By MARK MOLINA | The Brownsville Herald
Since head coach Mark Guess took over the Hanna Golden Eagles’ football program, he has done nothing but build a winning culture and accomplish goals.
After leading Hanna back to the playoffs last season, Guess helped his team take the next step this season in the form of an outright district title and its first bi-district win since 1996.
The third-year coach said he owes the team’s success to the players’ willingness to commit.
“It sure does make our job easier when we have kids that are willing to do whatever it takes to reach our goals,” Guess said. “We ask these guys to do a lot and we ask them to give up some of their free time and we ask them to spend time at home studying film and doing those things so they can make themselves better. I think the biggest thing is that the players bought into what we were doing when I got here.”
When Hanna meets Eagle Pass High School in today’s 3 p.m. area matchup at the University of Incarnate Word, it will have to chance to take another step and breakthrough to the third round of the playoffs for the first time since in the post-Brownsville High School era.
Eagle Pass comes in at 9-2 on the year and fresh off a 34-28 bi-district overtime win over PSJA last week.
Eagle Pass won five of its last six games, with its only loss coming to eventual 29-6A champion Laredo Alexander on Oct. 25.
Both teams come in with momentum in a high stakes game, but Guess said that’s nothing new to his team, which has risen to the occasion by winning eight straight games including victories against Sharyland , Amarillo Tascosa, Harlingen , San Benito and Weslaco East.
“Our coaches work really hard to put our kids in a position to make plays,” he said. “Ultimately, that’s what it is. When you’re well-trained to get that job done, you’re going to get more wins as long as you take care of the ball and tackle people; that’s fundamental football. I really believe in this staff, the kids listen to the coaches and do what is asked of them. We’ve had a good result because of that and we give credit to everybody on the staff that has helped us get to this point.”
The Golden Eagles are on a roll, but have come out slow on both sides of the ball, most recently last week when they trailed 7-0 early before scoring 21 unanswered.
Hanna racked up 315 yards on a tough Weslaco East defense that had not allowed more than 26 points all season.
Running back Cesar Mancias rushed for more than 130 yards for the third straight week and eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the seventh game in a row. The senior has 12 touchdowns on the season.
Quarterback Victor Campos passed for just 86 yards and one score last week, but has a good season thus far, racking up 1,443 yards and 16 touchdowns through the air.
Hanna’s biggest test comes on defense, trying to slow down the Eagle Pass offense which can get it done on the ground and through the air and are coming off a 418-yard offensive performance against PSJA.
Eagle Pass does lean more towards the air with quarterback Ricardo Luna and 6-foot-5-inch receiver Rey Mendoza.
Mendoza, who scored on a 78-yard touchdown catch will matchup against Hanna’s 6-foot-3-inch corner Leigh Guevara.
The senior corner said he and the rest of his teammates are expecting a physical matchup, but is confident they can come out and match that intensity.
“All of us have to be mentally prepared every play and every down,” the senior corner said. “They are going to be physical and they’re pretty much the same size as us. We have to be more physical than them, stronger than them and faster than them. We already know we can win these games and we’ve gone into games with that mentality.”
Hanna’s defense has forced 15 turnovers and registered 31 sacks on the season.
The Golden Eagles go into today’s game confident, but they realize there is still more work to be done.
“It’s been amazing, but like coach says, we can’t drink our own kool-aid,” said defensive lineman Gio Rivera. “We have to act like we’re the underdogs and we can still achiever more. We have to go out and play full speed every play.”