KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN—The Harlingen South Hawks notched their first win of the 2018 season in Week 2 and will look to make it two in a row as they host McAllen High in their rubber match tonight at 7 p.m.

“We have had to cram in a couple of days together because it’s a shorter week,” said South Coach Brian Ricci. “On Monday and Tuesday, though they were normal practices for us, we had two really good practices this week and the kids were upbeat, but they know that Fridays win is the past and it’s time to focus on the next task.”

The Hawks have found a rhythm offensively both on the ground and through the air. Senior running back Emilio Quiroz is off back-to-back 100-yard performances and has scored a touchdown in each of his first two games.

His battery mate, Corban Hendrick, has also provided a spark for the Hawks offense. Against PSJA North, Hendrick made key runs and helped move the chains.

The duo of Quiroz and Hendrick has provided the Hawks offense with a balanced attacked, and it is something Ricci is pleased with seeing.

“We actually have three backs that we use and we rotate,” said Ricci. “It allows us to have fresh legs in the game and we are able to play at a faster tempo.”

Last year, the Hawks were able to get the best of McHi in their season opener, this year the Hawks look to do the same as they host the Bulldogs in Week 3.

The looming question is how will the weather fair. There is a 40 percent chance of rain in the area, and the showers could present a problem come kickoff. However, the rain could favor both squads as both teams look to establish the run. McAllen High will lean on Octavian Lewis who led the Bulldog rushing attack against Edinburg North with 27 carries for 68 yards. Lewis provided a walk-off touchdown to beat Edinburg North on the final play from scrimmage in week 2.

FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer

The Santa Rosa Warriors jump from one rivalry to the next this week.

After playing host to the Battle of 506 this past weekend, the Warriors dive straight into the Sugar Bowl this Friday against the La Villa Cardinals.

For the Cardinals, Week 3 comes with an added bonus, as the team prepares to play its first game on the new football turf.

“Everybody’s excited right now,” La Villa coach Danny Perez said. “We are here, ready to go, and the kids really, really want to win this game because it’s Santa Rosa and it’s our first home game here. We are excited about playing our first game in our new field.”

Each team comes into the contest with a must-win mentality. The Cardinals enter with a 0-2 record, losing to Progreso (23-12) and Three Rivers (32-12).

“We really want to start winning because everything gets fixed when you win, so for now that’s our main goal,” Perez said.

Santa Rosa comes into Week 3 also hoping to get on track before beginning district play. The Warriors lost a close game to Lyford (13-6) before falling again to La Feria 38-6.

During the past decade, Santa Rosa has come out on top seven times, outscoring La Villa 266 to 202.

LA FERIA AT MERCEDES

After a two-year absence, Mercedes and La Feria start their old rivalry back up. The last time the teams played each other was in 2015, with Mercedes coming out with a 21-6 victory on a rain-soaked Tiger Field.

History hasn’t been kind to the Lions. During their past 10 encounters, Mercedes has come out on the right side of the score seven times.

This year, the Lions enter the contest on a two-game win streak, defeating Raymondville (17-7) and Santa Rosa 38-6. The Tigers enter the game 1-1, defeating Edinburg North (19-16) in Week 1 before losing to McAllen Rowe 48-19.

By KEVIN NARRO AND MARK MOLINA, Staff Writers

The Harlingen High Cardinals are 2-0 on the young season.

On Saturday, the Cardinals’ defense stood its ground against Laredo United South by yielding just nine points. The Panthers scored on their opening drive, but after that Big Red’s defense shut down the Panthers’ attack.

Harlingen High has now won two in a row against the Panthers.

The Cards took the momentum after a 78-yard touchdown from Jaime Galvan to Damon Cantu that gave the Cardinals a 10-7 edge early in the third quarter, and they did not give up the lead from there. Galvan went 10 for 22 with 185 yards and one score. Through the air, Joe Reyna finished with five catches for 37 yards.

Up next is will be the toughest challenge yet, as Converse Judson will invade Boggus Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

FIRST WIN

The Greyhounds found themselves in a shootout, and found themselves on the winning end against Victoria West, 43-41.

San Benito held off a 20-point fourth quarter to seal its first win of the season. Senior QB Jacob Cavazos found a rhythm in the passing game, going 13 for 20 for 193 yards and two scores. Cavazos also ran for 87 yards on 12 carries in the win.

San Benito will host PSJA High at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The matchup should provide plenty of fireworks, as Trey Guajardo comes to town.

LOOKING BACK

Seventeen years ago, America was struck by tragedy. The Sept. 11 attacks, 17 years later, still have many remembering the pain and shock everyone went through that day.

Most of the varsity members of the Harlingen South team were not born yet, but they have learned and read about the events in their history class.

Hawks coach Brian Ricci, like most, remembers where he was that morning.

“I sure do remember, it was my second year of coaching and I was coaching at Splendora Jr. High. I was out at a gas station picking up some Gatorades,” Ricci said. “I saw everyone looking up at the TV, and the news was on. I wasn’t sure what everyone was looking at until I saw what was happening. It was an awful event, but we persevered and we went through it, and we came out stronger as a country.”

FALCONS EXPLODE

For the second straight season, Los Fresnos coach Patrick Brown said his defense would have to do a lot of the heavy lifting early while his offense finds itself.

It did just that during the final 14 1/2 minutes of Friday night’s 36-35 win over LBJ Austin.

The Falcons’ 29 unanswered points during the third and fourth quarters were more than they had put up in the six previous quarters combined (20).

The offense totaled 332 yards of total offense one week after a 128-yard effort against El Paso Montwood in Week 1.

Junior wide receiver Nico Valencia had a big game Friday night, hauling in 11 passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns.

Valencia now has 16 catches for 166 yards and three scores in two outings.

Quarterback Sergio Martinez also had a more productive Week 2, going 19 for 29 for 190 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. He also ran 20 times for 81 yards, one touchdown and a two-point conversion.

The Los Fresnos offense can expect a favorable matchup this week as it faces an Edcouch-Elsa team that has been outscored 94-7 in its first two games.

GETTING ON TRACK

Coming off tough 35-20 road loss, Hanna looks to try and get back on track when it takes on Weslaco East in a non-district matchup.

Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Bobby Lackey Stadium in Weslaco.

It will be the first time the two meet since Weslaco East was moved to District 31-6A during the biennial UIL realignment this past spring.

Weslaco East is hunting its first win of the season after losing to Manor and Laredo Alexander during its first two outings.

Weslaco East won the last meeting 42-35 in its District 32-6A finale at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville.

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN —Tuesday night’s penultimate non-district match between Los Fresnos and Harlingen South had the feel, sights and play of a district match.

But it was just another non-district game.

With the new six-team District 32-6A, coaches were thrown into a bind, scrambling for games at the back end of the non-district portion of their schedules. Tuesday was an example of the unorthodox non-district schedule teams have had to endure this season.

Los Fresnos will play San Benito on Saturday, and South will meet Weslaco East, which now is in District 31-6A. On Tuesday, the Lady Falcons make a trip back to South for their district opener.

Tuesday was a warmup for everyone in attendance on what is to come in league play. The night, however, belonged to the Lady Falcons, as they swept the Lady Hawks 25-8, 25-17, 25-20, improving their record to 25-6.

“We didn’t have anyone else to play, we are in a six-team district, and when you have that it is hard to get games when everyone else is already playing district games,” Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods said. “We couldn’t go outside of the (Rio Grande) Valley and that makes it tough, and on Saturday we play San Benito. It’s frustrating to play a district team before district, but if we didn’t do it, we wouldn’t have had a game to play and we would have three open dates in a row, and we can’t do that.”

The Lady Falcons came out swinging during the first set, led by Isis Delgado, who checked in with a team-high 22 digs on the night.

Sandra Salazar finished with 11 kills, Jasmin Garcia notched 10 kills and Sarah Villarreal fed the offense with 42 assists.

“It was good to see the kids in an environment like tonight,” South coach Anissa Lucio said. “It will help us get better. We need to finish strong, and that is just one final hurdle we need to overcome, but we have done it before so I fully believe in the girls to finish games. It is just a matter of us being consistent.”

The Lady Hawks went toe-to-toe with Los Fresnos during both the second and third sets. Every left hook South threw, Los Fresnos had an answer.

South’s Mikela Mireles led the offense with 16 kills, Mya Aguirre had 13 assists and Allyah Guevara finished with 11 assists.

“I told the girls to keep things positive, and to focus on our strengths and to keep the ball in play. If we can do those things we will be OK,” Lucio said. “Our girls have come a long way, they really understand what it takes to get to 25 points, and we have seen that progression from the start of the season till now.”

HARLINGEN — The Galvan brothers and Harlingen High Cardinals football go hand in hand.

Jaime, Jesse and Justin are all on the 2018 Cardinals football team, and it is not every day you see a set of brothers take the field together.

Growing up in Harlingen, the Galvan boys dreamed of the day they could be a part of the Cardinals program. They attended Memorial Middle School and grew up going to Cardinals games.

Jaime and Jesse played together in little league, and it was then the two wanted to play together once they got to high school.

“We talked about it a couple times,” Jaime said. “It was something we always wanted to do when we got to the varsity.”

Jaime, a junior this year, is the starting quarterback. Jessie is a senior and plays outside linebacker, and the youngest, Justin, a sophomore, is a wide receiver. Their older brother, Jose, is a former Cardinals player and graduated in 2016.

“All we talk about is football,” Jesse said. “We do it here at school, and at home we will go over different things. It is fun because I play defense and I’m able to help Jaime with different reads, and Jaime is able to help me.”

“As an older brother I hope they look up to me,” Jesse said. “I want them to learn from me and learn from my mistakes.”

Justin, who is in his first year as a member of the varsity, is taking in the opportunity to not only play alongside his older brothers but to also learn from them.

“It’s a blessing to be able to play with them,” Justin said. “They have helped me learn the plays and are teaching me how to be a Cardinal. It felt good to take the field Friday night for the first time. Now that I got my first game in, I’m ready to get better and get things going.”

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

HARLIGNEN — The start of the second half between Harlingen South and PSJA North felt like deja vu for the Hawks.South held a lead, and a special teams miscue allowed PSJA North back into the game.

Last week the Hawks saw their lead slip away, but this week South exorcised its second-half demons, contained Raiders quarterback Iziaah Rangel and leaned on their kicker, Jose Lerma.

Lerma took over the game with his leg and solid special teams play. The four-year letterman in soccer booted a 24-yard go-ahead field goal with 1:58 left in the game that gave South a 24-23 lead and proved to be the game-winner.

“ I had nerves, the only other time I was nervous like that was during soccer,” Lerma said. “I’m glad I came through.”

That was not the only play Lerma had a hand in. During the second half he drilled a 60-yard punt and flipped the field position.

Trailing 17-14 late in the third quarter, South needed a spark, and Lerma provided it. Lerma recovered a muffed punt that gave the Hawks the momentum and eventually the lead.

“(Jose) has ice in his veins,” South coach Brian Ricci said. “I knew he was going to make that kick, I have full confidence in him. He had himself a game and made so many plays for us, he played his butt off tonight.”

The Hawks fine-tuned their offense and put together some impressive scoring drives. On their opening possession, junior quarterback David Torres hit Brady Bennett for a 20-yard pass and Derrick Delgado for a 22-yard strike that helped set up an Emilio Quiroz touchdown.

Junior running back Corban Hendrick followed up last week’s strong performance with another strong night on the ground. Hendrick who finished with 12 carries and 66 yards.

“I feel great right now, we realized what we did wrong last week, and we fixed those things and put it all together tonight,” Hendrick said. “That last drive for us was huge, we had so much adrenaline. We work on those things in practice, and we just kept pushing for four quarters.”

After hitting the go-ahead field goal, South’s defense rose to the occasion. PSJA North had 1:58 left and trailed by one. South’s defense came up with a stop on fourth down during the final minute to seal the win.

“Our kids played hard again and they limited the mistakes,” Ricci said. “We did make some mistakes tonight, we had some late hits that we can’t do, and you don’t win close games when you do those things, so we were fortunate tonight to get through those things. Last week, the same situations happened in the second half, but this time we were able to overcome it and I’m extremely proud of the kids.”

FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer

SANTA ROSA — For the sixth consecutive year, the La Feria Lions did what they’ve done for much of the Battle of 506 rivalry: win.

During the past 26 years the Lions have come out on the right side of the score 24 times, and the Warriors have won just twice (1992, 2012).

This meeting was no different.

Avishai Dickerson rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns (from 47 yards and 5 yards), and Dorian Hernandez, Erik Algeria and Bobby Fraga each added one touchdown apiece as the Lions picked up a convincing 38-6 victory over rival Santa Rosa on Friday evening at Warrior Stadium.

With the win, the Lions improved to 2-0 on the season and the Warriors fell to 0-2.

“We played well but we still have a lot of work to do,” La Feria coach Oscar Salinas said. “We have to clean up our penalties, but overall I thought we played a lot cleaner this week than we did last week. It was a tough week for us, rain changed our schedule around, but our kids focused in and when they needed to play and get after it they did a good job.

“For whatever reason, when we play here on this field we just always start off slow and play a little tense and tighter than we should, but after Dickerson had that big run for us we loosened up and started playing.”

Dickerson let his talent do the talking on the field, as the sophomore broke loose for a 47-yard touchdown with 2:26 remaining in the first. The TD was the first of two for Dickerson, and it was offensive spark the Lions needed to get going.

“This is a big game that’s been played for a long time,” a modest Dickerson said. “All I could think about was getting into the end zone.”

The sophomore running back scored his second TD just before the half.

Another player with a good outing was starting quarterback Dorian Hernandez. The junior missed last week’s game against the Raymondville Bearkats, but there wasn’t much that was going to keep him out of this one.

“I’ve always dreamt of playing in games like this, and it’s fun having the bragging rights,” Hernandez said. “We started off slow but we huddled up in the sideline and talked about what we had to do. We had to pick up our tempo, dominate and execute on every play, and just go out there and give it 100 percent.

“When No. 28 (Avishai Dickerson) scored, it was a confidence booster and gave us motivation to keep pushing.”

On defense the Lions were almost perfect again. After allowing seven points last week against the Bearkats, La Feria followed it up with another shutdown performance.

“Defensively we’ve had two good games, which is good because we have a lot of young kids,” Salinas said. “Right now our defense is just playing really hard.”

For Santa Rosa, the only bright spot of the evening came in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Jose Ruiz found Mike Bermea wide open along the home side to connect for a 43-yard touchdown with 1:52 remaining in the game.

The schedule doesn’t get much easier for the Lions. Next up, La Feria heads five miles east to take on rival Mercedes on Friday before returning home to play host to Port Isabel on Sept. 21.

Santa Rosa jumps from one rivalry to the next. The Warriors head to La Villa to take on the Cardinals in the annual Sugar Bowl before starting the District 16-3A Division II season at Hebbronville.

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

SAN BENITO —Growing up, Jacob Cavazos saw countless games from the stands, watching and cheering on his Greyhounds every Friday night. As a kid, Cavazos pictured himself suiting up for the Hounds one day and taking center stage at Bobby Morrow Stadium.

Cavazos grew up watching quarterback Dylan Castillo, JR Gaitan and found himself alongside one of his closest friends, now former QB, Erick Retta.

Both Retta and Cavazos grew up playing football together and remain close friends to this day. Like a good teammate would do, he patiently waited for his turn to direct the offense and now Cavazos has that shot his senior year.

Now with Retta gone to graduation, Cavazos is now the Hounds signal caller and one of the team leaders.

“It was always a dream of mine to play for the Hounds,” Cavazos said. “It is one of those things, as a kid you see the games and want to be a part of it and now it’s all a dream come true and an honor for me to play for San Benito and this community.”

Cavazos who made his debut as the starting quarterback against Calallen in Week 1. Cavazos made plays with his feet and came up just short on the road against the Wildcats.

Against Calallen, Cavazos ran for 105 yards on 13 attempts and sniffed the end zone once. Through the air, Cavazos went 6 for 12 for 89 yards.

“After the Calallen game, Erick text me that he was proud of me,” Cavazos said. “It means a lot coming from him. He gave me some advice and told me to keep working hard.”

The challenge for Cavazos is adapting to a new offense under new offensive coordinator Steve Marroquin. However, Cavazos has a firm grip of the offense, and has been a smooth transition into the new system.

“There is a lot of studying that goes on for a quarterback,” Cavazos said. “As a QB you lead the guys and the younger guys look up to you, so it is important that I be a leader. The offense is fun to run this year, coach Marroquin does a great job with the offense, and we’re excited that he is here coaching our offense.”

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN—Harlingen South will host PSJA North tonight at 7:30 for their 2018 home opener at Boggus Stadium. The Hawks are looking to rebound after a rough loss to Edinburg High, meanwhile PSJA North will be riding in hot after their win against PSJA Memorial.

“We’re excited and the kids are excited to be back at Boggus and having their home opener,” said Hawks coach Brian Ricci. “It was a great test for us playing Edinburg High in week one and PSJA North is another tough team, it will be another good test for us.”

South will line up against a familiar opponent in Junior quarterback Iziaah Rangel. Rangel who is a transfer from Edinburg North, helped lead the Cougars to a win last year against Harlingen South. At the time Rangel was playing wide out and took over under center when starting QB Frankie Zuniga left the game with an injury.

Rangel is now the starting QB for the Raiders and dazzled in his debut in the black and silver. Rangel ran for 151 yards on 14 carries and threw for 119 yards, three scores while completing 7 for 13 passes.

“He is a heck of an athlete, he is very quick,” Ricci said of Rangel. “He is tough to tackle in space so we’re going to have our hands full with him and they also got a stout defense with some size on their offensive line.”

Despite the loss, Ricci was pleased with his team’s effort; it is a matter of putting together a complete game effort and cutting down on the mistakes. Special teams is one side of the ball the Hawks will look to correct heading into week two.

“The effort was there, that is one of the things I talked about with the kids,” said Ricci. “We need to finish games, last week we were in a position to win the game, but we didn’t get it done. Avoiding mistakes at the wrong time is another topic we spoke about. Those mistakes are what can cost you a game.”

The Hawks got a solid effort from QB David Torres who found his top targets Brady Bennett and Derrick Delgado. On the ground, the combo of Corbin Hendrick and Emilo Quiroz also shined against Edinburg High.

2011 was the last time PSJA North and Harlingen South played each other. The two were district rivals in 31-5A at the time with the Raiders squeaking out a 26-23 win in Pharr.

FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer

Santa Rosa head coach Hector Ayala didn’t have to say much to his team at the start of practice week on Monday. With the annual rivalry circled on every calendar in town every player, coach and fan in both cities know what is at stake when both teams meet tonight in the Battle of 506.

“We are definitely dialed in,” said Ayala. “I came out here (practice field) on Monday and said ‘do I have to say anything’ and everybody was just ‘lets go, let’s get practice started.’ They know what it means and what it means for the community. It’s been several years now since the Warriors have beaten the Lions so hopefully this year we can bring that joy back to Santa Rosa.”

And it’s been a while since Santa Rosa has felt that joy Coach Ayala spoke of. To be exact, many lifelong Warriors fans will remember the day September 21, 2012, that was the last time Santa Rosa beat the La Feria Lions. Before that, fans would have to go back to 1992.

“Right now it is everything, it’s the best non-district game around,” said Warriors senior Robert Bentley. “If we could make it a district game it would make it even better, but that’s how good of a game it is. It’s been a rivalry game forever and hopefully we can take it this year. Right now our mentality is that the streak is over and it’s coming back to us this year.

“Growing up I was at every Friday night game and there has always been some head butting but the atmosphere has always been awesome.”

Six miles South on FM506, the meaning of the game has not changed a bit.

“This game is monumental for both communities because of the pride for each respective school,” said La Feria senior Jacob Garza. “The proximity of the two cities means that there are a lot of families and friends on both teams, and this means that you get the chance to joke around with them before and after the game.”

While the game has stood the test of time, Coach Ayala recognizes that the contest is not as hostile as it once was.

“It’s a rivalry game plain and simple,” said Ayala. “I know it’s changed a little bit now over the years, because I have some coaches that played in the Battle of 506 and when they talk about the 506 game they would say there was some bad blood between the teams but now it’s a little different because there is family on both sides.

“It’s still a rivalry, because both teams want to win and they want the bragging rights. We came close two years ago, and last year we were pretty banged up going into the game, but we’re healthy and we’re going to give it our best shot. We always go into every game with the attitude that we’re showing up to win, this one is no different.”