ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Progreso Red Ants are riding a wave of momentum after winning their fifth annual soccer tournament on Saturday and notching a victory in their District 31-4A opener on Tuesday.
The Red Ants, seeking to reach the UIL state tournament for the fourth straight season in Class 4A, rallied to win the Progreso Tournament in penalty kicks 2-1 (5-4) in the final against Boerne High. Next came Tuesday’s 1-0 win at home against Valley rival Hidalgo to start 31-4A competition.
“It felt great,” Progreso coach Margarito Jimenez said of Tuesday’s triumph. “Miguel Puentes scored our goal. We led 1-0 at halftime.”
Before the Progreso Tournament, Jimenez said this year’s Progreso team has a lot of unity, and that would be the most important quality leading the Red Ants to success this season.
“We have the potential to get back to state,” he said. “We still have a lot to work on, though. The main thing is our players really want to go back to state, and that’s the most important thing.
“We’ll work hard, give it our best effort and see what happens,” Jimenez added.
The players see their most recent victories as boosting the team on its path to where it wants to go later this season. The Red Ants are the only Valley team to advance to state three consecutive seasons, and now they’re going for state trip No. 4 in a row.
“It means a lot (to win our tournament and then beat Hidalgo),” Progreso senior goalkeeper Arturo Gallegos said. “We’re going to keep working hard and fighting, fighting, fighting (to reach our goal).”
The Red Ants continue 31-4A action Friday against Weslaco IDEA Pike. The match will be played at the Toros’ practice field in Edinburg.
START OF 32-6A
Teams in District 32-6A start competition with girls (5:30 p.m.) and boys (7:30 p.m.) doubleheaders on Friday.
The first night for matches finds Harlingen High at San Benito, Los Fresnos at Harlingen South and Brownsville Hanna at Brownsville Rivera.
The San Benito girls tuned up for their 32-6A opener by defeating a Lady Greyhound alumni team 5-0 on Tuesday.
Johnny Garza is the new Lady Greyhounds coach this season. He has been getting his girls ready for the most critical part of the schedule, starting with a 32-6A opener against a highly regarded Lady Cardinals squad.
“Looking at the (pre-district) results of games, there is a lot of firepower in 32-6A,” Garza said. “The goal has been to physically and mentally prepare these girls for the task that is the district season.
“We will take it game by game, and we’ll game-plan to allow ourselves to be the most successful (that we can),” he added.
The San Benito boys also have played a demanding pre-district schedule with the intent of being ready for 32-6A action.
“District 32-6A is going to be a tough district,” Greyhounds coach William Huerta said. “I think our non-district schedule has prepared us well for what is about to happen in our district.
“It will be a tough race for all four spots heading into the playoffs,” Huerta added. “But as I tell my team, we will take it one day at a time and one game at a time. My coaching staff has done a good job of preparing our players for this season.”
Another new coach in the district is Matt Molina, who is directing the Los Fresnos boys.
The Falcons tuned up for Friday’s 32-6A opener at South by defeating San Benito IDEA 4-0 on Tuesday.
Molina said he sees his team as ready to begin district play as well, and added his players are looking forward to finally playing the games that count in the district standings.
BEARKATS LOOKING GOOD
Raymondville’s boys opened District 32-4A action Tuesday with a 4-2 win at home against Monte Alto.
“It feel great (to win our district opener),” Bearkats coach Robert Howell said.
Highlighting the victory for Raymondville were Saul Garcia and Yahir Gonzales. They each scored two goals.
The win improved the Bearkats to 1-0 in 32-4A and to 3-1-3 on the season.
Raymondville continues district competition at La Feria on Friday.