By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
BROWNSVILLE — A week full of rivalry games in the Rio Grande Valley was capped by a battle between the Brownsville Hanna Eagles and the Brownsville Rivera Raiders.
Each team controlled one half of the District 32-6A contest that went down to the wire. The Hanna defense came up with the clutch stop to clinch the 15-13 victory Saturday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“These inner-city rivals, we get after it. We just want to beat each other,” Hanna coach Mark Guess said. “Our defense eventually did a good job to come up and make some plays. Our guys finally decided they wanted to win this game and not give it away. … Rivera played hard, man. They’re not a bad football team at all.”
It was a scoreless contest through one and a half quarters, and then the Eagles exploded for two scores during a five-minute span to hold a 15-0 lead at halftime. Senior defensive back Anthony Ambriz broke the tie with a punt return touchdown he took approximately 60 yards to the end zone.
Hanna rode the momentum from the big play to quickly force a three-and-out and tack on another score. Junior quarterback Joshua Villafranco directed an 80-yard scoring drive, connecting with senior receiver Ethan Pena and Ambriz and using his legs to move the chains.
Villafranco had four carries and hurdled a defender on the sideline to set up the score. He hit Pena in the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown — a redemption play for the receiver after an early drop on a would-be touchdown. Hanna faked the extra point, with Ambriz taking the snap and rushing in for the two-point conversion.
“(Moving to quarterback), it’s just settling into the new plays I have to learn,” Villafranco said. “(I did) pretty good. Did what I could to get those yards. Just had to step up and be that leader of the team. I love that we never quit. I give it up to our defense for that win.”
Rivera came out strong during the second half, led by quarterback Ramsey Rocha. The senior signal caller gave a gutsy performance to give the Raiders a fighting chance.
The Raiders took the opening possession of the second half 74 yards to trim their deficit. Junior running back Luis Reyes ran hard to keep the offense rolling, and Rocha hit junior Devin Parker and senior Adrian Arriaga. Rocha scored on a 2-yard carry after getting Rivera to first-and-goal on a 10-yard rush.
Hanna had a good drive going after the score, but a costly penalty slowed the Eagles and resulted in a punt.
“We’ve been in a couple of tough ones this year where we had to come back. This is the first time we had the lead and had to really hold somebody off,” Guess said. “We played well enough to win. Definitely not a pretty game, but the kids played hard and that’s all we can expect from them.”
Rivera responded with a solid 95-yard scoring drive. Rocha was 5-for-8 on the drive, converting on third down twice in the air and once with his legs, and converting on fourth down with a pass to Arriaga. Arriaga had four receptions in the drive, including a 28-yard touchdown. Rivera’s two-point conversion failed, keeping Hanna on top 15-13 with 9:10 on the clock.
“(Rocha), this whole season he’s just been growing and maturing,” Rivera coach Beto Leal said. “We put a lot on his plate as far as throwing the ball and running the ball. He’s stepping up to the plate as a leader, and we appreciate that.”
The teams exchanged turnovers-on-downs on the next three possessions, and the Raiders got the ball back on their own 35-yard line with two minutes to play. Rocha hit Robert Flores for a 30-yard gain to get into Eagles territory, but after an incompletion on third down, Rivera missed a long field goal.
Hanna kneeled out the clock, improving to 3-4, 2-2. Junior standout running back Kriz Pena was sidelined with an injury during the first quarter. Villafranco picked up his second win in as many starts after winning the quarterback job following inconsistency at the position early in the season. Ambriz, Humberto Garcia, Manrique Cantu and Ramon Reyes led Hanna defensively.
“(Villafranco) still has some things we need to clean up, but we feel he gives us the best opportunity to win football games,” Guess said.
Rivera falls to 2-5, 0-4. Alan Montano, JR Acevedo, Abel Campos, Eric Arevalo and Rogelio Lopez were among the top defensive playmakers that held Hanna scoreless during the second half.
“Our kids battled. We’re not the Rivera of old. We’re not. These kids never quit. They keep rolling, and that’s all I can ask for,” Leal said. “We told them at halftime and before the game, ‘I want you to leave every ounce of blood, of tears, of sweat out on the field.’ Second half, defense shut ’em out, offense put up 13 points, but we came up short on the two-point conversion.”