The two enter the Valley Morning Star’s Game of the Week coming off tough Week 3 losses and neither squad wants to go into their district openers in Week 5 riding a losing skid.
The Panthers are 1-2 so far this season.
In Week 1, the Panthers were stunned at home by Harlingen South 28-17. They managed to squeak past Donna 14-13 in Week 2, but this past Thursday against Corpus Christi King, the Panthers fell 28-7 and are now faced with the possibility of falling to a very disappointing 1-3 if they lose Friday.
As for the Cardinals, they enter the game 0-2 after losing to McAllen at home this past Friday 21-14. The Cards opened the season with a 35-0 Week 2 loss to San Antonio Reagan.
No one seems to be sure when the last time –– if ever — the Cardinals opened a season 0-3. They did begin the 2012 season 0-2 as they lost non-district games to San Antonio Johnson and San Benito. Despite the slow start in 2012, the team still went on to win the district title and advance to the second round of the playoffs.
And while a 0-3 non-district start would not be the end of the world for the Cards, as they are still favored to win District 32-6A, losses never sit well at Harlingen High.
To make matters worse, health has become an issue. Sophomore quarterback Jesse Castro left the McHi game late in the first half with a knee injury. Castro replaced senior Bowie Davis, who got injured against Reagan and could miss up to six weeks with a calf injury.
After the loss to McHi, Cards head coach Manny Gomez admitted that getting healthy is key if they hope to beat Weslaco.
“It’s difficult when your quarterback goes down again and you have to go into a plan C,” he said on Friday. “The kids showed resiliency and got after it. It shows greatness in some of these, but we’re going to keep playing no matter what. It’s a learning curve for us right now but we have to get healthy for sure.”
Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Boggus Stadium in Harlingen.