The Harlingen South Hawks will remember their 2019 soccer season for quite some time.
For the first time in their 25 years or so of playing UIL soccer, the Hawks won in the playoffs. The District 32-6A runner-up Hawks actually captured two victories in the postseason this year by defeating Edinburg Economedes 3-2 and McAllen Rowe 4-1 during the first two rounds of the playoffs.
South’s success is reflected with its selections on the All-District 32-6A team.
The Hawks’ Jose Lerma, a senior forward, was the unanimous choice as the 32-6A MVP. He scored 22 goals on the season, including eight during South’s 10-game district schedule.
As a team, South, 17-10 overall and 6-4 in district (18 points), scored 62 goals on the season.
The Hawks boasted two more top all-district honorees. Angel Ortega was named defensive player of the year, and Joaquin Ovalle was chosen newcomer of the year.
Rounding out the top honors, it was Brownsville Rivera’s J.P. Garza as the unanimous pick for offensive player of the year, and teammate Salvador DeLeon as the utility player of the year.
Rivera was the 32-6A champion, and its coach, Salvador Garcia, was named coach of the year.
Highlighting the all-district selections for Harlingen High was Luis Garcia. He was a unanimous pick as a first-team defender. Teammate Lorenzo Rodriguez also was chosen to the first team on defense.
Other unanimous selections on the first team were South’s Leo Torres, a midfielder, and Harlingen High’s Jose Garcia, a forward.
San Benito’s selections on the first team included team captains Isidro Najera as a midfielder and Senovio Cerdan at forward. Teammate Gonzalo Villarreal also received a first-team nod at goalkeeper.
While Rivera and South finished as 32-6A’s top two teams, Hanna and San Benito made the playoffs as the third- and fourth-place finishers, respectively.
In District 32-4A for the boys, Port Isabel (9-3, 28 points) was the conference champion for the third time in school history. Raymondville (9-3, 27 points) was the runner-up. La Feria and Brownsville IDEA Frontier were the other two teams from the district qualifying for the postseason.
Saul Garcia of Raymondville was chosen the 32-4A most valuable offensive player. Ricardo Macias of La Feria was named the most valuable defensive player.
The other top all-district honors in 32-4A boys soccer went to Brownsville IDEA Riverview’s Gustavo Cardenas and Rio Hondo’s Edgar Cortez as the co-newcomers of the year.
