DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — In a game that often comes down to inches, Friday’s 87th Battle of the Arroyo actually came down to one foot.

The foot of Harlingen’s Giovanni Guillen, that is.

The senior kicker nailed a 52-yard field goal with 3:51 left in the game to give the Cardinals an incredible 29-27 come-from-behind victory over the San Benito Greyhounds.

With the win, the Cards (8-2, 7-0) clinched the outright District 32-6A championship, snapped a two-game Battle losing skid, improved their Battle record to 60-22-5 and handed the ’Hounds (9-1, 6-1) their first loss of the season.

“I’m just so proud of this team, my staff and the entire community,” said an elated Cards head coach Manny Gomez as he hugged his daughter after the sold-out game.

“Everyone stepped up and did their job, and it feels great to get the job done. I’m just so happy right now.”

Early on, however, it looked like the Greyhounds were going to win their third straight Battle as their offense looked unstoppable in the first half and rolled to a 21-12 halftime lead behind their nimble-footed quarterback Erick Retta and shifty running back Tyrone Harper.

But in the second half, the Cards received the ball and marched it down the field 66 yards ending the drive on a touchdown pass to Jeriel Cervantes that cut San Benito’s lead down to 21-19.

Harlingen then took a 25-21 lead late in the third quarter after Kaynon Fuentes scored on a 48-yard punt return that sent the Cardinals contingent wild.

Not fazed by the sudden shift in momentum, the Greyhounds answered right back as Harper scampered into the end zone untouched on an 11-yard run to put San Benito back on top 27-26 after an unsuccessful two-point conversion attempt.

Up by one, the ’Hounds looked to pad their lead, but with 5:53 left in the game they fumbled the ball away and the Cards recovered at the San Benito 35-yard line.

After three plays that went nowhere, it was all up to Guillen and he came through in the clutch with a kick that sailed right down the middle of the uprights with plenty of distance to spare, sending the Cardinals fans into an absolute frenzy. Guillen’s kick broke the school record of 51 yards that was set by Nacho Sauceda in 1994 during a second-round playoff game against Corpus Christi Carroll.

“I was ready and I did it,” Guillen said very nonchalantly after the contest.

But as loud as the crowd got after the go-ahead field goal, that was nothing compared to the sound it made after Harlingen defender Steve Martinez picked off San Benito QB Retta at the Greyhounds’’ 7 to seal the deal.

“We made some changes in the second half that allowed us to stop their offense. We went from man-to-man to zone and that worked,” Gomez said. “But these kids are so resilient. Steve Martinez, he’s a kid who’s got another gear and I’m just so proud of him, and all the guys.”

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

SAN BENITO — A lot was on the line in Tuesday’s regular-season finale between the San Benito Greyhounds and the Harlingen Lady Cardinals.

For the Lady ’Hounds, who were already playoff bound no matter what happened, a win was needed in order to keep pace with Brownsville Rivera in the District 32-6A standings.

For the Lady Cards, however, a win was needed to keep their postseason hopes alive.

As it turned out, the Lady ’Hounds got the 25-18, 25-18, 25-23 win. However, the win didn’t come easy or without controversy. And even after the dust settled, it was not immediately known if the Lady Cards had been officially eliminated.

Trailing the match 0-2, the Lady Red Birds came out in the third set determined to get back into the match. Even after the Lady ’Hounds got to match point at 24-20, Harlingen refused to go down easily and battled back to cut the lead to 24-23.

As Harlingen got set to serve in an attempt to tie the set, the referee suddenly blew his whistle and signaled that the match was over. San Benito took the game 25-23 and won the match 3-0.

“It was a five-second call,” said San Benito head coach Ruby Medina after the match. “You have five seconds to serve and they didn’t get it off on time.”

Naturally, the call did not sit well with the Lady Cards as head coach Jennifer Martinez questioned the official while her stunned team looked on. But it was to no avail. The call stood. The Lady Cards were done for the year.

Or were they?

Despite the loss, the Lady Cards still had a chance of staying alive IF Brownsville Hanna had lost, too.

Unfortunately for Harlingen, the Lady Golden Eagles snapped their three-game losing skid with a 3-1 win over Weslaco East to finish the league season at 8-6 – one game ahead of the Lady Cards, who finished at 7-7.

STILL WORK TO BE DONE: Despite the Lady ’Hounds’ victory, they still don’t know who they’ll face in the playoffs since they remained tied with Brownsville Rivera in the 32-6A standings after the Lady Raiders beat Harlingen South.

Both teams finished the regular season tied for second in the league at 10-4. A seeding playoff will now have to be worked out in order to determine which squad will be the No. 2 seed and take on PSJA Memorial or the No 3 seed and face Edinburg High in the opening round of the postseason next week.

Coach Medina said something would be worked out as soon as today.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

LA FERIA — With the Queen classic rock anthem “We Are the Champions” blasting in the background, the La Feria Lionettes held the prize they had been after ever since the 2016 volleyball season began: The District 32-4A championship trophy.

Some of the team members jumped for joy while hugging one another, others smiled from ear to ear and some even cried as the shiny, gold trophy got passed around.

Meanwhile, the near-capacity home crowd, which remained raucous all evening long on Monday, roared with excitement after witnessing their girls sweep Raymondville 25-18, 25-17 and 25-12 to clinch their first outright conference crown since 2009.

“It’s amazing,” said a beaming Lionettes senior hitter Anelli Rodriguez as friends, family and well-wishers congratulated her from all sides.

“We came a long way throughout the season. We had some bumps, but we worked it all out and accomplished what we set out to do.”

However, just a little more than a week ago the scene that played out on Monday didn’t seem possible since Raymondville held a one-game lead atop the league standings.

At the time, the best the Lionettes could have hoped for was a share of the title. But all that changed last Tuesday when Hidalgo upset the Lady Kats in Raymondville to fall to 11-2 along with La Feria.

Suddenly, Monday night’s regular-season finale was for all the marbles and it was La Feria that took advantage of the opportunity.

The Lionettes came charging out of the gates and took a 12-4 lead in Game 1 before fans had even settled into their seats.

The Lady Kats did fight back and showed the fierce tenacity that got them to within a win of the league title. However, La Feria would not be denied as the Lionettes took the first set then rode the momentum of that win the rest of the way.

“We seemed very composed tonight and that helped us,” said Lionettes head coach Rebea Fraga. “Everything just came together at the right time and the girls did their job.

“However, we now have to get ready for the playoffs, which begin next week. That’s the next season so we have to celebrate this win for a bit tonight then get back to work.”

As for the Lady Kats, while the regular season didn’t end like they would have hoped, they did qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2013.

However, they may still have business to attend to before they start the playoffs. With the loss they fell to 11-3 and depending on what Progreso did on Monday vs. Zapata, there may be a two-way tie for second place.

“We’ll be ready no matter what,” said a disappointed Lady Kats head coach Norma Rodriguez after the match. “We played hard and that’s what counts, but injuries hurt us. Still, they (La Feria) are a tough bunch and I have to hand it to them.”

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — According to their head coach, the Lady Cardinals volleyball team had no idea how important its District 32-6A home game against Brownsville Hanna on Saturday afternoon truly was.

“Was it,” asked Jennifer Martinez after the dust had settled on the Lady Cards 25-20, 25-13, 25-18 victory over the Lady Golden Eagles. “I had no idea. We don’t pay attention to all those details. We just play one game at a time.”

Regardless of their disregard for league standings, the fact remained that had the Lady Red Birds lost, they would have been officially eliminated from the playoff race.

However, thanks to some very strong net play, a beautiful passing game and consistent serving, the Lady Cards did win on Saturday and now have a chance to advance to the postseason for the first time since 2014.

With the win, the Lady Cards and Lady Eagles are now tied for fourth place at 7-6 with one game remaining for both teams. Hanna, which has now lost three matches in a row, hosts Weslaco East on Tuesday in its regular-season finale. Meanwhile, Harlingen wraps things up at San Benito, which has already clinched a playoff berth.

In their previous meeting at Hanna last month, the Lady Eagles beat the Lady Cards 3-1. On Saturday, Harlingen most definitely got its revenge as they outplayed Hanna in every facet of the game.

From the very start, the Lady Cards showed more energy and emotion as they came out in Game 1 and quickly took a 12-7 advantage.

Hanna did try to rally but the Lady Cards continually regained their composure in the face of adversity and held on to win the first set 25-20.

The momentum of winning the first game carried over to the second as the Lady Cards bounded out to an early lead and cruised to an easy 25-13 win behind some bone-rattling hits by Kristen Kattan, Brianna Ramos, Teagan Dickey and Desiree Sanchez.

Despite a commanding 2-0 lead in the match, the Lady Cards didn’t let up one bit and dominated the third set en route to the 25-18 win that concluded the sweep.

Martinez said her team would relish the win for only a short while before preparing for the Lady Greyhounds on Tuesday.

“It’s always a crazy rivalry when we go over there, but we’re going to stay humble, stay positive and, most of all, stay focused because we know they are going to be hungry for the win,” she said.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — The Harlingen Cardinals’ offense had been sputtering in their last couple of outings.

Against Weslaco High two weeks ago, the Cards scored only 13 points and against Weslaco East last Friday they put up 24, but 14 of those came at the very end of the game.

However, on Friday night against Los Fresnos in the Valley Morning Star’s Game of the Week, Big Red got the offensive tuneup it needed and routed the Falcons 56-21.

The win improved the Cards to 6-2 overall and, more importantly, 5-0 in District 32-6A to keep them on pace with undefeated San Benito, who also won on Friday.

“We watched what they (Los Fresnos) did and we exploited their weaknesses tonight,” Harlingen head coach Manny Gomez said after the victory. “I’m extremely excited for these kids and for these parents. Tonight we had an opportunity to celebrate Parent’s Night tonight and we can’t do this without them. Tonight was definitely a team effort.”

Early on, the game remained close as Harlingen opened the contest scoring first but Los Fresnos (4-4, 2-3) immediately answered to knot thing up at 7-7.

The Cardinals pulled ahead 14-7 with 2:54 left in the first quarter after quarterback Jesse Castro scored on a 5-yard romp into the end zone.

Harlingen increased its lead to 21-7 with 7:09 left in the first half after Castro hooked up with Sam Duffy for a jaw-dropping 91-yard score that left the large Los Fresnos contingent completely silenced.

The Falcons, however, battled back and cut the lead to 21-13 after quarterback Mark Mata connected with Nicholas Valencia for a 14-yard TD.

But the Falcons’ joy was once again quelled when on their next possession, the Cards drove the ball 71 yards on 13 plays and finished the series with Castro hitting Kaynon Fuentes for a 6-yard score to put Big Red up 28-13 at the half.

In the second half, the Cards simply took over on both sides of the ball.

After pushing their lead to 35-13 at the 6:36 mark of the third period, the Cards gave up a score as the Falcons cut the lead to 35-21 when Mata hooked up with Mark Rodriguez for a 7-yard TD strike combined with a 2-point conversion pass to Sebastian Gonzales.

But that was all the Cards’ defense would allow as they shut down the Falcons the rest of the way, intercepting Mata twice including a pick-6 with 2:03 remaining in the contest that sealed the deal.

Meanwhile, the offense continued to hum as running back Abel Castaneda scored a 5-yard TD late in the third and backup QB Nathan Martinez scored on a 13-yard scamper with 3:54 left in the game.

“We executed what we had been practicing all week and that’s just great to see,” said Gomez.

WHERE WAS LEO?: Cardinals running back Leo Tienda did start Friday’s game, carrying the ball for 7 yards on the third play of the contest that ended with him leaping over a defender to extend the run. Afterward, he didn’t return.

“It’s a stinger with a slight separation in his shoulder, but it was all preventative. He wanted to come back in, but we were fine so we’ll let him heal and go from there,” said Gomez.

HOUNDS LOOMING LARGE: The Cards have just two games remaining in the regular season. Next Saturday they play at Brownsville Hanna at 2 p.m. then in host San Benito in what could be an all-out war to determine the 32-6A championship.

Gomez said his team is well aware of what lies ahead but is focused on the immediate future.

“We understand what’s ahead of us, but we know that you can’t take care of tomorrow if you don’t take care of today. We just take it a day at a time,” Gomez said.

By DAVE FAVILA

Staff Writer

HARLINGEN – There’s a lot on the line tonight when the Harlingen Cardinals host the Los Fresnos Falcons in the Valley Morning Star’s Game of the Week.

The Cards, who are ranked No. 2 in the Valley, need a win if they hope to remain undefeated in District 32-6A play and keep pace with San Benito, which is also a perfect 4-0 in the league.

As for the Falcons, who are ranked sixth, they need a victory in order to keep up with Weslaco High and Brownsville Hanna, which are all tied for second place at 2-2 and just one game ahead of both Harlingen South and Weslaco East.

While the Los Fresnos-Harlingen rivalry is not as old and fabled as the Bird Bowl or the Battle of the Arroyo, it has produced some very memorable contests, including a pair of non-district games in 2007 that the teams split. That year, the Cards beat the Falcons 30-13 in the teams’ season opener but the Falcons got revenge with a 22-21 overtime victory in the first round of the playoffs.

And since 2012, which is when the two began competing in the same district, the teams have traded punches every year with the Falcons winning in 2012 and 2014 and the Cards getting victories in 2013 and last year when they won 25-18.

OFFENSE: The Falcons are ranked second in the league behind San Benito and have been averaging 338 yards per contest. Meanwhile, the Red Birds are ranked fourth with 315 yards per game. Much of the Falcons’ offense comes courtesy of the run game as they’ve amassed 1,638 yards on the ground and just 727 yards through the air. As for the Cards, they’ve got a more balanced offensive attack as they’ve rushed for 911 yards and passed for 1,294.

DEFENSE: As is usually the case each year, the Cardinals’ D is the team’s cornerstone. Ranked fourth in district, the Cards are allowing just 275 yards per game and have given up only 751 yards through the air. The Falcons, meanwhile, are ranked second to last in the league – only ahead of Brownsville Rivera – and are giving up 337 yards per contest, including 1,503 yards through the air.

MATA VS. CASTRO: Falcons quarterback Mark Mata had one of his best passing performances of the season last Friday in a 34-31 win over Brownsville Hanna when he threw for 246 yards and a touchdown. However, despite last week’s arial attack, Mata is truly a running quarterback as he’s rushed for 1,024 yards of the Falcons’ above-mentioned 1,638. He is averaging an impressive nine yards per carry and has eight scores through six games as he sat out when the Falcons played at Harlingen South on Sept. 30. Cardinals QB Jesse Castro, on the other hand, is getting the job done this season with his arm. Ranked second in the league only behind San Benito’s Erick Retta, Castro has passed for 1,219 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. His main targets have been Hayes Duffy, who is second in the league in receiving with 335 yards on nine catches for four scores, and Riley Sauceda, who is right behind Duffy in the district standings with 282 yards on 22 receptions.

LOOKING FOR LEO: As a junior last year, Cardinals running back Leo Tienda rushed for 1,849 yards and 25 scores so, naturally, much was expected of him this season. However, his senior campaign hasn’t been quite as successful. So far he’s rushed for 334 yards on 79 carries for just three TDs. Tienda hurt his shoulder in the Cards’ season opener against Mission Veterans and was held out of the team’s next game against Laredo United South, although he did suit up. Since his Week 2 absence, Tienda has played in every game this season and has looked solid every time, however, he just always seems to be held in check by the opposing defenses. At Weslaco East last Friday, Tienda rushed for a paltry 29 yards on nine carries and did not play in the second half. His status for tonight’s game remains unclear.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

LA FERIA — The La Feria Lionettes came into their District 32-4A home contest against Zapata on Saturday afternoon knowing how important a win was if they hoped to clinch another league championship.

Raymondville, which entered the weekend two games ahead of La Feria at 10-1, is currently in the driver’s seat for winning the conference title. But with a handful of games still left to play in the regular season, any stumble by the Lady Kats could work to the Lionettes’ advantage as long as they don’t stumble themselves.

Unfortunately for the Lionettes, Raymondville didn’t falter Saturday in its match against Grulla, so a victory over Zapata was crucial in order to keep pace and stay in the 32-4A title hunt.

Early on, however, the Lionettes came out as cold as the air conditioning in their gym and fell into a 12-7 hole. But while the gym’s AC remained frigid, the Lionettes did eventually heat up and then took care of business in a 25-21, 25-10, 25-20 sweep.

With the win, the Lionettes improved to 10-2 and remained two games back of Raymondville with two games left to play, including a season-finale home match against the Lady Kats on Oct. 24.

“Volleyball is such a roller coaster sport,” chuckled La Feria head coach Rebea Fraga after the match. “You can be on these highs then these really big lows… It’s just a crazy game.”

“But the girls did come into their own and finally got focused, and did the little things that fortunately added up to big things.”

In Game 1, service errors hurt the Lionettes as the Lady Hawks took advantage of the miscues to take the early lead. However, La Feria fought through and after tying the set up at 14, rattled off eight straight points to go up 22-14.

The Lady Hawks, to their credit, did battle back and made it difficult for the Lionettes to score the final three points needed to win the set, but those three points did eventually come and La Feria took a 1-0 match advantage.

Riding that momentum, the Lionettes simply overpowered Zapata in the second set en route to an easy 25-10 win.

Eager to put the match away, La Feria came out in the third game and took a quick 5-2 lead. This time, however, Zapata hung tough and refused to go out easily.

No matter what the Lionettes threw at them, the Lady Hawks found a way to answer and never trailed by more than three points throughout the set until back-to-back aces by Myah Salas set up match point at 24-18.

Even then, Zapata held off elimination by scoring three straight points to cut the lead to 24-20. But with just one point needed to take the match, La Feria’s Anelli Rodriguez blasted a shot over the net that bounced off a Zapata player’s hand out of bounds to seal the match.

Up next for the Lionettes is a game at Rio Hondo on Tuesday then they host Raymondville the following Monday.

“It’s hard to not look ahead to that last match of the season because we know what could be at stake,” Fraga said. “Of course we want to win another district title. That’s always our goal. But we can’t control what happens with Raymondville. We can only control what we do and take it one game at a time.”

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

RAYMONDVILLE — Tuesday’s night District 32-4A match between the Progreso Lady Red Ants and the hometown Raymondville Lady Kats turned out to be nothing short of an instant classic.

After falling into an 0-1 hole to start the match, the Lady Kats battled back to take a 2-1 lead only to watch the Lady Red Ants rally and tie things up at 2-2.

It all came down to a pivotal Game 5 and in the end it was the Lady Kats who gutted out a thrilling 22-25, 25-15, 25-15, 23-25, 15-9 victory.

The win improved the Lady Kats to 10-1 in league play and put them one step closer to clinching their first conference crown since 2009.

“The last time we played them (Progreso), they beat us over there and it also went five games,” said Lady Kats head coach Norma Rodriguez as she slumped exhaustedly into a chair after the match.

“After that first-set loss, I told the girls that if they want a district title then they were going to have to fight for it. They did, but we knew they (Progreso) were going to fight hard.”

Indeed.

After falling behind in the match 1-2, it appeared that the Lady Red Ants were going to fall in four sets.

However, they showed tremendous resolve and held on for the 25-23 Game 4 win to send their small but boisterous group of fans into a frenzy.

At that point, the match could have gone either way but the Lady Kats seemed to feed off their own rambunctious supporters, who were extremely loud and vocal throughout the entire match.

“When we dropped that fourth game, I told the girls to not give up and to fight hard,” Rodriguez said. “They’ve been playing real good together and communicating well and tonight it really showed.”

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — The Harlingen Lady Cardinals were one pretty hot team heading into Saturday’s match against Brownsville Rivera.

It all started a week ago when they beat San Benito in a five-game thriller. They followed that up with a 3-0 sweep over Harlingen South this past Tuesday to position themselves into a two-way tie for third place in District 32-6A.

A win over the Lady Raiders could have been their third in a row and it would have put the Lady Red Birds into a tie for second place in the league.

Could have, should have, would have. Rivera wasn’t having any part of that as they swept the Lady Cards 25-23, 25-19, 25-23 to improve to 7-3 in conference play and remain in second place all by their lonesome.

Although the match ended in a straight-set victory for Rivera, the Lady Cardinals (5-4 in district) gave it all they had every step of the way.

In the end, however, the Lady Raiders’ hardwood-denting striker trio of Victoria Zuniga, Mayra Martinez and Litzy Medina was simply too much to overcome.

After the match, Lady Raiders head coach Liz Guerra was relieved her team walked away with the win.

“The girls pulled it out, they hustled and they didn’t give up and that’s awesome,” she said. “Harlingen played a great game. They were picking up a lot of balls we were hitting, they were hitting well and they got us in some spots where they got us in between. But our girls adjusted, picked things up and I’m really proud of they way they played. Luckily we came out with a win.”

In Game 1, the Lady Raiders came out smoking as back-to-back kills by Zuniga helped Rivera take an early 5-0 lead.

However, the Lady Cards fought back and tied things up at 9-9 behind their own powerful hitting trio of Taegan Dickey, Yazmine Martinez and Brianna Ramos.

The remainder of the set was a back-and-forth battle that included plenty of hard hitting, thrilling rallies and, unfortunately for the Lady Cards, a few untimely mistakes that ultimately helped the Lady Raiders take it 25-23.

In the second set, the Lady Cardinals tried to adjust and tie things up, but Rivera was too strong down the stretch.

Despite being in an 0-2 hole, Harlingen came out in Game 3 with plenty of energy and continued to fight.

As in the first set, the Lady Cards fell behind but rallied to tie the game up at 9-9, 15-15 and again at 18-18 before finally taking a 19-18 advantage.

However, the Lady Raiders always had an answer for everything the Lady Cards threw at them and would not be denied.

With the loss, the Lady Cards are now tied for fourth place with San Benito, who beat Weslaco East on Saturday.

UP NEXT

Rivera: The Lady Raiders are at home on Tuesday against San Benito.

Harlingen: The Lady Cards are at Weslaco High on Tuesday.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — It wasn’t at all pretty, but, brother, it sure was exciting.

As expected, it all came down to defense between the Wesalco Panthers and Harlingen Cardinals. And in the end, it was Big Red’s D that stepped up to the challenge.

Tailing by six with just 1:45 left in the game and facing a fourth-and-2 on the Cards’ 7-yard line, the Panthers looked primed to possibly score the game winner.

Quarterback AJ Gonzalez took the snap, faked a handoff and quickly dropped back hoping to catch the Cards’ defense off guard with a rare pass.

Nothing doing. The Cards’ secondary recognized the play and broke up the pass to ultimately seal a hard-fought 13-7 victory.

With the win the Cards improved to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in District 32-6A. Meanwhile, the Panthers fell to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in league play.

“That’s what we do, we get on the field and it’s our responsibility to stop their offense,” said Cards head coach Manny Gomez after the game. “We bended a little bit, but we didn’t break and that’s all that matters.

“But I take my hat off to the whole team. We struggled a bit offensively, but it’s a team effort and this is definitely a great win for the Cardinals.”

OFFENSIVE FIRST HALF: All of the game’s offense took place before the break as the defenses took over in the second half.

The Panthers drew first blood on their second possession of the first quarter when junior Michael Martin took a handoff 89 yards to the end zone on a nifty piece of running.

The Cards answered on their next possession as senior star running back Leo Tienda capped off an eight-play drive with an 18-yard TD run with 4:27 left in the first period. But after a failed extra-point attempt, the Panthers still led 7-6.

After the Panthers were held to a three-and-out on their next drive, Harlingen took the lead early in the second quarter on a 1-yard TD plunge by Tienda and the extra point by Giovanni Guillen.

MISSED OPPORTNITIES: The Cardinals missed on a couple of long field-goal attempts in the first half that would have padded their lead.

The Panthers had a chance to score late in the first half as they drove the ball all the way to the Cardinals’ 27. However, a fumble was recovered by the Harlingen defense to stop the drive.

SILVER LINING: Despite the loss, Weslaco head coach Tony Villarreal remained upbeat afterward.

“We played our best game this year tonight,” Villarreal said. “The losses we’ve had have come against a state-champion (Richmond George Ranch) and then against a very good (Weslaco) East team, and these guys (Harlingen) are awesome. That’s probably the best defense we’ve faced and yet we put up yards on them. It just didn’t work out.

“The kids will get over it, though. They get over it quicker than the coaches, so they’ll be OK. But there is a lot to hang our hat on. The running game was there and also we got back two to three running backs that we hadn’t had all year. Michael Martin, Izaiah Ramos, Alex Lara and Justice Free are finally all back and we only had one coming into our first district game, so now we can open it up a little more moving forward.”

UP NEXT

Harlingen: The Cards take the show on the road next Friday to take on the Weslaco East Wildcats.

Weslaco: The Panthers wrap up a two-game road trip next Saturday at Brownsville Rivera.