Hawks survive Warriors in OT

McALLEN — As he stood on the McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium turf after his team’s 30-24 overtime loss to No. 1 Harlingen South, McAllen Rowe coach Gary Lauer looked like he had something he needed to say. And he said it, without solicitation.

“That’s no way for a game to end,” Lauer said. “The referees decided the game.”

The call that angered Lauer was a pass interference call against Rowe defensive back Ricky Soto on a third-and-10 from the Warriors 25. Soto appeared to have his back to the Harlingen South receiver, but Lauer still didn’t agree with the call.

On the next play, South running back Phillip Fruge scored on a 10-yard touchdown run to send the 12-0 Hawks to a third-round game against Smithson Valley next weekend.

“I think it was the worst call I’ve seen in a long time,” Lauer said. “They’re a good team, we gave them everything we had. We didn’t come out in the second half and play well. Still, we got them to overtime, and one play shouldn’t decide a ballgame of this magnitude. We had an official take it away from us.”

Actually, the back judge and the line judge made the call, which gave the Hawks an automatic first down. South coach Alan Cherry said he didn’t see the play clearly but heard people on his sideline shouting for a pass interference call.

“I heard everyone saying ‘That’s a penalty. That’s a penalty.’ But I never saw the flag,” Cherry said. “But when they brought it out and it was a penalty, I felt good about it. I didn’t see the call.”

Cherry also mentioned another call from late in the first half, one that helped give the Warriors a 17-14 lead.

With 1:10 left, Rowe running back Cameron Gatling was awarded a 1-yard TD run. As he crossed the goal line, he lost a fumble that was recovered by the Hawks. Originally, the officials awarded the Hawks the ball, but changed their call to a Rowe TD.

Incensed, Cherry ran onto the field to argue and was called for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

After the game, Cherry compared the two calls.

“Yeah, it’s controversial,” Cherry said of the pass interference call. “But it’s just like us on the goal line was controversial. They were showing us the ball on the ground. I think it was a give-and-take. We had some in there they didn’t think were good. That’s just how it goes.

“They had a good team, and we had to really play our tail off to win.”

When these teams played in Week 3, that wasn’t true.

In that Week 3 game, the Hawks routed the Warriors 44-14. South center C.J. Arellano even compared Rowe to a junior varsity team.

But halfway through the rematch, it was hard to tell which team was the favorite.

On the kickoff after the Gatling touchdown, Hawks returner Mario Montes fumbled with Rowe recovering.

Gatling then scored his second touchdown in under a minute to give the Warriors a 24-14 halftime lead.

“They got a lot better. They improved a lot,” said Fruge, who rushed for 199 yards and three touchdowns. “You can’t think about the old games. You’ve got to come out and expect them to play like they did. They gave it all they had, and we gave it all we had. We came out on top.”

Lauer agreed with Fruge’s assessment of the Warriors, whose season ended after a four-game winning streak was snapped.

“We’re done. We’re going to tell the seniors bye and have them pick up their stuff. The seniors played their hearts out,” Lauer said. “The team played their hearts out. I’m proud of them. Nobody thought we had a chance in this thing. We proved everybody wrong. These kids at Rowe fight until the end.”

Brian Sandalow covers District 30-5A for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.