Golden Eagles wake up in second half, beat Porter

The Hanna Golden Eagles looked like they were still thinking about last week’s big win over San Benito when they took the field against Porter.

After some halftime motivation, Hanna looked like the No. 7 team in the Rio Grande Valley once again.

Anthony Garza and Mike Garza combined for three second-half touchdown receptions as Hanna scored 32 unanswered points to beat Porter 32-7 on Friday night at Sams Stadium.

"I got after the kids at halftime," Hanna coach Tom Chavez said. "I told them all week how hard this game was going to be, and I basically got after them to play better. We were beating ourselves, and we weren’t playing like the way we did against San Benito."

After the game, Chavez’s message to his kids was, "don’t do it again."

"I just told them they learned their lesson," he said.

During Hanna’s first-half offensive lull, Porter had plenty of opportunities to take advantage but failed to make the Golden Eagles pay.

The Cowboys reached the red zone four times and came out with zero points, with three missed field goals and a turnover on downs.

"Our defense kept us in the game," Chavez said. "If they don’t play as fired up as they did, we would have been in trouble."

Porter’s defense held the Golden Eagles to a pair of first downs during the first half and shut down Saldaña, who had only 37 yards on 10 carries.

Eventually the lack of scoring caught up with the Cowboys, and Hanna found its groove.

Two big punt returns by Hanna’s Kevin Reyna led to Golden Eagles touchdowns as the Eagles started deep in Cowboys territory, at the 23- and 18-yard lines.

"Field position was key," Porter coach Roberto Valdez said. "We caught them in an offensive lull in the first half, and it’s easy to score from 20 yards out. We’ve got to get better offensively, defensively and on special teams. If we would have won tonight I would be saying the same thing."

The Garzas finished off the drives with touchdowns, giving the Golden Eagles 12-7 lead with 7:11 in the third quarter.

Porter missed a 37-yard field goal on its ensuing drive, and Anthony Garza made them pay with an 80-yard touchdown reception on the next play from scrimmage.

District 32-5A leading rusher Saldaña got into the act, breaking a 78-yard touchdown run and ending with a game-high 116 yards on 16 carries.

Cowboys quarterback Matt Bullock finished the game 4-of-11 passing for 40 yards, and he added 59 yards on the ground.

"He really wanted to win the game for his grandfather," Valdez said about Bullock, whose relative died two days ago. "Most kids wouldn’t be out there, but his heart and spirit is strong. You’re not going to be able to find a better young man than that."

Louie Vera covers District 32-5A football for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via e-mail at lvera@brownsvilleherald.com.