By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — The Los Fresnos Falcons, ranked No. 6 in the Rio Grande Valley, pulled even at 2-2 in the fiercely contested District 32-6A race with a wild 34-31 victory Friday against the Hanna Golden Eagles at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.
It was a back-and-forth contest that saw the lead change hands five times in the second half after a 14-14 deadlock at intermission.
After starting off 0-2 in 32-6A, the Falcons (4-3 overall) now have won two straight district games. The Falcons rallied to edge Weslaco East 17-16 on the road last week.
“I see a good football team every week, but we just can’t seem to put together a full 48 minutes of football,” Los Fresnos coach Patrick Brown said. “Turnovers, penalties and that type of stuff are killing us (and making our games close).
“It would be nice to win by three or four touchdowns and not have to come back every game,” Brown added. “I think our players have shown resilience the last two weeks and have come back to win. We’re going to take a win no matter what. We’ll take this one and move on.”
Hanna went up 31-28 with 3:35 left when the Eagles’ Nate Silva pounced on a loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown. It was a result of the Falcons’ punter letting the snap slip out of his hands when attempting to kick the ball away out of his end zone. He couldn’t contol the snap and Hanna went ahead by scoring the TD.
The Falcons responded by quickly driving down the field. Running back John Salazar went over the goal line from 1 yard out with 2:22 remaining to put Los Fresnos ahead for good, 34-31, even though the extra-point kick failed.
Hanna marched to midfield with time winding down and came up short by gaining only 1 yard on a fourth-and-two play from its 46-yard line as the Falcons regained possession with 1:05 showing and ran out the clock.
Los Fresnos QB Mark Mata rushed for first-quarter touchdowns of 25 and 34 yards while while passing 42 yards for another score to Nico Valencia in the third period. Mata finished the night with 170 yards rushing and 246 yards passing.
Hanna’s Jaime Gonzalez rushed for 158 yards and a TD in the second quarter to go over 1,000 yards on the ground for the season.
Hanna, coming off last week’s last-second 19-16 victory against Harlingen South, slipped to 3-4 on the season and 2-2 in district.
“I thought our players played one heck of a ballgame,” Hanna coach Mark Guess said. “Once again, nobody outside of our locker room believed we had a shot to win in this one, and here we were at the end of the game with an opportunity to pull it out. When it came down to it, we just didn’t make the plays we needed to make (at the end).
“This district is the SEC of the Valley,” Guess added. “Anybody can beat anybody else on a given night.”
Both teams are on the road as 32-6A action continues next Friday. Hanna plays at San Benito and Los Fresnos visits Harlingen High.