HARLINGEN — The Harlingen Cardinals continued their dominance of the annual Bird Bowl as Big Red laid the hammer down on the crosstown rival Harlingen South Hawks 36-7 behind a stout defensive performance on Friday at Boggus Stadium.
Harlingen quarterback Daniel Ramirez hit Joe Reyna for three first-half scores.
Cards’ offense capitalizes on turnovers: On their first drive, Harlingen South fumbled the punt and Cards linebacker Eladio Flores recovered it at the Hawk 1-yard line. Ralph Castellanos capitalized on the turnover and gave the Cards the early 7-0 lead.
Later in the quarter Big Red’s defense forced another fumble, which was recovered by Garrison Medley. The Cards then scored on a Ramirez 47-yard strike to Reyna that put the Cards ahead 14-0 with 3:39 left in the first quarter.
“We knew we were going to have some success putting pressure on their punter. It’s a risk you take,” said Cards coach Manny Gomez. “It worked out for us. It’s a kids’ game and I’m glad we were able to make more plays.”
Ramirez to Reyna: After a punt, the Cards opened up their bag of tricks with a double reverse pass from Ramirez to Reyna for a 47-yard strike that made it 21-0 Harlingen and sent the Cardinal sideline into a madhouse.
After losing wide receiver Riley Sauceda to an injury, Reyna, who is a junior, stepped up and had a solid performance finishing with 99 yards and three scores. Two of his scores came from 43 and 47 yards out.
“Riley is like a big brother to me,” Reyna said. “He taught me a lot and I’m thankful for him teaching me. Tonight we knew it was going to be a battle. Being it was my first Bird Bowl, I had a lot of fun with my brothers.”
The Cardinals’ offense was crisp while running back Ralph Castellanos checked in a pair of scores in the first half. Castellanos finished the night with 15 carries for 46 yards and two scores.
With the win, Harlingen improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in District 32-6A. Up next for the Cards is BrownsvilleRivera while Harlingen South (1-3, 0-1) will travel to Los Fresnos.
Tenth in a row gives Gomez his 100th career win: The 36-7 drumming marked the 10th consecutive season that the Cardinals downed the Hawks. Harlingen now leads the series 21-4 all time.
With the win, Gomez also recorded his 100th career win in his 11th season as the Cards head man.
“Wow, we all have goals,” Gomez said. “I’m blessed to be apart of this program, and have a great staff and support of our administration, and the kids show up everyday. But this all started back in 2007 with all those guys that started the program that helped me start the program. It’s definitely been a long journey.”
