Cards top Hawks in Bird Bowl to end regular season 10-0

HARLINGEN — It looked like a family reunion after Bird Bowl XVII on the field at Boggus Stadium.

Parents and friends made their way to the field following Harlingen's 66-7 drubbing of Harlingen South on Friday.

Freddy Mercury's voice resonated over the PA system as Queen's We are the champions blared for all to hear.
Cliché? Yes.

But so were the Cards. After all, all they did was win.

Ten times this season to be exact.

Harlingen's win against the Hawks wrapped up a perfect season for Big Red. It's only Harlingen's third perfect season in school history. They also went 10-0 in 1976 and 1996.

Cards head coach Manny Gomez was all smiles as he fielded congratulatory hugs from friends and family.

"I'm just ecstatic for the kids," Gomez said. "You see everyone come together here. All the families and friends … this is what it's all about. I've had my hurrahs as a player. I'm extremely proud of these guys for this victory."

Harlingen entered the season ranked No. 1 in the Valley Freedom Newspapers Top 10 poll. And the Cards remained there all year as they dominated ten opposing teams from the opening whistle.

"As a coach, you still have individual goals," Gomez said. "Being undefeated isn't the main goal but it's in the top 5. It's difficult to go undefeated especially in 31-5A. There are a lot of great coaches and teams. I'm proud of what we accomplished as a staff here. The bottom line is we executed."

Early on in Bird Bowl XVII, though, it was the winless Hawks that looked sharp.

South QB Brian Avila marched the Green Birds 79 yards down the field as the nine-play scoring drive ended with Avila scrambling for 35 yards for the score.

South led 7-0 with 6:59 in the first as the small South following erupted in emotion.

It didn't take Harlingen long to answer as Sean Hernandez dashed 79 yards on the ensuing kick return to tie it seven following Grant Gorman's PAT with 6:48.

The route was on as Harlingen scored 66 unanswered points the rest of the way en route to the historic win.
"I want to cry," Harlingen QB Mack "The Knife" Sanchez said. "Ever since we were in middle school, we wanted to be district champs for the Cardinals. I'm glad it happened. This was for our coaches and the community."

Harlingen took the lead when Sanchez hit Anthony Reyna in stride for a 46-yard scoring strike.

Harlingen scored on its next three offensive possessions to take a 35-7 with 40 seconds left in the first half.

Reyna caught another TD pass from 45 yards, RB Pablo Garza scored on a 39-yard run and Luke Lucio caught an eight-yard TD pass.

Garza finished with 140 yards and one TD on the night. The speedy senior wraps up the regular season with 978 rushing yards and 15 scores.

"We're not anywhere near done," Garza said. We want to keep playing until we face Austin Westlake again and more."

Harlingen took a 42-7 halftime lead when menacing defensive end Mingo Rincon intercepted South's Avila and returned it 35 yards for the score.

Rincon recorded a couple of sacks to give him 20 on the season.

Harlingen's Cardinals Crush defense held the Hawks to 275 total yards.

"Everyone thinks I'm fit for a lineman but that run took it out of me," Rincon said with a laugh. "But it feels great. Coming into the season we knew we could do it (go undefeated). We have the best coaching staff in the Valley and the state. They do a great job of preparing us and our hard work paid off."

Reyna, who caught four passes for 128 yards, added this third TD in the third when Sanchez hit him from 24 yards. Reyna leads the team with 43 catches for 870 yards and 11 TDs.

Like his team, Sanchez was perfect too.

The Knife completed seven of seven pass attempts for 156 yards and four TDs. Sanchez has passed for 1,858 yards and 23 TDs on the season.

Harlingen added a field goal by Gorman and two fumble returns one each by Aaron Martinez and Margarito Matamoros for the final score.

South ends as the only winless team in the Valley this season. It's also the first 0-10 campaign in school history.

First-year head coach Gilbert Leal remained optimistic.

"Truthfully, I feel like this wasn't a real football season," Leal said. "I feel like we played 10 preseason games. We had some seniors that played all year but this was a building year for us. But I'm proud of all them and I wouldn't trade them for anyone else."

Eladio Jaimez covers District 31-5A for Valley Freedom Newspapers.