HARLINGEN — On Friday night, the Harlingen South Hawks were giving a season-best effort while handing the San Benito Greyhounds their first district loss of the year.
While some Hawks gave their effort, senior safety and running back James Carpio quite literally gave the rest of his season.
While it is only a week, Carpio will start rehabbing a broken left fibula, and all the ligaments in that ankle after tearing them Friday.
The point of injury all happened during one of his carries in the first half, but even the initial injury couldn’t keep Carpio off the field.
“I was running the ball and a player dove wrapped my leg up in his arms and fell on it. I got up and it was a shot to my body. I got to the sideline and I knew I something was wrong, so I was out for the rest of the first half. I said I couldn’t run,” Carpio said.
Carpio, however, shook it off and tried to answer the call once again out of the backfield, but the pain was too much.
“I ran the ball again and after a couple of plays I got tackled the same way an d that’s when I knew that it was something worse,” Carpio said.
To that point in the game, he had already helped the Hawks stay above water with an 8-yard run that proved to be vital in the Hawks’ eventual comeback.
Despite contributing and watching his teammates finish the game with a ‘W’, it wasn’t easy to stay on the sidelines.
“I wanted to fight through the pain. I couldn’t just sit out. This was a big game and our team was playing well,” Carpio said. “Everyone was playing hard out there and I knew I couldn’t give up. We’re all going to be hurting sometime and I just wanted to finish the game to the best of my ability.”
Still, Carpio remained supportive, and even praised his defensive teammates for their efforts not dropping off once he left the field.
“They played just as good without me in there — they played their tails off that night,” he said.
Carpio will not play another down of high school football, but his demeanor doesn’t show disapointment.
Instead. he praised his teammates, which was no surprise to anyone.
South head coach Lanny Wilson, who like Carpio had no idea how serious the injury was at the time, holds the senior athlete in high regards.
Wilson would even recommend him for employment, which shows much Carpio means to the Hawks on and off the field.
“I’ve coached a lot of people in the last 28 years, but I haven’t coached anyone tougher than James Carpio. We’re going to miss him like we will a lot of these seniors,” Wilson said. “We’re going to miss the leadership. He’s a great teammate and he’s been a huge part of our athletic program. He’s a model citizen; everyone likes him. I feel bad for him getting hurt, but he’ll give you everything he’s got.”
Carpio, who also runs track, will have surgery to repair the injury Tuesday and says he hopes to make a return by January.
Before that, his team will face the Harlingen Cardinals in the annual Bird Bowl.
He has the confidence that his team can pick up South’s fifth win in the lopsided series.
“The guys played good without me out there. I know we have the guys who can get the job done, I have no doubt about it.”