KEVIN NARRO | Valley Morning Star
HARLINGEN — The Harlingen South Hawks hit the ground running this week after their scrimmage with McAllen Memorial got cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey.
Despite not being able to play a preseason contest, the Hawks have responded and will square off against McAllen High on Friday night at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m.
“The kids are ready to play,” said Hawks coach Brian Ricci. “They’re excited we had a longer practice than we normally would because we didn’t have that scrimmage. We took some time to go over a few things; the kids have had a great week of practice.”
Last season the Brian Ricci era got underway with a 21-14 win over the Bulldogs. This season the Hawks are looking to make it two in a row, this time at McAllen.
The Bulldogs are in the same boat as the Hawks as they also saw their scrimmage get cancelled last weekend and will enter the season with no preseason tuneup.
McHi will present various challenges for the Hawks. On offense the Dogs are led by running back/wide receiver Gunnar Henderson and running back Roy Gutierrez. Henderson will be a challenge for any opposing defense with the ability to line up in the slot and come out of the back field. Meanwhile, Aaron Nixon or J.R Cortez is expected to start at quarterback.
“We haven’t had a chance to see them this year, but we have looked at last year’s film,” said Ricci. “They’re big, they’re well coached and it’s going to be a tough test for us right out of the gate. I think the biggest thing for us is to not make mental mistakes or turn the ball over. It’s too early in the season to recover from those mistakes. We’re looking to play a mentally sound game.”