HARLINGEN — The Harlingen High Cardinals hit the field early Saturday morning with a little extra swagger.
It marked the first day for full contact in the state of Texas and also wrapped up the first week of football camps.
Harlingen High took full advantage of the full-pad day and held an intersquad scrimmage took get a first look at what to expect in 2019.
Leading the way for the Cardinals will be senior quarterback Jaime Galvan, who is in his second year at the helm. On Saturday, the southpaw displayed command of the huddle and showed improvement with his arm and legs.
“This is Jaime’s senior year and he knows that, and he will tell you he is eager to get out there,” Harlingen High coach Manny Gomez said. “Today we took it easy, we blew the whistle when he would scramble, but he knows when the lights come on we are going to use him for sure, and we are going to have him run the ball to keep defenses honest. But the bottom line is, he is a competitor and his time will come.”
On Saturday, Galvan showed strong chemistry with his younger brother, Justin, who is a junior and will line up at wide receiver. On more than one occasion the Galvan connection was on display and will be something for Cardinals fans to keep tabs on.
Another bright spot was senior running back Rayden Berry. The physical runner broke off three straight first-down runs and helped balance the Cardinals’ attack. Berry looks to be the workhorse for the offense this fall.
“Rayden worked extremely hard over the offseason, and it shows,” Gomez said. “I don’t think there is another kid in the state of Texas that has outworked him, and it shows. He is a physical runner and has balance along with his tremendous leadership, and that showed today.”
Harlingen High reached the playoffs last year as a No. 3 seed out of District 32-6A with a 3-2 district record. It will look to get back into the postseason, but Brownsville Hanna returns as the district champion and San Benito has won the previous two versions of the Battle of the Arroyo.
Big Red will open its season with a scrimmage against Weslaco High at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 16 at home, and then opens the regular season at Sharyland Pioneer with the kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Aug. 30.
