By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Hanna and Harlingen High were pretty evenly matched on paper, and they played like it on the field.
The Golden Eagles trailed at halftime and didn’t find enough offense to catch up during a 28-13 loss to Harlingen High in a District 32-6A game Saturday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“We got close the whole game. We dropped some balls that could have made a difference,” Hanna coach Rene Medrano said. “We knew we had to take chances, and we did. That’s what we’re about.”
Hanna was moving the ball on offense but didn’t find the end zone during the first half.
The Eagles stalled on a drive midway through the first quarter, but Andy Lopez connected on a 28-yard field goal to give Hanna a 3-0 lead.
On Hanna’s next drive, a fumble gave the ball to Harlingen High near midfield and the Cardinals took advantage. Quarterback Jesse Castro scored on a 5-yard run to give Harlingen High a 7-3 lead seconds into the second quarter.
Hanna drove to the 9-yard line in Harlingen High territory before the half but settled for a Lopez field goal from 26 yards out and a 7-6 deficit at halftime.
“We just weren’t executing,” Harlingen High coach Manny Gomez said. “You have to give Hanna credit, they had a good game plan, they found some tendencies on our offense and they overplayed us at times.”
On Hanna’s first play of the second half, Lopez found Joe Cavazos on a 94-yard catch and run, and Eagles took a 13-7 lead during the third quarter. The sophomore receiver had nine catches for 212 yards and the one score.
Harlingen High answered with a 4-yard touchdown run by Leo Tienda for a 14-13 lead.
During the fourth quarter, the Cardinals added another score on a pass from Castro to Michael Allen Gonzalez. And later, Tienda added a 2-yard TD run to push the lead to 28-13.
Tienda carried the ball 24 times for 183 yards and the two scores. He helped Harlingen High amass 20 first downs, many of which kept moving the chains and limited the Eagles’ offense in the second half.
“We just kept things a little bit simpler (in the second half), it’s as simple as that,” Gomez said. “We were trying to get a little creative in first half, but we went back our bread and butter stuff in the second half and it worked.”
The Cardinals fumbled twice in the second half, including once on a punt return, but Hanna didn’t take advantage. The Eagles had their chances but dropped a few passes during their last few drives that could have made a difference.
“On offense, we had opportunities and we dropped some balls,” Medrano said. “We dropped three or four touchdown passes.”
Gomez was pleased his team was able to overcome a few mistakes that could have changed the outcome.
“You have to give credit to Hanna’s defense, but that’s football, you have to be able to adapt and overcome,” he said. “That’s what great teams do. No matter the adversity, you adapt and overcome, and I think that’s what we did tonight.”
A frustrated Medrano felt his team gave away a game it should have won.
“That’s the game. You make plays, you’re in it, if you don’t make plays, you don’t,” he said. “That’s the way it goes.”
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.