The Hanna Golden Eagles hit the road to take on the Amarillo Tascosa Rebels and came back with a statement 35-19 win Saturday at Farris Stadium in San Antonio.
After falling behind 6-0 early in the first quarter, the Eagles’ defense dug in and weathered the storm against the Rebels’ triple option, holding them to 13 points the rest of the way.
For Hanna coach Mark Guess, it came down to careful preparation and execution.
“We knew we had to play responsibility football on defense,” he said. “We had to cover the dive, we had to cover the quarterback and we had to cover the pitch. Every play we had to have somebody on all three of those things, just trying to disguise it at times and move the defensive front. The movement on the defensive front, the slants and the stunts we were using, posed a lot of problems for their offensive line. As time went on late into the second quarter, they got really frustrated.”
The Golden Eagles came up with big plays on each side of the ball.
On defense, Bryan Duron recorded a strip sack, setting up a 38-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Armando Garcia.
Quarterback Victor Campos broke a 47-yard run for a touchdown and added a 30-yard pass to Miguel Payan, who caught the ball in the end zone after it was tipped by a Tascosa defender.
“I think (Tascosa) came in overconfident a little bit, thinking we were going to lie down because we were from the (Rio Grande) Valley,” Guess said. “Of course, the opposite was true.”
The win is the second straight for the Golden Eagles, who improve to 3-1 heading into the bye week.
MISSION VETERANS MEMORIAL 55, PORTER 37
It’s been a rough start to district for the Porter Cowboys, who dropped to 0-4 in District 16-5A Division I play after losing to Mission Veterans Memorial on the road Friday night.
The Patriots piled on the points early, as they scored all of their points during the first half and led 55-13 at the break.
Porter bounced back and put up 24 second-half points, but could not climb out of the deep hole.
Cowboys coach Carlos Uresti liked the effort from his players during the second half.
“We wanted to come out after the half and finish on a good note, and we did that,” Uresti said. “Our kids continue to fight until the very end in every single game, and I’m very proud of that. They never give up, no matter what the score is or who we are playing. Mission Vets is ranked as a top team in the Rio Grande Valley year in and year out, and we saw why (Friday).”
