The Harlingen South Hawks will head out to square off against the Weslaco East Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Harlingen South will be strutting in after a win while Weslaco East will be coming in after a loss.
Harlingen South's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They took their contest with ease, bagging a 49-0 victory over Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Memorial. Considering the Hawks have won three matchups by more than 20 points this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Austen Shroyer
| 10/30/25 vs Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Memorial | 152 |
| 10/03/25 @ Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North | 121 |
| 09/26/25 vs Donna North | 83 |
| 09/18/25 @ Rivera | 73 |
| 09/27/24 @ Donna North | 72 |
Austen Shroyer was his usual excellent self, rushing for 152 yards and a pair of scores on only nine carries, while also throwing for 201 yards and two TDs on only 14 passes. Those 152 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Kamron Love was another key player, rushing for 57 yards and one touchdown on only six carries.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Harlingen South was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 372 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Weslaco East played a tough game on Thursday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They had to suffer through a 49-6 loss at the hands of Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial. The Wildcats were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 28-0.
Harlingen South will need to focus on slowing down Elias Rodriguez, one of several Weslaco East players who made an impact when they last played. He rushed for 145 yards. Rodriguez has become a key player for Weslaco East: the team is 4-2 when he posts at least 80 rushing yards, but 0-3 otherwise.
The win made it two in a row for Harlingen South and bumps their season record up to 5-4. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to yards per carry: they averaged an imposing 9.6 yards per carry in those games compared to only 3.06 in the others. As for Weslaco East, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-5.
Friday's contest might be decided on the ground. Harlingen South has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 148.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Weslaco East struggles in that department as they've been averaging 266.1 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's matchup turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Harlingen South strolled past Weslaco East when the teams last played back in November of 2024 by a score of 42-23. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Hawks since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
