By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Hanna Golden Eagles broke open a close, back-and-forth game with three second-half touchdowns and improved to 2-0 on the season thanks to a 42-28 non-district victory over the Mission High Eagles on Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Hanna, coming off last week’s 21-14 season-opening triumph against Edinburg Economedes, will attempt to remain unbeaten at 3-0 when it travels to Donna High next Thursday.
Hanna quarterback Andy Lopez highlighted the victory by throwing three touchdown passes and rushing for another score.
Lopez tossed scoring passes of 13 yards to Ernesto Benavidez and 52 yards to Reshawn Rivera in the second quarter before firing a 59-yard scoring strike to Joe Cavazos during the third period.
Also, Lopez scrambled 12 yards to the end zone around the left side during the second quarter.
Lopez completed 12 of 25 passes for 240 yards without an interception. Cavazos finished with four receptions for 107 yards.
““It feels really good (to be 2-0), and I’m proud of our players,” said Hanna coach Rene Medrano, now in his fourth season of guiding the Eagles after coming over from Pace. “Obviously, we still have some work to do, but we’re very happy to be where we are at this point of the season.
““I think the best is yet to come,” he added.
Mission High led 7-0 after one quarter, and the score was deadlocked at 21 at intermission.
The visiting Eagles came up with some amazing scoring plays during the second quarter.
After Mission High took a 7-0 advantage on Juan Salazar’s 2-yard first-quarter run, the out-of-town Eagles went up 14-7 on Azahel Arizpe’s 99-yard kickoff return and took a 21-14 advantage when Marc Garcia scooped up a Hanna fumble and returned it 30 yards to the end zone. Arizpe had bobbled the ball at the 1-yard line before taking off on his scoring jaunt.
Rivera’s 52-yard TD reception from Lopez with 1:16 to go in the half created the 21-21 tie at intermission.
Cavazos’ 59-yard TD catch with 11:05 showing in the third period put Hanna ahead for good, 28-21.
On the third quarter’s second play from scrimmage, Lopez sent a deep ball in Cavazos’ direction down the right sideline. Cavazos made the catch in stride and sprinted into the end zone, and Hanna was well on its way to a 2-0 record.
“I think the difference in the second half for us was that we were able to come up with some defensive stops, and of course we scored that one (to Cavazos) right away,” Medrano said.
Hanna was ahead 35-28 going into the final quarter after an 11-yard scoring run by Mission High QB William Arias on the final play of the third period narrowed it to a seven-point game.
Hanna’s Ramon Delgado and Jaime Gonzalez added second-half TD runs of 6 and 1 yard, respectively, during the third and fourth quarters to seal the victory. Gonzalez’s score came with 2:12 remaining. Lopez then added his sixth extra point of the night to make it 42-28.
Delgado led all rushers with 105 yards on 16 carries.
Coming off a season-opening 23-2 loss to Mission Veterans Memorial last week, Mission High fell to 0-2.
Mission High next plays at Donna North on Friday.
Hanna defeated Mission High 23-14 last season when the teams met in Mission. The game between the two Eagles squads that was scheduled for 2013 in Brownsville was canceled due to inclement weather.