By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — The Los Fresnos Falcons’ defense consistently stepped up when needed, halting promising Harlingen South Hawks drives and forcing them to settle for field goals.
The Falcons’ offense just couldn’t meet the defense halfway, as the Hawks walked away with a 16-7 win in their District 32-6A opener Friday night at Boggus Stadium in Harlingen.
The Falcons (2-4, 0-1) did not score their first points until early in the fourth quarter on a 37-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Matthew Padilla to Sergio Martinez to make it 7-6.
That was their only score of the night, and Harlingen South (3-3, 1-0) retook the lead with a 37-yard Jose Lerma field goal — his third of the night — on the ensuing possession before eventually putting the game away on a 2-yard touchdown by Emilio Quiroz with 1:29 to play.
“ I’m proud of our kids on defense because we played a really good defensive game,” South coach Brian Ricci said. “Offensively, we moved the ball and stalled out — we couldn’t punch it in. Luckily our kicker came in and made some big kicks for us.”
While the Falcons came into the game without top wide receiver Nico Valencia and starting running back Albert Banuelos, coach Patrick Brown said his team couldn’t solve the Hawks’ defense, as it managed just 166 total yards.
“ South did a great job of getting ready and scheming us,” the Falcons coach said. “They got after us, and Coach Ricci did a good job, you can see that program is improving. We lost key seniors and are starting a freshmen quarterback, and our (starting) quarterback had to go to receiver. I knew we may struggle, but all credit goes to Harlingen South. I’m really proud of our kids; I though they fought their tails off.”
Los Fresnos possessed the ball eight times, resulting in six punts, a turnover on downs and the lone score.
Meanwhile, the Hawks’ offense drove inside the Los Fresnos 30 five times, resulting in Lerma kicks of 43, 40 and 36 yards, and the late touchdown while racking up 326 yards of offense.
The Hawks totaled 145 yards on the ground, led by Quiroz’s big night, rushing for 84 yards and the late score on a worn Falcons defense.
“ We hang our hat on our defense, and they played their hearts out tonight,” Brown said. “They gave us a chance to win, but unfortunately South did a great job just hammering us and running the ball, and in the end we had nothing left. All credit goes to South.”
Hawks quarterback David Torres threw for 181 yards on 11 of 19 passing. Torres hit wide receiver Derrick Delgado six times for 94 yards, including big conversions on third and fourth downs during the second half to keep scoring drives alive.
“ Our quarterback and Derrick Delgado connected on some big plays,” Ricci said. “They made plays at the right time and that was big for our team and our program.”
Chris Resendiz led the Falcons with 76 yards on 14 carries.
The first half was a defensive struggle, as the teams combined for seven punts on nine possessions.
South put together a 54-yard drive late in the first quarter only to see Lerma miss a 30-yard field goal attempt.
On the ensuing possession, Los Fresnos accepted a holding penalty after a stop on third-and-11 that would have forced a punt from the Hawks’ own 44. But they made the Falcons pay as quarterback David Torres hit Gabriel Perez for a 39-yard pickup soon after to set up a first down on the Los Fresnos 32.
The Hawks got Lerma’s first field goal of the night out of it.