Printer-friendly version
Send to friend
PDF version
HARLINGEN - Manny Gomez is no different than any other high school football coach in the Valley.
As he prepares his Harlingen Cardinals for a third round playoff game against Austin Westlake, Gomez said this is the exact situation he expected to be in since he took over as Cards head coach last year.
"Ideally, as a coach from the Valley, this is where you want to be," Gomez said. "It's the third round and we have an opportunity to take Valley football to the next step.
"We don't put any extra emphasis on who we're playing. To us it's the next challenge and we just need to play to the best of our capabilities."
Harlingen (10-2) earned its date with the Chaparrals (8-4) following a 35-7 romp over a very talented Laredo United squad on Saturday in Alice.
The Cardinals looked as crisp as ever in the win.
Offensively, Harlingen gave Laredo all it could handle, racking up 501 total yards with a very balanced attack (235 rushing, 266 passing).
Harlingen sustained impressive drives each of the first four times it scored.
Pablo Garza scored the Cards' first four TDs on drives of 74, 92, 84 and 84 yards. Receiver Leo Gonzalez scored the final TD on a 14-yard strike from John Murphy (266 yards passing).
On the other side, junior defensive end Mingo Rincon and the rest of the Harlingen defense manhandled a potent United offense that was averaging 372.1 yards and 31.3 points per game.
Rincon had 3.5 sacks on the night.
United barely mustered 288 yards on offense including 119 in the second half.
With the exception of a scoring drive to open the second half, Laredo couldn't get anywhere most of the night.
The only other drive that looked productive for the Longhorns ended with a turnover.
Trailing 14-0, Laredo looked primed to find the end zone. But defensive tackle Tipper Ramirez made a nice, acrobatic pick on the Harlingen 15-yard line to end that threat.
Sophomore quarterback Tony Salas was held to 196 yards passing while completing 22-of-41 passes with one interception.
Salas threw one touchdown pass to Stevie Rincon with 8:30 left in the third quarter, cutting Harlingen's lead to 21-7 at that juncture.
Stevie Rincon had an amazing 13 receptions for 90 yards and the TD.
But The Cardinals Crush defense buckled down after that.
"We just didn't get any big plays on offense," Laredo head coach David Sanchez said after the game Saturday. "And that's a tribute to them (Harlingen). They did a great job and we wish them all luck in the next round."
Harlingen finished the regular season at 8-2 and as co-champs of District 31-5A with PSJA North.
Its only losses came to Edcouch-Elsa in Week One and Pharr North in Week Nine.
Harlingen has outscored its opponents 152-27 since its loss to the Raiders and the team has scored 98 points and yielded 21 in two postseason games.
"The terminology people like to use is ‘peeking at the right time,'" Gomez said. "I guess it makes sense, but these guys learned a lot about themselves after the PSJA North game. They made some mistakes that cost us and they've learned.
"These kids believe in our system and we told them since the summer that if we worked hard we would be champions. And they understand that. We're still hungry for more but we're taking it one game at a time."
Notes: Harlingen backup running back Olrie Rodriguez suffered a concussion after a hard hit late in the game on Saturday. Rodriguez came in with less than a minute to play and on his third carry was hit by a Laredo linebacker. Rodriguez tried to walk off the field but fell after just a few steps. He stayed on the ground and was taken off the field by ambulance. Everything was done as a precautionary measure and Rodriguez was expected to be fine, Gomez said Sunday.
Eladio Jaimez covers the Harlingen Cardinals for Valley Freedom Newspapers.
