Chavez turned around Eagles on way to All-Metro award

A losing effort during the first game of the year and a season-ending injury to their starting quarterback may have put some teams down and out, but not the 2009 Hanna Golden Eagles.

Overcoming a bit of adversity early on, coach Tom Chavez led his Eagles to their first district championship in 40 years and thus has been named The Brownsville Herald’s 2009 All-Metro Coach of the Year.

Hanna was coming off a disappointing 2-8 season in 2008, and many didn’t know what to expect from Chavez’s squad. In fact, neither did he.

"We had a real good offseason program, but I didn’t know what team was going to show up until the scrimmages," Chavez said. "Once we actually got there, I thought, ‘Hey, we can get something going here.’ "

While All-Metro and Distritct 32-5A MVP Enrique Saldaña was lighting up the scoreboard all season long, Chavez had to rely on unproven quarterback Randy Rey to step up in the Eagles’ time of need.

"He was untested, didn’t even play that much in JV last year," Chavez said. "But (Rey) worked real hard and spent a lot of time understanding what we wanted to do on offense. He really came through for us.

Hanna started off the district season with a bang, winning 38-26 over San Benito, a team that had blanked Hanna 59-0 only two years ago. It was then that the Eagles started to show the Rio Grande Valled they were for real, as Saldaña racked up 245 yards rushing and Rey proved he could make the throws necessary to win games.

The biggest test of the season may have come when the Eagles made the trip to Los Fresnos to face the defending district champion Falcons. Hanna left Leo Aguilar Stadium with a 52-31 win, but they also left with one last mission: beat Pace and win the district title outright.

One week later, it was mission accomplished. Chavez had his team ready to play its fierce rival, and Hanna dismantled the Vikings 28-7 in front of a crowd Sams Stadium hadn’t seen in years.

"It was an awesome feeling," Chavez said. "I’m very proud of the hard work everyone put in all season."

While the season ended with a disappointing last-second loss to Edinburg High during the first round of the playoffs, Eagles football became relevant in Valley once again.

The leadership — whether it be from Saldaña on offense, Sam Lucio and Chris Ortiz on defense or Chavez everywhere in between — was paramount in bringing the Eagles to the top of the district once again.