By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — For the second time in three weeks, the Los Fresnos Falcons’ defense traveled to Harlingen and played well enough to stay in the game.
And when the team’s offense failed to take advantage once again, the Harlingen High Cardinals are the ones who benefited.
Leading by one score, the Cardinals used two fourth-quarter touchdowns and a pair of Falcons turnovers to secure a 19-0 District 32-6A victory Friday night at Boggus Stadium.
“The offense scores points, and the defense stops them from scoring those points,” Harlingen High coach Manny Gomez said. “And today, it seems like we finally came together as one. We had some tough games prior to this and it prepped us for this. We’re definitely excited, and we’re definitely going to enjoy this win.”
Up 6-0, Harlingen High (3-4, 1-2) opened the fourth quarter by going 44 yards in eight plays, leading to a Jaime Galvan 10-yard touchdown pass to Dalton Mann to make it 12-0 with 8:23 left to play.
Los Fresnos quarterback Matthew Padilla fumbled the ball on the ensuing possession, leading to a Harlingen High recovery by Gabriel Martinez at the Falcons’ 18.
Rayden Berry punched it in from a 1 yard out moments later to make it 19-0 and slam the door for good with 5:54 to play.
Padilla fumbled once again on the ensuing possession to put the cap on a sluggish night for the Falcons (3-5, 1-2), who recorded just 100 yards of offense and had drives stall on penalties on more than one occasion.
“Harlingen got after us,” Los Fresnos coach Patrick Brown said. “A few times we got drives going and hurt ourselves with penalties and had turnovers. If you commit penalties and have turnovers, you know you’re not going to win, especially when you have young kids on the field.
“That’s my fault as a coach, and that’s something I have to get fixed going into the next few games.”
Harlingen High’s offense posted 262 yards, led by Galvan, who threw for 134 yards and rushed for 91 more with two total touchdowns.
The Falcons’ defense was put in rough spots, with the average starting field position for the Cardinals being their own 49.
“I think you can tell the character of our defense at the end of the game there,” Brown said. “When the game is pretty much over and they’re battling every second of the way. Special teams-wise we didn’t punt the ball very well, and offensively we put them in bad situations. … they’re the best defense I’ve ever had.”
Harlingen High picks up its first district win of the season and is back in the win column for the first time in five weeks after a four-game skid and a bye.
“It’s indescribable,” Gomez said of the win. “You play this game to win and, unfortunately, someone has got to lose. Los Fresnos is a class act. I tell you what, both teams competed and both communities came out here, supported their teams and I’m super proud of mine. We started a little slow, but we picked it up in the second half.”
The Cardinals looked to strike early in the game, driving all the way to the Falcons’ 6 before Galvan had a pass intercepted by defensive back Lee Trevino.
The Los Fresnos offense did little with the turnover and punted it away four plays later.
It was a story of missed opportunities early for the Falcons, as they also came up with a punt block on the ensuing possession only to go three-and-out.
Harlingen High finally got on the board with a little more than two minutes to play in the half when Galvan scored on a 2-yard run to cap a six-play, 38-yard drive and make it 6-0 after a missed point-after attempt.
The Falcons gained 30 total yards during the first half and managed one first down that wasn’t via penalty.