Saldaña, Hanna pull away from Weslaco High

Hanna coach Tom Chavez had one word to describe his team: character.

Despite letting Weslaco High sneak back in the game twice, Hanna put on a stellar second-half performance — giving up only four first downs — and Enrique Saldaña ran for 251 yards and three touchdowns during the Golden Eagles’ 42-24 victory over the Panthers on Friday night at Sams Stadium.

"These kids never gave up," Chavez said. "We kind of lost our momentum going into the half, but they showed character to me and bounced back every time we needed to."

The Golden Eagles looked to deliver the knockout punch while up 35-17 with the ball on the Panthers’ 13. But Randy Rey was picked off by Aric Hernandez, who ran 97 yards to the Eagles’ 3-yard line.

Ryan Flores punched it in on the next play, and the Panthers were back in business, down 35-24. Weslaco High’s defense then gave the ball back to the Panthers, and Weslaco High coach Tony Villarreal’s squad reached the Eagles’ 8 yard-line with 5:03 left in the game.

Kevin Reyna, who had spectacular special teams day, then grabbed a floater in the end zone on second-and-goal from Weslaco High’s Nathan Alvarado to end the threat.

Saldaña, District 32-5A’s leading rusher, then took over. He ran the ball four consecutive times on the Eagles’ ensuing possession and took the last carry 58 yards to keep Hanna perfect at 3-0 in district play and Weslaco High winless.

"He had 250 yards, and a lot of those yards are when we really needed him," Chavez said. "We beat a tough Weslaco (High) team tonight, and it’s big for us. We just have to take it one game at a time and worry about our next opponent."

The Eagles’ Mike and Anthony Garza (no relation) each snagged a touchdown with highlight-reel catches in the end zone. Mike Garza led the team with four receptions for 99 yards.

After a wacky end to the first half — Weslaco High scored two consecutive touchdowns to cut the lead to 21-17 — the Hanna defense stiffened in the third quarter and held the Panthers to 2 yards of offense.

Villarreal rolled the dice on the Panthers’ first possession of the second half, faking a punt on fourth-and-8 from their own 22, but Hanna sniffed out the fake.

Saldaña fumbled the ball back, but on his next touch he took it 22 yards to paydirt to give Hanna a 28-17 advantage with 7:09 left in the third.

Hanna opened the scoring with a 62-yard run by Saldaña with 5:15 remaining in the first quarter, but Weslaco High answered on its following drive with 29-yard field goal by Jesus Bocanegra.

Hanna’s Garza tandem then took over, making TD catches on Hanna’s next two possessions to give the Golden Eagles a sizable 21-3 lead late in the second quarter.

With 1:57 before the half, the Panthers’ R.C. Cervantes ran for a 33-yard score, and then with 33 seconds left he threw a 41-yard touchdown to Joe de Leon to cut the lead to 21-17.

The last score was set up by Aric Hernandez, who picked off Hanna’s Randy Rey while the Eagles were looking to add to their lead. Hernandez ran it back to the Hanna 41.

"There is a unity with this team that I haven’t seen before," Villarreal said. "We’ve played the best three teams in the district to start off, and we’re going to keep fighting for that final playoff spot."

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.