SAN ANTONIO — Before the Harlingen Cardinals’ game against Austin Westlake, an Alamodome press box official wandered over to a gathering of reporters and declared he’d heard that Big Red’s terrorizing defensive end Mingo Rincon “was a stud.”

He and the thousands of others in attendance at the Alamo City landmark Friday undoubtedly did not leave disappointed.

SAN ANTONIO — Cardinals head coach Manny Gomez fought back tears as he screamed at the top of his lungs following Friday’s Class 5A, Division I regional game.

His players surrounded him in a half circle, tears streaming down their cheeks.

Gomez pleaded with them, “don’t cry fellas! You have nothing to be ashamed of. What you guys did this season, no one can ever take it away from you.”

Soothing words from a fearless leader. But not one without a heart.

Gomez felt the pain each one of his players felt following their 42-13 loss to Austin Westlake.

SAN ANTONIO — The "R" words are endless.

Rematch.

Revenge.

Respect.

But the Harlingen Cardinals can think of one only.

Redemption.

Hollywood couldn't have scripted it better.

One year after the Cardinals got beat by Austin Westlake at the Alamodome, the schools face off again in a Class 5A, Division I regional game.

Same place. Same date. Same teams.

"We're all excited and ecstatic about this," Harlingen DT Nick Aviles said after a morning Thanksgiving Day practice.

It’s that time of year.

The Thanksgiving holiday brings a lot more than just giving thanks in high school football.

It also ushers in the phenomenon known as “Valley Week,” normally the third round of the state playoffs that pits a 5A team from the RGV against a San Antonio or Austin-area Region IV team.

Based on the records over the last 19 seasons, it’s no wonder teams and fans in the Alamo City have some extra pep in their step during the week in November/December against their neighbors to the south.

HARLINGEN — Bobby Lucio does the same thing before every game.

He looks for his son, Luke, and gives him a kiss on the forehead followed by the sign of the cross.

Is it Bobby being a good Catholic? Yes.

And a good father.

With Luke playing out his senior season as a Cardinal receiver, Bobby is relishing every minute he can with his son.

Congratulations District 31-5A for having the best, and toughest, teams in the Rio Grande Valley.

All remaining playoff teams come from 31-5A, and up until 6 p.m. last Saturday, all four teams were in the playoffs. But that may be where the excitement ends this week as all three teams have an uphill battle in their respective playoff matches.

Each team this week has a monumental task at hand, although it isn’t out of the question for one or more teams to win this week.

AUSTIN — Simply put it was a perfect fit for Darren Allman.

Coaching at his alma mater Odessa Permian, Allman was right at home the last four years leading the proud Panthers' program.

But after the veteran Derek Long retired as Austin Westlake's head coach after last season, the Chaps needed a new chief.

Long had been at Westlake 26 years and six as head coach.

So the Chaps needed a big name to fill Long's shoes.

And who better than someone like Allman to take over the Westlake football program.

RGVSports.com and its voice of high school football, Joe Bowling, will have live streaming audio from two playoff games Friday and one playoff game Saturday this week, as will be the case throughout the playoffs. His live broadcasts begin roughly 20 minutes before game time each night.

Bowling will be live from the following games this weekend at the Alamodome in San Antonio:

Friday: PSJA North vs. New Braunfels (Noon kickoff)

Friday: Harlingen High vs. Austin Westlake (4 p.m. kickoff)

Keep track of high school football games weekly with our sportswriters.

Our sportswriters will give you live updates from the games they are covering each week. If you would like to chat with our sportswriters or comment with other fans during the live game updates, sign up for an account by clicking on this link. Before, during and after games, check out our message boards by clicking on this link and our blogs by clicking on this link. Most importantly, enjoy the games.

We will have live updates from these games this week:  

Editor's Note: Keep checking back to this file on RGVSports.com throughout the weekend as playoff pairings, along with the time, date and place of the games, become finalized.

Thursday Nov. 12

BI-DISTRICT

CLASS 4A Division I

Flour Bluff 55, Mission Veterans Memorial 35

Friday Nov. 13

BI-DISTRICT

CLASS 5A Division I

Harlingen High 41, San Benito 21

Edinburg High 18, Brownsville Hanna 14

San Antonio Southwest 58, Rio Grande City 28