By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Los Fresnos is regaining some of its swagger.
After overcoming a 14-point deficit against San Benito in Week 6, only to lose late in the fourth quarter, the Falcons were down on themselves.
“I think they played well enough (against San Benito),” Los Fresnos coach Clint Finley said. “But it took some confidence away from us.”
Though it was just the first District 32-6A loss for the Falcons, Finley admitted it was tough on his players, physically and emotionally.
“It was a hard week, and we were licking our wounds pretty hard,” he said. “We had to fight through the week.”
So with its 42-23 road victory against Harlingen South, the Falcons (4-2, 2-1) are feeling as good as they have all season.
“It was huge, it was very important for our kids to come out and play and get that confidence back and feel good about themselves,” Finley said. “It was good to get that nasty taste out of our mouth.”
Especially for Los Fresnos’ Pierce Ruiz. The senior quarterback had one of his best games of the year, completing 7 of 11 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns and gaining another 126 yards on 18 carries and another score on the ground in the victory.
The Falcons return home to face Harlingen High (3-3, 2-1) in Week 8.
TOO MANY MISTAKES
Harlingen South (2-4, 1-2) has struggled in district play this season because of mistakes.
After opening district with a narrow defeat to Brownsville Veterans Memorial because of miscues, the Hawks followed that with a shutout of Lopez and seemed to get back on track.
But last week, South again struggled with errors that put them into a deficit at halftime that they didn’t overcome against Los Fresnos.
“It was just mistakes. If we clean up the negative plays we’ll be fine,” Harlingen South coach Lanny Wilson said.
Wilson said the team would continue to rely on game film to fix mistakes.
“We’re going to go over it and correct things. You either correct them or find somebody else and put them in there,” he said. “We’re going to look at what you can do to improve immediately, win or lose. We’re going to stay with the same things and work just as hard.”
Despite injuries and plenty of inexperience in the lineup, Wilson remained positive about the remainder of district play.
“We’re going to continue to work hard, these guys are winners,” he said. “We’re going to be better next week than we were this week.”
FOR THE LEAD
It may be just the fourth game in district play, but a victory could mean a lot toward the postseason when San Benito visits Brownsville Veterans on Saturday at Sams Memorial Stadium. The Greyhounds (4-2, 3-0) and Chargers (5-1, 3-0) are tied atop the standings and each wants to put itself in a good position to earn a playoff berth.
San Benito boasts the top offense, averaging 403 yards per game, and is third in defense, allowing 290 yards. Brownsville Veterans is second in offense at 366 yards, thanks to the top rushing offense in the district. The Chargers’ defense is second, allowing 285 yards per game.
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.