HARLINGEN — Just when you thought it was over, it wasn’t.
After 70 minutes of scoreless play came down to one moment of brilliance by Edinburg North’s Azael De Leon that led the Cougars past the Harlingen South Hawks 2-1 in overtime of their Class 6A bi-district contest on Boggus Stadium on Friday.
“You have to congradgulate Harlingen South because they are really well coached and they fought to the very last second, and they are an excellent team,” said Edinburg North’s head coach Elias Moran. “But tonight my team proved that we have a big heart and they are ready to face anybody.”
With the win, the Cougars will now face Laredo LBJ in the Class 6A area round.
With less than 10 minutes to play, Edinburg North’s Andres Garcia thought he had scored the winner and his team celebrated endlessly by piling up on one another. But it was not to be.
Just like a Hollywood movie, Harlingen South came back and scored the tying goal within seconds of relinquishing the first.
But it took a spectacular 35-yard free kick from De Leon to end the Hawks’ dream of advancing to the next round.
“They’re the district champions for a reason and that last goal was a heck of a goal, and there’s not much you can do,” Hawks head coach Julian Robles said. “It was always going to take something special to win the game. We had our shot but their goalkeeper came up with a nice save and now we just looking forward to next year.”
