MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Harlingen South head coach Lanny Wilson has been waiting for his Hawks to clean up their mistakes the last few weeks, but they cost them again.
This time it was in a crucial late-season game.
After trailing 14-7 at the half, the Brownsville Rivera Raiders took advantage of Harlingen South penalties and a turnovers, which sparked a second-half burst of offense and led to a 28-14 win over the Hawks on Friday night at Boggus Stadium.
Rivera began the game slow on both sides of the ball, but halftime adjustments sparked a different-looking attack in the second half.
The Raiders defense pitched a shutout and helped win the field position battle, while quarterback Danny Elizondo took over on the ground in the second half and scored three of his four rushing touchdowns on the night.
“We went into halftime and made some adjustments and our boys came out, made some plays on defense and our quarter-back Danny did a heck of a job; he moved the team,” Rivera head coach Tom Chavez said.
“He directed the offense and we were able to score some points. We have to give all our offense a lot of credit for that; we’re starting to block a little bit better.”
The win helps keep Rivera (2-5, 2-2) in the running for a potential playoff spot and now has the same 2-2 District 32-6A record as Harlingen, which fell Friday night in Los Fresnos but have a win over the Raiders.
“(The win) keeps us in the hunt, that’s for sure. We’re still alive just like everyone else,” Chavez said.
The Hawks (2-5, 1-3), meanwhile, are trying to solve their own blunders on the field.
Aside from the Hawks’ two scoring drives in the first half, which ended with a Jimmy Morton pass for a score to Royel Berlanga and a 4-yard rushing score from backup quarterback Abram Gutierrez, the Hawks never moved the ball past their own 27-yard line.
South did manage the 14-7 lead at the half, but an early fumble on offense on their opening possession of the second half and a muffed punt by Darren Perez early in the fourth both led to scores the Hawks could not overcome.
In the second half, they crossed midfield once.
“We make lots of mistakes, but we don’t make them on purpose—our kids don’t make any mistakes on purpose,” Wilson said. “We’re going to get back up and go to work. I’m proud of the players and everyone wants to win, so it’s tough on all of us, but we’re going to fight one game at a time and something good will happen down the road.”
The fumbles led to scoring runs by Rivera’s Elizondo of 24 and 16 yards.
Penalties and bad snaps also hindered the Hawk offense as they had three drive-changing holds on the night.
Morton left the game late in the second half after taking a shot and hurting his knee, allowing Gutierrez to finish the game.
According to Wilson, Morton was held out after wanting to re-enter the game and will be evaluated this week by trainers.