HOLY HAWKS!

McALLEN — Harlingen South is starting to like this overtime thing.

The Hawks defense shut out McAllen Rowe in the second half of their area clash on Saturday, and running back Phillip Fruge continued his postseason rampage as the Hawks pulled off an amazing 30-24 overtime win against the Warriors at Memorial Stadium.

The Hawks held Rowe to a fourth-and-nine in the first overtime and Warriors’ head coach Gary Lauer elected to go for the first down instead of the field goal.

Quarterback Michael Enriquez tossed an incompletion setting the stage for South’s dramatics.

After two Fruge carries, the Hawks faced a third-and-10 from the 25. Sean Messick threw an incompletion into the end zone intended for Joey Reyna.

But a pass interference gave South the ball on the 10 and Fruge burst through for a 10-yard run to give the Hawks the area win.

“This goes to show our team never quits,” South head coach Alan Cherry said. “They gave it all they had the whole game to win. We knew we’d be in for a tough battle. To come back and win like this is exceptional.”

Rowe head coach Gary Lauer was visibly disgusted with the loss, but mostly with the official’s pass interference call at the end.

“I hate that the officials had to determine the ball game and not the kids,” Lauer said. “That was one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen.”

This was South’s (12-0) second overtime win this season. The Hawks capped a furious 21-point rally against PSJA Memorial last month to win 41-35 on a Fruge touchdown.

South now faces Smithson Valley on Friday at Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi at 7:30 p.m.

Fruge rushed for 211 yards and scored three TDs against Rowe. The junior rushed for 209 last week to give him 420 yards in two postseason wins.

“We just didn’t lose faith,” Fruge said. “That touchdown there just strengthened my faith. I prayed to God and said ‘it’s your will. If you want us to win, we’ll score.’ But I just ran the ball. This win goes to the whole team. The whole team pushed for this win.”

The whole team indeed, but the South defense was simply superb in the second half.

After Rowe churned out 237 yards in the first half and led 24-14 at intermission, the Hawks defense held the Warriors scoreless in the second half and allowed them a mere 69 yards.

Rowe’s (6-6) first three possessions in the second half ended in punts.

Its fourth drive resulted in a missed 29-yard field goal by Ralph Juarez

Rowe’s next possession seemed to be the one that gave the Warriors the win as they drove to the South 23. But on a third-and-10, Reyna intercepted Enriquez ending that push. Enriquez completed 20-of-40 passes with two picks for 202 yards and one touchdown.

“I personally feel better playing in the second half,” linebacker Israel Neeley said. “We knew we could pull it out. We did the same against PSJA Memorial and won there. But we can’t play like this if we want to beat Smithson Valley. We need to play two good solid halves.”

Rolando Salinas nailed a 37-yard field goal to open up the second half cutting Rowe’s lead to 24-17.

Messick then scored from 1 yard to tie the game at 24 with 10:48 left to play in regulation.

Messick finished with 147 yards passing while completing 13-of-21 passes. Receivers Reyna and Joseph Bedford played well in Peter Maldonado’s absence. Maldonado missed the game for family reasons.

Reyna caught four passes for 62 yards and Bedford hauled in four passes for 59 yards.

Certainly the game was a tale of two halves.

Rowe looked unstoppable in the first half.

After South scored on its opening drive on a 1-yard Fruge run, the Warriors came right back and tied it with a 10-yard scoring strike from Enriquez to Travis Chafin (five catches for 40 yards). Rowe then took a 10-7 lead on a 39-yard Juarez field goal.

South got another score with 9:02 left in the first half on a 7-yard run by Fruge. And after Rolando Salinas intercepted Enriquez, the Hawks looked ready to take over.

But Fruge fumbled following a 25-yard run giving the ball and momentum back to Rowe.

Enriquez guided the Warriors58 yards for the score and took a 17-14 lead on a Cameron Gatling 1-yard run. Gatling finished with 80 yards and two scores on 11 carries.

South’s Mario Montes fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Rowe took over on the Hawks’ 27. On the second play of the short drive, Gatling scored from 13 yards for the disheartening 24-14 lead.

Rowe scored twice in 28 seconds shifting momentum completely in the home team’s favor.

But Rowe’s first score was questionable, as Gatling seemed to have fumbled before breaking the plane. The back judge tossed his beanbag on the field and gestured first down in South’s favor. But the side judge overruled and called it a touchdown to the dismay of the South faithful.

The officials crew heard it again from the Hawks fans when Messick competed a 25-yard pass to Reyna to the Rowe 18 just before half.

There seemed to be time left on the clock when the South sideline called for a timeout but the refs let the clock run out ending the half.

“The seniors stepped up in the second half,” Messick said. “We knew the defense was going to come through for us. It was up to us (offense) to step up too.”