By MARK MOLINA | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
From the start, the Hanna Golden Eagles were too much for the Rivera Raiders.
Hanna opened up a four-touchdown lead by halftime thanks to strong defense and a stout running game and cruised to a 35-0 win over Rivera on Thursday night at Sams Stadium.
Rivera could not get on track as the Hanna defensive front kept up the pressure on and left the Raiders without any momentum.
“Our goal was to come out and play tough-nose defense,” Hanna head coach Mark Guess said. “Rivalry games are always tough. Rivera played hard and our kids did, too. I’m just very proud of our defense. Anytime you can pitch a shutout, you’re doing something right.”
Hanna (3-1, 1-0) jumped out to a 14-0 lead early with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Victor Campos to Joe Cavazos III and a 43-yard interception return for a score by Matthew Garcia.
It would snowball from there for the Raiders (1-3, 0-1), whose offense was stuck in neutral.
“We started off pretty good, but then we made mistakes, an interception, stuff like that,” Rivera head coach Tom Chavez said. “We were down 21 or 14 points — it was hard for us to try and come back. We couldn’t get into a rhythm because of the rush. We have to keep on working and try to get better.”
In addition to the pick-six, Garcia also broke off a 22-yard touchdown run on offense, making it 21-0 with 6:42 to play in the first half
He would not play the second half, however, after being ejected following a targeting foul on a Rivera gunner on a punt.
Hanna added another score before the half on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Justin Martinez to Ernest Mendoza to make it 28-0 with 6:43 to play in the third quarter.
The Eagles scored its final touchdown of the game on a 24-yard run by Cesar Mancias, capping off an 11-play, 75-yard drive to open the second half.
Mancias carried the ball 14 times for 128 yards and a score to lead the offense, which racked up 16 first downs despite a more modest second half.
Campos threw for 104 yards on 5-of-6 passing with a touchdown.
Rivera was held to just six first downs for the game, with its longest plays of the night being a 31-yard Nicholas Blanco pass to Oscar Lozoya in the first half and a 41-yard run by Quintae Smith-Barrett in the second.
Smith-Barrett rushed for 70 yards on eight carries.
The Rivera quarterback Blanco was sacked three times by the Eagles’ defense and limited to 35 yards, an interception during a 2-for-12 passing night.
While Hanna looked like it could do no wrong, they did lose a fumble in the second half and was penalized 13 times for 97 yards.