HARLINGEN — The Harlingen High Cardinals found themselves in unfamiliar territory going into the break Friday, trailing for the first time all season.
The Cardinals responded in the face of adversity. The defense came out of the break and set the tone for the second half, with defensive back Christopher Rodriguez forcing a fumble less than two minutes into the third.
The turnover sparked a 28-point outburst by Harlingen High and the Cardinals soared past the Weslaco High Panthers 31-21 during their District 32-6A opener Friday at Boggus Stadium in Harlingen.
“Coach always says to make a big play,” Rodriguez said. “That’s all I was trying to do. We just want to be something and make it out of the Valley. The coaches told us to keep on going hard. The first half wasn’t us. We just came back and showed our true colors.”
Following Rodriguez’s forced fumble, the Cardinals scored 14 straight points on touchdown runs by Izaiah Bell and Randy Morales, giving Harlingen High a 17-7 lead going into the fourth.
The Panthers responded with a 31-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Andres Sepulveda to Roy Stroman Jr. on the first play of the fourth, his second touchdown pass of the night.
The Cardinals answered almost immediately, with Morales finding senior wideout Paul Price for a 62-yard touchdown to stretch the lead back to 10 with 11:42 left.
Bell put the final nail in the coffin with 8:50 remaining, breaking free for a 44-yard touchdown run to make it 31-14. The Cardinals’ workhorse finished with a game-high 158 yards on 15 carries, finding the end zone twice.
“We just sat down with the line and talked after the second half,” Bell said. “We talked about this being on us. The only way this offense works is if the line is working. They responded and we came together. The line ended up giving me big holes and I just hit them.”
The Panthers added a late touchdown on a 29-yard catch-and-run by Jeremy Perez with 2:32 left, but it proved to be too little, too late.
Perez finished with 12 carries for 65 yards, adding five receptions for 54 yards and a score. Sepulveda led the offense, completing 20-of-27 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns, and rushing for 45 yards on 17 carries.
The victory moves Harlingen to 1-0 in district play and hands Weslaco High its second consecutive loss.
“Anytime you play Weslaco it’s a whole rivalry that dates back to the ’80s and ’90s,” Harlingen head coach Manny Gomez said. “It’s always going to be a hard-fought game. Much credit to coach (Roy) Stroman and his guys. It was a physical game. … Other than that, anytime you can win on a Friday night, especially in District 32-6A, it is definitely a blessing. We’re 1-0 in district and it feels good.”
Harlingen (6-0, 1-0) returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday, taking on Brownsville Hanna (1-5, 0-1) at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville. Weslaco (4-2, 0-0) returns home for a matchup against Los Fresnos (5-1, 1-0) on Friday at Bobby Lackey Stadium.
