Cardinals start off slow, but still hammer Jaguars, 49-14

HARLINGEN — It wasn't as pretty as the pink they were wearing but it was a win.

Harlingen's offense was sluggish at best to start the game and the defense gave up a season-high 295 yards but the Cardinals still flew past Edinburg Economedes 49-14 at Boggus Stadium on Friday.

Harlingen head coach Manny Gomez called it an "eye-opener" for his ball club as the Cards (8-0, 5-0) face off with PSJA North (8-0, 5-0) next week at PSJA Stadium for the District 31-5A title.

"We needed that," Gomez said. "We really hadn't faced any adversity all year. I can talk until I'm blue in the face, but it's up to these guys to back up the tradition and the legacy they're trying to create here."

Harlingen was held scoreless in the first quarter for only the second time this season (Edinburg North).

The Cards' first possession ended when Mack Sanchez fumbled at the Jag one as he was about to score. The next drive ended on the Jag 27 on an incompletion after the Cards went for it on a fourth-and-10. But the Sanchez and the Harlingen O righted the ship fast. Sanchez scored on an 18-yard scamper with 9:12 in the second quarter to finally get on the board.

Harlingen came around defensively too as LB Dallas Zamora sacked Econ QB Rudy Villarreal as the Jags went for it on fourth-and-16 from the Cards' 33. Four plays later, Sanchez hit Anthony Reyna in stride for a huge 59-yard scoring strike down the home sideline.

After another forced Economedes punt, Sanchez threw his second of three TD passes. This time Luke Lucio for 65 yards. It was a one-play drive as the first half ended 21-0 in Harlingen's favor.

Harlingen scored on its opening possession of the second half as Cards ball carrier Pablo Garza scored from one yard to give Big Red a 28-0 lead with 7:44 left in the third.

The Cardinals Crush defense came up big again on the Jags next possession. DT Nick Aviles tackled Jaguars' runner Gary Rodriguez for a two-yard loss, stripped and recovered the ball on the Harlingen 45.

And again, it only took Sanchez one play to get another six.

A scrambling Sanchez completed the hat trick when he hit Lucio for a 45-yard score for the 35-0 lead.

Sanchez completed 14-of-22 passes for 277 yards and three TDs. Lucio caught five balls for 147 yards and two TDs and Reyna grabbed another seven for 102. Harlingen added scores in the fourth when Cards backup QB Nathan Webb scored from seven yards with 11:52 left in the game.

Sean Hernandez then returned a kickoff 95 yards with 6:13 left in the game to make it 49-6.

"Harlingen is a great team," Jags head coach Oscar Salinas said. "They're a lot better then us. But our kids did a great job of finishing and we worked on that all week. I'm proud of their effort."

The Jags put up a fight late, which led to their 295 offensive yards.

Economedes (3-5, 1-4) first scored on a Ray Trevino eight-yard run with 6:28 left in the game.

Backup QB Edgar Cuevas completed a 42-yard scoring pass to Nelson Hampton with 20 seconds left in the game.

"Their record is deceiving," Gomez said. "They have a great O-line and I challenged our kids that they (Econ) were gonna be ready to play. Just because there's no one in the stands on their side doesn’t mean they're not gonna play. And obviously we saw it today. They were ready to play."

Notes: Gomez and some of the players wore pink in honor of Melynda Rodriguez who's battling breast cancer. Rodriguez is a longtime Cardinals fan and some  team members wore pink gloves, towels and tape on their ankles in honor of Rodriguez.