DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

Things didn’t go so well for the Harlingen Cardinals last week.

The Red Birds committed an uncharacteristic six turnovers (1 INT, 4 fumbles, 1 lost onside kick) and Laredo United South took advantage in a 30-13 win in front of a stunned Boggus Stadium crowd.

The disappointing loss dropped the Cards to 1-1 on the season. And while head coach Manny Gomez wasn’t happy about the loss, he remained very upbeat.

“We still have a lot of season to go,” Gomez said last Friday. “This loss stings but it is what it is and that’s football, but you can believe me, we’re going to bounce back.”

That may very well be true, but getting back into the win column this week will be difficult as the Cards travel to San Antonio today to take on the Reagan Rattlers (1-1), who have beaten Harlingen in non-district action the past two years. In 2013, Reagan won 42-0 and last year won 42-28.

To make things even more difficult for the Cards, they may be without star running back Leo Tienda, who suited up but did not play against United South due to a shoulder injury he suffered in the team’s Week 1 win over Mission Veterans.

“He had a little ding on his shoulder so we just have to wait and see where we’re at with him, and see what happens for the next week or so,” Gomez said of Tienda.

The Cards have an open week next week before beginning District 32-6A play against Harlingen South in Week 5.

NOTE: Reagan lost a close one last Friday to Laredo United 27-24. The very same United team opened the season with a 47-21 loss to San Benito.

McALLEN MEMORIAL AT SAN BENITO: The Valley’s top-ranked team will look to improve to 3-0 when they host the 1-1 Mustangs tonight at Bobby Morrow Stadium.

Last season, the two teams battled in a back-and-forth affair before Memorial finally pulled away for a 63-44 win.

The Greyhounds’ offense has been outstanding this season, racking up more than 1,070 yards in two games. Against San Antonio East Central last Friday, the ’Hounds put up 666 total yards with 342 of those yards coming through the air and 324 of those yards courtesy of the ground game.

Junior quarterback Erick Retta was 28 of 35 with three touchdowns against the Hornets while junior running back Tyrone Harper led the rushing attack with 140 yards on 12 carries for two scores.

San Benito is off next week before beginning conference play on Sept. 23 at Los Fresnos.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN – Two teams with opposite records will collide when the Harlingen South Hawks and Edinburg North Cougars face off tonight at Cats Stadium in Edinburg.

The Hawks are 2-0 this season after impressive wins over McAllen High and PSJA High. The Cougars, meanwhile, are 0-2 after tough losses to Brownsville Veterans and Sharyland High.

The Hawks are looking to equal their win total for the past two seasons and begin a season at 3-0 for the first time since 2013, which was the last time the program made the playoffs. Ironically, it was Edinburg North that ended the Hawks’ postseason runs in 2012 and 2013.

Under first-year head coach Brian Ricci, the Hawks have been a run-first team as they’ve totaled 589 yards on the ground in their two games. What’s more, the Hawks are using a very balanced rushing attack that is not relying on one particular ball carrier.

In their 21-14 win over McHi in Week 1, the Hawks used five different runners to tote the ball for 217 yards. In that game, senior Adrian Torres led the way with 88 yards on 10 carries. However, it was junior Jorge Alicea who scored two touchdowns carrying the ball 11 for 59 yards.

Against PSJA High last week, five runners were also used but it was senior quarterback Brandon Villarreal who took control of the game as he pounded out 173 yards on 14 carries for three TDs in a 35-27 victory.

Despite the success the Hawks have had on the ground, Coach Ricci said his team could change things up if necessary.

“It just depends on the situation,” he said before last week’s game.

Meanwhile, things have been a little disappointing in Cougar Country. After struggling through a 3-7 season in 2015, things were supposed to be different this year as the Coogs retuned a bevy of experienced talent, including senior quarterback Alan Alvarez, who thew for more than 1,600 yards and rushed for nearly 360 as a junior.

In Week 1, Edinburg North let a 14-3 lead over Brownsville Vets slip away as the Chargers scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win 17-14. And last week, the Cougars racked up 349 total yards but still came up short in a 20-16 loss to the Rattlers.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

LA FERIA — As far as La Feria head volleyball coach Rebea Fraga is concerned, her team’s season started Tuesday.

“I’m not sure what our record is at this point. All I know is that tonight feels amazing. We are now 1-0 and that’s all that matters. It’s a whole new season,” a visibly happy and relieved-looking Fraga said after her Lionettes defeated Grulla 25-20, 25-15, 25-16 in their District 32-4A opener.

“We’ve had some struggles throughout this season, had injuries, aches and pains, and we played a tough non-district schedule. It’s nice to start district and start with a win,” Fraga continued.

After a slow start very early on, the Lionettes found their grove and never really let up as they used solid serving, good defense and took advantage of nearly every mistake the Lady Gators made.

La Feria did lose a little bit of focus late in the first set as they allowed a 20-13 lead to evaporate down to a slim 21-20 advantage before finally closing things out at 25-20.

However, in games 2 and 3, the Lionettes did a much better job of staying on target and pretty much dominated throughout.

Leading the way for La Feria was Myah Salas, who finished with seven kills and 10 digs, and Anelli Rodriguez, who had 10 kills and was a force at the net.

Camryn Lopez also had a good match, ending the day with five kills and seven digs. Isis Bernal, meanwhile, had 16 assists and 10 digs.

Fraga was happy with the way her squad came together when it mattered most.

“We were having trouble finding team chemistry and because of injuries we had trouble trying to find people to step up and find consistency,” she said. “However, today I’m very proud of the team. We came together as a team and got the job done.

“I think this first district win will provide us with motivation to keep things going in the right direction.”

Up next for the Lionettes is an away game at Hidalgo on Saturday.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — In front of a packed and rowdy home crowd donned in red and black, the Valley’s top-ranked Harlingen Cardinals were looking to get their second win of the season as they hosted the Laredo United South Panthers on Friday at Boggus Stadium.

Unfortunately the Red Birds caught a bad case of turnoveritis and the Panthers (1-1) walked away with a 30-13 win.

The Cardinals (1-1) committed five turnovers on the evening, including three in the third quarter that led to 13 points by the Panthers.

With the game tied at 7 after a very physical first half, United South head coach Sergio Salinas rolled the dice to start the second half and came up the big winner as his team caught the Cards off guard with an onside kick that the Panthers recovered on the Cards 50.

The Panthers converted that miscue into a 43-yard field goal by Johan Portales to put the visiting team up 10-7.

“We took the risk and fortunately it paid off,” Salinas said. “We figured we had to do something to get the ball so we took our chances.”

Things only got worse for the Cards as on their next three possessions they turned the ball over and the Panthers took advantage.

After the Cards’ first turnover, the Panthers managed to score another field goal to push their lead to 13-7. Then after the Cards coughed up the ball on South’s 15 two possessions later, Panthers running back Jesus Posada took the ball up the middle for a 92-yard TD that put United South up 23-7 and silenced the home crowd. Posada finished the game with 282 yards on 28 carries.

The Cardinals, to their credit, continued to fight and with 5:20 left in the game scored on a 1-yard TD plunge by quarterback Jesse Castro to cut the lead to 23-13 after a failed 2-point conversion.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Cards turned the tables on the Panthers and recovered an onside kick of their own to get the ball back at midfield.

The Cardinals drove the ball all the way down to the Panthers 10 and looked like they were going to score. However, a Castro pass was intercepted in the end zone by South’s Marck Reyna to end the drive and kill the Cards’ momentum.

Despite the loss, Cards head coach Manny Gomez remained upbeat and optimistic.

“Of course the loss has some bite to it, but these guys aren’t hanging their heads,” Gomez said. “We made a lot of mistakes and they (United South) are a good team, but that’s what we wanted to face in the non-district season.

“It is what it is but believe me, we’re going to bounce back.”

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

SAN BENITO – This season was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the San Benito Greyhounds.

After losing a bevy of talent to graduation including wide receiver Armando Medrano, left tackle Joseph Partida, and star quarterback JR Gaitan, who passed for more than 1,660 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2015, the 2016 ’Hounds weren’t expected to pack much of a punch.

And while the season just began, the ’Hounds looked positively remarkable in a 47-21 win over Laredo United last Thursday in Laredo.

Even a broken bus on the way to the game didn’t phase this group of guys.

“The team and our coaches did a good job of keeping focused and remembering why we were going to Laredo, which was to take care of business,” said ’Hounds head coach Dan Gomez.

They did indeed take care of business. San Benito completely overwhelmed the Longhorns, who are considered to be the best football team in the Laredo area. The ’Hounds put up 407 yards of total offense, including 219 passing yards by junior Erick Retta, who threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another.

Equally impressive was the ’Hounds’ defense, which held the Longhorns to 180 yards passing, 136 yards rushing and three garbage-time scores. Senior linebackers Emilio Garza and Richard Moreno were particularly solid as they accounted for 27 total tackles.

Yet Gomez wasn’t entirely pleased with his team’s performance.

“We celebrated for a couple of hours, but then we got back to work,” he said. “We still have a lot of work to do. We had two turnovers and we missed a few assignments. It wasn’t a perfect game.”

Up next for the ’Hounds, who are ranked No. 2 in the Valley, is a home contest against the San Antonio East Central Hornets, who beat San Marcos 40-21 in their season debut. Kickoff for the Valley Morning Star’s Game of the Week is set for 7:30 p.m. tonight at Bobby Morrow Stadium in San Benito.

The Hornets are coached by Joe Hubbard, who took over as head coach in April after Clint Hartman left to become the head coach at Midland Lee.

Last season the Hornets were 4-7 overall and 3-2 in District 28-6A, finishing in second behind Corpus Christi King and Carrol and losing to San Antonio Stevens in the opening round of the playoffs.

This past February’s UIL realignment did not treat the Hornets well as they were moved into District 27-6A along with state powerhouses Cibolo Steele, Converse Judson, Smithson Valley and Schertz Clemens, which ousted San Benito in the third round of the postseason last year. Dave’s Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine predicted the Hornets to finish in seventh place this season behind Converse Wagner and New Braunfels.

This season the Hornets return seven players on offense, including running back Jawan Hall and wide receivers Jahjah Matthew and Donald Holden. Blade Strzelczyk, who was used primarily as a receiver in 2015, is the team’s quarterback. Meanwhile on defense, eight players return led by defensive back Darion Smith, who had 89 tackles and three interceptions last year.

“We know they like to run the ball a lot,” Gomez said of the Hornets. “They only run like three plays, but they run them very well. Our defense will have its hands full.”

LAREDO UNITED SOUTH AT HARLINGEN HIGH: The Valley’s top-ranked team had little trouble in their 44-14 season-opening win against Mission Veterans last Thursday. The Cards now look to improve to 2-0 when they host the Panthers at 7:30 tonight at Boggus Stadium.

Although star running back Leo Tienda was held to nine yards on just five carries last week, others on the team stepped up big and got the job done.

Quarterback Jesse Castro was 9 of 16 for 169 yards and two touchdown passes. Meanwhile, junior running back Abel Castaneda rushed for 71 yards on 14 carries for two scores.

The Panthers, who look to avoid an 0-2 start after losing last week to San Antonio Wagner, feature an explosive running back of their own in the form of senior Jesus Posada, who ran for 212 yards on 23 carries and a TD a week ago. They also have a competent QB as junior Ismael Contreras threw for 155 yards and one score on 11 of 23 passing with one interception.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN – The Brian Ricci era at Harlingen South began on a high note last Friday after the Hawks pounded out a gritty 21-14 home victory over McAllen High.

The Hawks were led by a balanced rushing attack that used four different ball carriers to grind out 217 yards and all three touchdowns. Senior running back Adrian Torres accounted for 88 of those yards on 10 carries while junior RB Jorge Alicea touched the ball 11 times for 59 yards and two scores, including the game’s first on the Hawks’ opening drive.

Meanwhile, senior quarterback Brandon Villarreal was solid and steady going 4 for 5 for 81 yards with no interceptions.

But it was the Hawks’ defense that was truly impressive as they held the Bulldogs to just 184 yards of total offense, giving up one rushing TD late in the first half and a short passing score midway through the fourth quarter. Sophomore Derrick Delgado was particularly impressive as he had nine total tackles on the night, including eight solo.

“I was very pleased with the defense. I was pleased with the whole team,” said Hawks head coach Ricci. “Still, when you watch the film you see that we still have a lot of things we need to work on. We need to commit fewer penalties, tackle better and just clean things up more. We’re happy with the win, but we’re not where we want to be just yet.”

If the Hawks hope to win their first two games of the season – which the program hasn’t done since 2013 – they’ll have to contend today with a PSJA High squad that gutted out 430 rushing yards in a 36-33 season-opening win over Donna North.

Sophomore QB Trey Guajardo led the way for the Bears by rushing for 225 yards on 22 carries for three TDs. Junior running back Joachim Almaguer was also solid as he had 16 touches for 113 yards and two more scores.

The victory was key for the Bears, who struggled last season and won just one game. But fourth-year head coach Steve Marroquin was pleased with last Friday’s win and believes it’s reason for optimism.

“I was most pleased with the effort my team gave in the win,” Marroquin said. “They played hard all the way through and were tenacious for 48 minutes.

“We’re excited to take on South now. They are a good team that is well coached. They’ll be a challenge, but we’re just going to go back to fundamentals and do our best to try and stop them.”

While tonight’s contest looks to be a battle of ground attacks, Ricci said that may not be the case.

“What we run offensively will depend on what’s working on any given night,” he said. “The run worked for us against McHi, but that doesn’t mean we won’t pass if the situation presents itself.”

The Hawks and Bears face off at 7 tonight at Boggus Stadium in Harlingen.

“We’re fortunate to have back-to-back home games, especially since it was a short week,” Ricci said.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

SAN BENITO — Vicious spikes, pinpoint kill shots, savvy passing and rock-solid defense were all used by the Lady Greyhounds in a 3-0 non-district volleyball sweep over PSJA High on Tuesday.

Led by a solid front at the net, the Lady ’Hounds made short work of the Lady Bears 25-19, 25-17 and 25-15 to improve to an impressive 8-2 on the season.

San Benito came into Tuesday’s contest having won the Silver Bracket championship at this past weekend’s Sharyland ISD Invitational. Prior to that, the squad came in fourth at the Mission ISD Tournament.

However, despite the smooth victory against PSJA, head coach Ruby Medina was not fully pleased with her squad.

“I know they can play better,” she said. “I’m happy because we won, but the score should have been a whole lot better.”

The Lady ’Hounds jumped out to an early lead in Game 1 and even though PSJA attempted a comeback, never really had trouble as the rowdy home crowd shouted their appreciation as the teams switched sides.

In the second set, it was the Lady Bears that came out strong as they took an early lead behind some strong net play as well as a few missed hits and service errors by the Lady ’Hounds.

“To be honest, we play better against teams that hit harder. They (PSJA) are not a bad team, but they play a totally different tempo compared to what we’re used to so it threw us off for a bit,” Medina said.

After a timeout, the Lady ’Hounds adjusted and began to make their comeback as they tied the game at 12-12 then proceeded to pull away for the Game 2 win.

With momentum fully on their side and the San Benito crowd in full volume, the Lady ’Hounds came out in Game 3 and rushed out to a 5-0 lead thanks to some strong hitting up front by Crystal Ibarra.

PSJA fought back behind powerful shots by Myranda Garza and nice serving by Ashley Lopez. However, San Benito was too much as Ibarra continued to pound away at the net along with Alysa Naranjo and Arlene Lucero.

Up next for the Lady ’Hounds is another non-district match at McAllen High next Tuesday before District 32-6A play begins on Sept. 10 at Los Fresnos.

“Hopefully we’ll be ready for Los Fresnos,” Medina said. “They are a good team, but I think whoever shows up will win the game.”

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN – As an offensive coordinator at Richmond George Ranch, Brian Ricci found plenty of success.

During his stint with the Longhorns, the team went 70-18, won five undefeated district titles and, just last year, a Class 5A Division I state championship.

However, as a head coach Ricci remains winless. He’ll be looking for win number one tonight when his Harlingen South Hawks host McAllen High in their 2016 season opener.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Boggus Stadium.

“We are all excited about the game, but I’m not concerned about wins or loses right not,” Ricci said. “At this point I’m just looking for the effort and I think these guys have been showing tremendous effort. We’re gonna be OK and we’re gonna go out there and give it all we’ve got.”

Ricci said senior Brandon Villarreal is expected to start as quarterback tonight. Last season Villarreal was solid, splitting time with Troy Jensen early in the year.

“Brandon has been looking real good,” Ricci said. “It’s been pretty tough on him having to learn a new offense, but he’s picked it up well and I’m very pleased with what I’ve seen from him.”

Meanwhile, McHi enters tonight’s contest with plenty of returning talent on the offensive line but is void of an experienced quarterback since last year’s starter Josh McGowen graduated and backup QB Gunnar Henderson transferred to Brownsville St. Joseph during the offseason.

In a scrimmage against San Benito last Friday, the Bulldogs, who went 6-6 and lost in the first round of the playoffs in 2015, struggled mightily on both sides of the ball as they lost 56-0.

“I don’t put much stock into that (loss),” Ricci said. “From what I saw of the Bulldogs, they are a very big, physical team that is very big up front on offense. We’re gonna have to deal with that, but we’re ready. We’ve got good numbers this year so our depth is a positive thing.”

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — Fresh off a tournament title at this past weekend’s Port Isabel Tournament, the Harlingen South Lady Hawks were eager to keep momentum going heading into their non-district home match vs. Brownsville Lopez on Tuesday.

After breezing through games 1 and 2, the Lady Hawks (13-2) struggled down the stretch but still managed to close out the Lady Lobos 25-13, 25-11, 25-20.

“We have a lot of cleaning up to do,” said Lady Hawks head coach Jennifer Taliancich after the contest. “These girls are all new to each other so they still have a lot of meshing to do.”

The team seemed to mesh just fine early on as they dominated Lopez through the first two sets.

In Game 1, the Lady Hawks took an early lead behind some solid net play and never looked back.

The same went for Game 2, although several errors by the Lady Lobos aided South nicely.

However, in Game 3, the momentum shifted as the Lady Lobos came to life behind some nice defense as well as a few South miscues.

With the game knotted at 7, the teams traded punches until Lopez finally muscled its way to a 14-12 advantage, prompting Coach Taliancich to call a timeout.

“It was an attitude thing there,” Taliancich said of her team’s performance to start the third game. “They were getting frustrated because they usually play more cohesively and they got frustrated that they just couldn’t get it together right away.

“In the timeout I told them how they were reacting and that they needed to come together.”

Initially, the talk seemed to do little as the Lady Lobos pushed their lead to 18-14 and appeared ready to force a Game 4.

However, the Lady Hawks suddenly woke up and began to make their comeback thanks to some strong defense and very solid frontline play from Cameron Del Angel, Allyson Benavides and Vanessa Santillan.

A nice shot by Benavides from the left wing tied things up at 18 and the Lady Hawks were on their way as Lopez simply couldn’t counter.

The Lady Hawks will now play in a tournament in Laredo this weekend before hosting La Feria and Brownsville Pace in a tri-match next Tuesday, and Edinburg Economedes a week from Friday.

District play opens on Sept. 10 when the Lady Hawks host the Harlingen Lady Cardinals.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

SANTA ROSA — He just couldn’t stay away.

That’s why Gus Cavazos couldn’t help but take over at Santa Rosa this past offseason.

Cavazos, who spent seven years as the head coach at PSJA Memorial and four years before that as Rio Hondo’s head man before stepping away from coaching last year to become the director of the Safe Schools Initiative for PSJA ISD, simply couldn’t resist the urge to get back on the sidelines.

“I enjoyed my job at PSJA ISD, but I really missed coaching and coaching here (at Santa Rosa) was a great opportunity,” he said. “I live right down the road from the high school here so that’s nice and to come into a system like this… It’s a nice little town where the parents are supportive and the kids are here at practice where they have a great attitude. It was just too much for me to pass up.”

And, so far, Cavazos is pleased with what he has seen from his squad.

However, Cavazos’ job won’t be easy. He inherited a team that went a disappointing 1-8 last year and failed to make the playoffs.

To make matters more difficult, he will be without star quarterback Leo Lara, who decided to stop playing football in order to concentrate on basketball.

Regardless, Cavazos said he likes his team’s chances this season and is focused on returning the Warriors to the postseason.

Alex Ayala is expected to take over under center this season. Ayala was a running back last year but did play a little quarterback behind Lara.

Meanwhile, senior Nathan Bentley is expected to be Ayala’s main target at the wideout position, but Cavazos said he may also see some time at running back and even play quarterback at times.

“We also have a good, young (offensive) line that will help us out a lot,” Cavazos said. “I also think our defense will be solid. We have a handful of seniors, about seven or eight guys, so I think that will play a big part in our success.

“These kids are hungry. They had an off year last season and so they really want to bounce back. They are excited about the new system and so they are ready to go.”

The Warriors’ preseason schedule continues this week as they host Zapata in their final scrimmage of the year before kicking the season off at Hidalgo on Aug. 26.

Their first home game come against La Villa on Sept. 2 and the annual Battle of FM 506 vs. La Feria is set for Sept. 23 at Santa Rosa.

After they face the Lions, the Warriors have a bye week before beginning district action at San Diego on Oct. 7.