KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — With the threat of weather being the talk of the Rio Grande Valley, Harlingen South brought some thunder and lightning of its own.
The Hawks used a 67-yard touchdown run from Corban Hendrick and a 68-yard pick-six from Isaac Moreno to fly past McAllen High 38-0 on Thursday night at Boggus Stadium.
South improved to 2-1 on the year and next has a date with Weslaco High on Friday at 7:30 at Bobby Lackey Stadium.
“We put it all together tonight,” Hawks coach Brian Ricci said. “On all three phases of the game we didn’t make mistakes like we have in the past. Everything clicked for us tonight. We played a clean game and played like a team tonight.”
The Hawks’ defense pitched the shutout and used Moreno’s interception return for a touchdown to put the team up 14-0 with 7:04 to play in the first quarter.
“The entire week in practice I was dropping interceptions,” Moreno said. “So I owed it to my teammates that I would get an interception. I saw it was a screen pass and the ball was tipped, and I was able to come down with it. Once I had it in my hands I knew I could take it all the way.”
All night, the offense fed off the defense and the defense fed off the offense. The fireworks began with Hendrick’s run to pay-dirt on the Hawks’ opening possession, setting the tone for the night.
“Corban’s run got us going,” Ricci said. “The defense came out and shut them down, and then we got the ball back and scored quickly, and we gained the momentum early and were able to keep it. I told the kids I’m proud of them on how they played and executed all night.”
Along with Moreno’s strong play, corners Kike Alvarado and Kaleb Solis shut down any attempt at a passing attack from the Bulldogs.
Alvarado came down with an interception of his own during the second quarter that gave South a short field.
The turnover led to points. David Torres hit Brady Bennett for a touchdown that put the Hawks in cruise control, 24-0.
“The way last year went, we knew we had to step up,” Moreno said. “We knew we could be better than that, and all offseason we worked together and it is all paying off. Right now it feels great, we want to change the culture around here.”