KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Both the Cardinals and Hawks will take on a familiar opponent in week four. Harlingen High will host Weslaco East, while South will hit the road and take on Weslaco at Bobby Lackey stadium.
Both games are set for a 7:30 kickoff.
The Hawks have won two straight and will be on the road for the first time since week one. Over the last two weeks, South has found their form on the ground with their rushing attack. Both Emilio Quiroz and Corban Hendrick have provided the Hawks offense with a strong one-two punch.
Last year the Hawks fell short against the Panthers falling 28-25, at the time, the two were district opponents, now in 2018, Weslaco is now a part of District 31-6A.
The Panthers are under second-year head Coach Michael Salinas, and in year-two, the Panthers seem to have a firm grip of Salinas’ system.
“Coach Salinas does a great job with his kids, he has another year with his kids in the system and I’m familiar with that,” said Hawks coach Brian Ricci. “I know what that is like when I first got here I was teaching a new system to the kids.”
Panthers quarterback Jacob Cavazos is off to a hot start in 2018. The senior has thrown for 387 yards and has thrown for nine scores. Cavazos is just as effective on the ground. Cavazos has ran for 267 yards and three scores.
“He (Jacob) is someone we have to keep an eye on,” Ricci said.” He is a great athlete and can run the ball very well. We have watched the film and have been preparing for it all week.”
Big Red eager to get back to work
After their highly anticipated matchup against Converse Judson was called off due to weather, the Harlingen Cardinals will get back to work tonight at home against Weslaco East.
Like the Hawks, the Cardinals will face a former district opponent in the Wildcats.
“The juice is always flowing here at Harlingen, the kids are ready to go,” said Cards coach Manny Gomez. “We are ready for the challenge and we know it will be a physical game and that is what we train for.”
Anytime you get a Gomez, Mike Burget squad there will be some heavy hitting. The Wildcats defense is led by linebacker Freddy Cardenas and defensive lineman Jacob Banda.
“Coach Burget and his staff do a great job and they go hard and they do it well,” said Gomez. “It will be a nice evening for some physical football. Every Friday night is different, sometimes a player has a good game sometimes they will have a bad game, but we are going to approach it like we always do.”
The Cardinal offense will be up for the challenge, with junior quarterback Jaime Galvan who has impressed over the first few weeks of the season. Galvan will look for senior wide out Joe Reyna and running back Ralph Castellanos.