MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — For Halloween, the young Harlingen South Hawks chose to go as a veteran team that forced mistakes and stayed poised when it counted late.
The Harlingen South defense came up big as it held the District 32-6A-leading San Benito Greyhounds scoreless in the second half. The shutout set up a game-winning 29-yard touchdown pass from South quarterback Abram Gutierrez to Darren Perez with less than seven minutes to play, as the Hawks stunned the Greyhounds 21-20 Friday night at Boggus Stadium.
After trailing by as much as 13 points and a turnover that allowed a touchdown in the first half, the Hawks regrouped in the second half as their run game kept San Benito’s district-best offense off the field late and watched their defense force five turnovers.
For South head coach Lanny Wilson, it was the effort he’d been waiting for, but knows that the ball bounced the Hawks’ way a few times.
“We caught a couple of breaks in this game. San Benito is a really good team and they’ll do well in the playoffs,” Wilson said. “We were down, but our kids won’t quit. I think we played harder tonight than we’ve played all year; our hats off to our kids. We aren’t playing for a playoff spot, but the kids are fighting for pride and I’m proud of them.”
The win gives the Hawks (3-6, 2-4) their second district win and gives the Greyhounds (6-3, 5-1) their first district loss of the season and forces the ‘Hounds to beat the Brownsville Rivera Raiders in the season finale next week in order to claim an outright District 32-6A title.
The ‘Hounds did have their chances throughout, after a 7-yard run by Cristian Sierra and a 30-yard fumble return by defensive back Juan Salas gave the ‘Hounds a 12-0 lead in the game’s first three minutes.
Both scores, however, were followed by failed 2-point conversion tries.
South came on strong after that, scoring on a 29-yard run by James Carpio to end the first quarter.
San Benito did add its final touchdown of the game later in the second on an 8-yard pass from Sierra to Omar Garcia, making the game 20-7 after the ensuing 2-point try.
Before the half, the momentum seemed to shift toward South after a 12-yard fumble return by Royel Berlanga off of San Benito’s Victor Gaitan on a punt return kept the Hawks within six points (20-14) at the half.
In the third, the ‘Hounds offense disappeared as the Hawk defense defended down field and made San Benito’s Sierra direct traffic on the move.
While Sierra had some success thanks to his legs, it resulted in two interceptions and three punts on five second-half drives.
Sierra finished the night with a rushing score and a passing touchdown on 17 of 28 passing, threw three interceptions and lost a fumble.
San Benito Dan Gomez was the first to give credit where it was due after walking off the field.
Now, his team awaits the district’s best defense next week when they face Rivera.
“Coach (Lanny) Wilson does a great job with the defense,” Gomez said. “We just need to get back to work now.”
The Hawks offense did not do anything special in the second half, however, their run game controlled the game speed and was a big part in their final two drives in which they scored the game-wining touchdown and ran the clock down to 10.4 seconds before punting on their final posession.
South moved the ball for 278 yards on 44 carries on the night and scored one touchdown.
Their game-winning drive started with 14.2 seconds in the third quarter, ended with 6:32 left in the fourth and went for 66 yards on 11 plays.
South finishes their season next week in the Annual Bird Bowl versus Harlingen.