By ANDREW CRUM | The Brownsville Herald
Hanna needed to make a play. Victor Campos and Aaron Frausto answered the call against Los Fresnos.
Campos connected with Frausto for a fourth quarter touchdown and that was the difference in the Golden Eagles 10-7 victory over the Falcons in the District 32-6A game on Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Early in the fourth quarter, Hanna trailed by four with the ball at its own 19-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Campos was being chased by the Los Fresnos’ defense and rolled to his right looking for someone open. Junior running back Frausto ran his route and found some daylight as he caught the pass in stride from Campos. Frausto weaved through a few defenders and outran the rest for an 81-yard touchdown that gave the Eagles a 10-7 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
“I had to make something out of nothing,” Campos said. “I sprinted out and saw Aaron on the back side and I knew I had to throw it or get sacked.”
For Frausto, he was just doing what the coaches expect of him and the rest of the team.
“Our coaches tell us to never take a play off … go 100 percent all the time,” he said. “If you do, good things will happen.”
The Hanna defense did it’s part with two interceptions and three sacks on the night, but it was its play in the second half that made the difference. The Eagles shut out the Falcons after the break and forced them to punt four times, turn the ball over on downs once and a missed field goal that could have potentially tied the game late in the fourth.
“I can’t say enough about our defense (Friday),” Hanna coach Mark Guess said. “We got so many stops on our end of the field … they played their tails off.”
The win keeps Hanna (6-1, 4-0) at the top of the District 32-6A standings and a loss for Los Fresnos (4-3, 2-2) puts them in a dire situation if it wants to return to the playoffs this year.
“It starts with me before the game, we didn’t have a lot of energy … that’s on me,” Los Fresnos coach Patrick Brown said. “To be honest, I got outcoached. They had a great game plan and their kids played hard … all the credit goes to those guys they got after our tails. No excuses. We were not mentally and physically ready to play and that’s on me as a head coach.”
After a scoreless opening quarter, the Eagles finally broke the tie with a 22-yard field goal by junior kicker Miguel Payan to give Hanna a 3-0 lead with 8:38 to go in the second quarter.
Los Fresnos would answer on its ensuing drive as senior quarterback Charles Chapa hit Nico Valencia on a 43-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass to take a 7-3 lead with 5:10 to go in the half. The Falcons would take that edge into the locker room in an intense, tight game.
The second half was similar to the first as both defenses held strong. The score remained 7-3 after the third quarter as both teams tried to make a play and get some momentum.
In the defining final quarter, Campos and Frausto stepped up and made the biggest play on the season for Hanna.
“In the end, Victor extended a play on a scramble and Aaron Frausto is a playmaker … everything the guy does is gold,” Guess said. “He made a great catch and got it into the end zone. Victor has a great arm. He’s young … he’s a sophomore so he’s still learning about the position, though he has a lot of natural ability. He’s got the arm to make that throw and he showed it (Friday).”
Chapa finished with 163 yards passing and a touchdown and 52 yards on the ground. Valencia had 54 yards rushing and four catches for 92 yards and the only score for Los Fresnos.
This is the second straight week Los Fresnos has played a game going down to the wire. Last week, the Falcons held off Weslaco East, but they couldn’t do the same against Hanna. Suddenly every game is critical for Los Fresnos to return to the postseason.
“It comes down to us doing a better job coaching,” Brown said. “I don’t want to take any of the credit away from Hanna … they kicked our tails and we weren’t ready to play. We have taken out our margin of error … basically have to win out, win our last three to make sure we’re going to be a playoff team. The credit goes to Hanna … they did a fantastic job.”
Campos threw for 83 yards and the touchdown to Frausto, which was his only catch of the night, and Cesar Mancias added 67 yards on the ground for Hanna.
For the Eagles, they’ve now won six straight and keep winning crucial games to stay atop the district standings.
“We’re well versed in these close ball games,” Guess said. “Fortunately we’ve been on the right end of them because we put ourselves in that position. These kids play hard … they don’t want to lose. They’re doing everything they can on both sides to try to get a win and fortunately (Friday) we got it.”
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.