By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
One week into District 32-6A play and the Harlingen Cardinals and Brownsville Hanna Golden Eagles find themselves in different situations when they face each other tonight at Boggus Stadium in Harlingen at 7:30 p.m.
The Golden Eagles (1-2, 0-1) search for their first district win, while the Cardinals seek their third win in a row (2-2, 1-0).
After a three-week layoff, the Golden Eagles (1-2, 0-1) returned to the field last week with some rust as they found themselves on the wrong side of a 39-14 blowout at the hands of San Benito.
The goal for Medrano and his Golden Eagles is to shake off that rust, which will be hard to do against a tough Cardinal defense.
“We don’t want to start the way we did against San Benito, that’s for sure. I think the layoff really hurt us, but hopefully we’re on a routine now and we can get a better start,” Hanna head coach Rene Medrano said Thursday afternoon. “We know we have our hands full with Harlingen; it’s going to be tough. We just have to play our game, but we can’t afford to make mistakes.”
Last week, the Eagles committed 13 penalties for 100 yards and did not cash in on opportunities when they had the chance, putting them in an early hole.
The Golden Eagles also gave up 275 yards on the ground and had trouble scoring on a decent San Benito defense which held them to 14 points despite gaining 304 yards of total offense.
Neither stat sounds any better as Harlingen has been clicking the last two weeks with victories over Weslaco and Brownsville Rivera.
With the injuries woes for Harlingen on offense, the defense has come up big and is confident following a go-ahead pick-six by safety Felix Reyna to win their district opener over Brownsville Rivera.
Hanna quarterback Andy Lopez will have to be careful against the Cardinal defense, but is capable of a big night having passed for 505 yards and three touchdowns in three games.
The Harlingen run game will bring big problems for the Golden Eagles, who are last in the district in total defense.
Harlingen running backs Rene Medina and Michael Allen Gonzalez have rushed for 245 yards in the last two games as injuries at quarterback plagued the Cards early this year and have given head coach Manny Gomez’s offense life.
Look for them to continue that trend.
Still, Medrano liked the fight his team had in the second half against San Benito, and hopes to have some of that fire when they face Harlingen.
“I’m hoping we can come continue just like that second half moving ob, but only time will tell,” Medrano explained. “We definitely have our hands full with Harlingen and we need to have a fast start to stay with these guys. All the games are big, but you don’t want to put yourself behind the eight ball so early in the district race.”