By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
Hanna’s Lucas Olivares is District 32-6A’s leading wide receiver, and he showed why as he ran wild Friday during a 17-14 win over the Harlingen South Hawks at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Quarterback Andy Lopez found his favorite wide receiver seven times for 176 yards, including two long second-half touchdown passes.
After a quiet start to a game in which the Eagles (3-4, 2-3 in District 32-6A) fell behind 7-0 to the Hawks (2-6, 1-4) at halftime, Hanna came out swinging offensively during the second half.
On the first drive of the third quarter, Lopez drove his team down the field and kicked a 31-yard field goal to put his team on the board. That was followed by a 58-yard bomb to Olivares down the sideline that put the Eagles on top 10-7.
The duo opened the fourth quarter in similar fashion. This time, Lopez tossed the ball to Olivares and let him do the work. The receiver dodged multiple defenders and sprinted 56 yards for the score.
“The kids really came out to play, we’re proud of them,” Hanna coach Rene Medrano said after the game. “We made some adjustments. The defense played well, and the offense hit some home runs.”
Despite allowing 17 unanswered points, the Hawks scored on a 9-yard reverse by Bobby Castro to trim Hanna’s lead to three points with just more than five minutes remaining.
“We should have been up by more,” South coach Lanny Wilson said. “We didn’t take advantage, we didn’t make big plays and we gave up big plays.”
The Eagles’ failure to run the clock to zero gave Harlingen South two shots to tie or take the lead late.
The Hawks’ first attempt at a rally was cut short by a Ramon Delgado interception. South regained possession, however, and had 30 seconds to score. South quarterback Abram Gutierrez heaved the ball toward end zone on the final two plays of the game, but both passes fell incomplete and the Eagles held on to win.
“We knew that South was going to give us everything they had because we knew their backs were against the wall,” Medrano said. “We knew only one (team) would have the chance to continue in their journey to get (to the playoffs) after tonight. We’re still in it, and we’re still moving forward.”
Hanna will look to keep its playoff hopes alive when it meets the Rivera Raiders at 7 p.m. Nov. 1 at Sams Memorial Stadium. The Hawks will look to rebound when they play host to the San Benito Greyhounds at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.