo to the backfield as a runner and moved last year’s leading rusher Mauricio Garza as an outside receiver, a move Cantu said was partially Masten’s suggestion.

“ That gives us more size and athleticism on the outside and stretches us and doesn’t keep us so tight like in the run,” Masten said of Garza’s move to the outside. “I understand players’ frustrations and understand how being put in positions they don’t want to be put in shrinks how they play and doesn’t let them become the player they truly are. But Mauricio moving to the outside makes us broader. I feel as a team, not many other teams will be able to figure out real quick. We feel like we can come at teams in all angles. I feel like we’re 360 as a team and not 180.”

Cantu said it was a possibility that added Garza to the outside may cut into Masten’s touches, but the veteran receiver knew it was ultimately for the team.

“ He understood it would take touches away from him as a receiver, but it didn’t matter,” Cantu said. “It’s the kind of mentality EJ has — he just wants to win.”

Just like Masten tries to do time out on the field, the Chargers will attempt to right last year’s wrongs and prove that they deserve to be considered among the top teams in the Rio Grande Valley.

“ I’m just out here to show that Veterans Memorial and I are out there proving everyone wrong,” Masten said. “I feel like we can go out there and show everyone that we’re the best team.”

By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

The Hanna Golden Eagles had a 2018 to remember, capturing an undefeated District 32-6A title and advancing to the third round of the playoffs for the first time in program history.

While the Eagles are ready for more success this season, they are hardly the same team from one year ago.

Still, Hanna coach Mark Guess said that despite big losses on both sides of the ball, members of the team came into the first week of practice eager to leave their own mark on the program.

“ We have a whole new face of football here after losing 10 players on defense and eight on offense,” said Guess, who is in his fourth season as Hanna’s coach. “The team looks completely different for the most part, but the expectations remain the same — we want to win a district championship. The kids that showed up, and that have been here, gave up their summer and worked hard during the spring and in the offseason. They’ve done the things that we’ve asked them to do.”

The Golden Eagles will be a junior-heavy team this season, reminiscent of the 2017 squad that took the field.

That team broke a seven-year playoff drought, though Guess believes this season’s group might be further along than the one from two seasons ago with the program’s culture and staff being in place for some time now.

“ We think physically, they’re a little bit ahead of the sophomores and juniors from two years ago because I only had one offseason with them,” Guess said. “Some of these guys we’ve had a couple of offseasons with now, so they’ve been able to put on the muscle we’ve asked them to put on and just get bigger, faster and stronger. The rest of it is just teaching them where they’re supposed to be and when they’re supposed to be there, and trying to figure out who we want to put in what spots and how to put our best 11 on the field.”

Though Hanna looks depleted and young, they bring back two very important senior leaders on each side of the ball in the form of quarterback Victor Campos and defensive tackle Brandon Esteves.

For Esteves, the first few days have been key in the development of the younger players coming into the varsity system.

“ This week has been very important,” said Esteves, who was an all-district, All-Metro and Associated Press All-State first-team selection one year ago. “We’ve gotten all the new guys in here and have needed them to grow up a little faster than we wanted to though the summer. Thankfully, a lot of them have been showing up. It’s been a lot of fresh, young faces and we’ve been becoming a team as we go.”

For Campos, getting back out on the field has been refreshing since walking off of it last December after an impressive showing despite a disappointing one-point loss to San Antonio Brandeis.

The senior signal caller said he has embraced becoming the leader of a young offense.

“ It feels really good, just working with all the young guys on the team and on our offense,” Campos said. “It feels good to be a leader out there during my senior year. As long as I can get them to be better, I’ll feel good.”

So far, getting the offense to mesh has gone well, with the younger players coming in ready to absorb what coaches and veterans have to teach.

“ (Having a lot of new players) is nothing different, but we just have to go out there every day and work hard, focus on each other and work as a team to get better every day,” Campos said. “A lot of those young guys on our team work really hard, so that’s not a problem. I feel we have the ability to be really good really fast with a lot of hard workers.”

The task of taking a young team and molding it into a winning group is a tough one, but after a positive first week of practice, Hanna expects to do just that and more.

“ (Those young players) are battling for spots,” Guess said. “They’ve been paying attention, hustling and really putting forth their best effort. They want to be one of those 11 out on the field. I can’t complain this week with the effort. We think we’re going to get these kids ready and hopefully battle for a district championship.”

PORT ISABEL — Coach Stacy Selby of the Coastal Bend has become a faithful advocate for Port Isabel’s Volley at the Beach Tournament.

Selby has brought her volleyball team to the Lady Tarpons’ annual tournament for several years as coach at West Oso. Now she’s in her first season as the coach at Corpus Christi Carroll and she has the Lady Tigers of District 30-5A playing for the first time in the seventh annual three-day, 12-team event at Port Isabel’s main and practice gyms.

It seems to be a good fit for the Lady Tigers, who went 3-0 in pool play Friday to earn one of the top seeds for today’s Gold Division bracket-play competition.

“It was really good (to go 3-0) and we’re seeing some good things,” said Selby, a former standout athlete in volleyball and track at Texas A&M-Kingsville before starting her coaching career. “This is my first time to be here coaching for Corpus Christi ISD. I was here (at the Port Isabel tournament) when I coached at West Oso for three years.

I have a young team this season with a freshman libero and we’re still training the ones in the middle,” she added. “So far, things are looking good and we’re excited. Today I saw that the girls are working on speeding up our offense, and I liked that. That’s what we need to do to compete against the top schools in Corpus Christi (in our district) like Tuloso-Midway, Veterans Memorial and Gregory-Portland.

“Carroll has been what I call ‘Under Construction’ (in volleyball) the last few years, and basically our goal for this tournament is to hopefully win it and build up some morale.”

The Lady Tigers went 3-0 in pool play by defeating Rio Hondo 25-15, 25-17, West Oso 25-12, 25-14 and Port Isabel 25-16, 25-19.

There were six pool-play matches Friday and the final contest of the day had Carroll facing Port Isabel to determine the pool winner as both teams had gone 2-0 in their earlier matches.

The Lady Tarpons of District 32-4A battled on even terms with the Lady Tigers, particularly during the second game, which was tied seven times, the last of which was 11-11.

“I thought our girls did a great job today,” Lady Tarpons coach Julie Breedlove said. “We’re finding those six players who will work together the best on the court. The thing is we also have a couple of players that we can bring in to help when we need them as well.

“I was pleased with our overall play,” she added. “Still, I think we could have covered (the floor) a little bit better, and it’s one of those things we’ll continue to work on. I was pleased that we didn’t give up and the girls fought hard all the way through to the end, and that’s what I’m most proud of. It was exciting to play two teams from out of the Valley.”

Prior to their match against Carroll, the Lady Tarpons defeated West Oso 25-18, 25-22 and Rio Hondo 25-19, 25-23.

In the other pool-play match Friday, West Oso downed Rio Hondo 25-17, 25-21.

The tournament’s Gold Division bracket-play quarterfinals, based on seedings from pool play, are set today at 9 a.m. with PSJA Southwest (1) vs. Monte Alto (8) and Port Isabel (4) vs. Santa Rosa (5), and at 10 a.m. with Hanna (3) vs. La Feria (6) and Carroll (2) vs. Lopez (7).

The championship match is scheduled at 5 p.m.

Also, Weslaco East, West Oso, Rio Hondo and Progreso also are matched today in Silver Division competition.

Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess