Golden Eagles crush visiting Coyotes

Since the beginning of the season Hanna coach Tom Chavez has talked about the attitude change for his Golden Eagles.

Against La Joya High, Hanna started working on changing another important aspect: its record.

Golden Eagles running back Enrique Saldana rushed for 226 and three touchdowns — including runs of 80 and 70 yards — to help Golden Eagles crush the Coyotes 50-17 on Thursday night at Sams Stadium.

"It’s good to have a win," Hanna coach Tom Chavez said. "I didn’t like the way we played in the first half, but we went in there at half and talked about. I like the attitude we put in the second half."

Saldana opened up each half with dynamic runs, including the 80-yarder on the first play of the second half to give Hanna a 20-10 advantage.

"That was a big boost for us in the second half," Chavez said. "They had some momentum going into the second half, but we did a great job defensively creating turnovers and scoring on them."

La Joya High turned the ball over on its next two possessions, and Hanna made it pay.

Coyotes running back Rolando Rodriguez coughed up the football on his first touch after Hanna’s score, and then the Golden Eagles scored three plays later on a 1-yard reception by Mario Molina, extending the lead to 27-10.

Defensive back Orlando Martinez then shut the door as he picked off Coyotes quarterback Victor Leanos on La Joya High’s following possession, taking it back to the house.

Hanna kicker Luis Garcia drilled the extra point, putting Hanna up 33-10 with 9:06 left in the third quarter.

"We can’t afford to turn the ball over that many times and expect to win the game," Coyotes coach Leonel Casas said. "They made some big plays that we could not afford to give up and that was the ball game right there."

Running back Leo Ramirez led the Coyotes in rushing with 134 yards on 26 carries and one score on a 7-yard power run during the fourth quarter for La Joya’s final points.

Anthony Garza and Mike Garza combined for another solid performance, with 118 yards and two touchdowns receiving. Eagles QB Tito Perez was extremely efficient, completing 8 of 10 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

After the Eagles’ defense held La Joya High to a field goal on its opening drive, the Eagles scored 14 straight points, including a 43-yard score by Anthony Garza to put Hanna up 14-3 with 9:52 left in the second quarter. Saldana also scored on Hanna’s first offensive play of the game, burning up the field for 70 yards.

The Coyotes answered, scoring on a 30-yard reception by Rick Castillo from Victor Leonas with 55 seconds remaining in the half, but that was the closest La Joya High got to Hanna.

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.