By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Los Fresnos, Harlingen High and San Benito all won in Week 10 and clinched a postseason spot.
The Falcons topped Brownsville Veterans Memorial 35-10, the Cardinals defeated Lopez 48-0 and San Benito held off Harlingen South 17-13.
The trio of teams is tied atop the District 32-6A standings at 5-1 with one game remaining in the regular season. The Falcons lost to Harlingen High and defeated San Benito, and Harlingen High lost to San Benito in head-to-head matchups.
Last season, each of these teams shared the district title with Rivera. If all three win this week, there would be a three-way tie and they would share the championship again this year.
Los Fresnos plays host to Hanna, Harlingen High plays city rival Harlingen South in the annual Bird Bowl and San Benito is on the road against Rivera.
Each team is eager to get their share of the title.
“We have one more goal we have to take care of,” Los Fresnos coach Clint Finley said. “We’re going to have to play really well against Hanna this week to get a piece of that gold ball. That’s our big goal right there.”
ONE MORE SPOT: One week. One game. Two teams have one final chance to make the postseason.
Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Harlingen South are fighting for the final playoff spot in the district, and both sit at 3-3 in the standings.
For the Chargers, a win this week against Lopez clinches a playoff berth. If Brownsville Veterans loses, Harlingen South must also lose for the Chargers to still clinch a spot.
Brownsville Veterans holds the tiebreaker after defeating Harlingen South in Week 5. The Hawks have to win and hope for the Chargers to lose to clinch a playoff berth.
After three consecutive losses, the Chargers hope to get back on track against the Lobos.
“Nothing changes next week,” Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said. “I’ve given every ounce of effort I have and so have the kids and all of our coaches, and that doesn’t stop. “We’ll put every ounce of effort into a game plan to compete against the Lopez Lobos and it’s that simple. The biggest game of the year is the next one on the schedule.”
DONE FOR THE YEAR: Hanna had an up-and-down season in which its playoff hopes were dashed with a loss in Week 9 to Harlingen South.
To add insult to injury, the Golden Eagles lost senior quarterback Andy Lopez to a knee strain in the same game.
Lopez is expected to miss the next six weeks, which puts an end to his season and his high school football career. he missed last week’s game against Rivera and will miss the season finale against Los Fresnos.
Lopez was leading the district in passing through eight games with 1,857 passing yards and 11 touchdowns.
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.