Sharyland survives late Hanna comeback in 34-28 win

MISSION — Sharyland looked like it had control of Thursday night’s game more than once.

Brownsville Hanna just kept coming back.

The Rattlers built a two-touchdown lead three different times, but needed one final defensive stand — and a bizarre ending — to hold off the Golden Eagles 34-28 at Richard Thompson Stadium.

Hanna had driven inside the Sharyland 15-yard line in the final seconds and appeared to have one last chance to take the lead. After completing a pass over the middle on third down, the Golden Eagles hurried to the line and spiked the ball.

The problem was, it was fourth down.

The spike counted as an incomplete pass and turned the ball over to Sharyland, ending Hanna’s comeback attempt.

Sharyland head coach Craig Krell said he had never seen a game end quite that way.

“Not quite like that, no,” Krell said.

Krell said it appeared there may have been some confusion between the Hanna sideline and the players on the field.

“It looked like he wanted to run a play and then all of a sudden he spiked it there at the end,” Krell said. “I’m not positive that that’s what happened, but the spike on fourth down is never something that you plan for.”

The strange finish helped Sharyland escape with the win, but the Rattlers had done plenty before that to put themselves in position.

Sharyland jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter behind rushing touchdowns from senior running back Kevin Alaniz and senior receiver Oscar Cantu.

Hanna responded in the second quarter.

Senior running back Eduardo Chavez scored the Golden Eagles’ first touchdown before Eli Renteria added another on the ground to tie the game at 14.

That was when sophomore quarterback William Taylor began making his mark.

Taylor connected with senior receiver Francisco Gomez for a touchdown to put Sharyland back in front 21-14. Later in the quarter, Taylor found sophomore Austelio Mendoza, who turned the pass into a long touchdown to give the Rattlers a 28-14 lead.

Just when it looked like Sharyland might take a two-touchdown advantage into halftime, Renteria broke loose for a 66-yard touchdown run, cutting the lead to 28-21 before the break.

“You can go in the half up 14 thinking you’re going to get the ball coming out in the second half,” Krell said. “Instead, you go into halftime only up seven.”

Sharyland answered to begin the third quarter.

Taylor led the Rattlers down the field and connected with Gomez again for his third touchdown pass of the night, pushing the lead to 34-21. The extra point was blocked, leaving Sharyland with a 13-point advantage.

Taylor finished the night with three touchdown passes, two to Gomez and one to Mendoza.

For a sophomore taking over at quarterback, Krell said he has been pleased with what he has seen.

“He’s been impressive so far,” Krell said. “Is there going to be a learning curve? Absolutely. But I’m very happy and pleased with his progress so far. To put a sophomore out there behind center is not always easy, and he’s been handling it very, very well.”

Krell said having an experienced group around Taylor has helped.

“We got several receivers that are seniors and we got four offensive linemen that are all seniors, and then a senior running back,” Krell said. “That really kind of helps stabilize everything, and when you can run the ball, it opens up everything else too.”

Sharyland held the 34-21 lead deep into the second half, but mistakes kept the Golden Eagles within reach.

A late Sharyland turnover gave Hanna the ball at the Rattlers’ 5-yard line. The Sharyland defense nearly kept the Golden Eagles out of the end zone, stopping them three times near the goal line.

On fourth down, however, Renteria pushed his way across on a quarterback sneak.

The extra point made it 34-28 with 4:10 remaining.

Krell said the Rattlers made things harder on themselves throughout the night with penalties and big plays allowed on defense.

“You know, I thought we performed very well at times,” Krell said. “We took a 14-nothing lead, then we took a 28-14 lead, and at 28-14 I felt real good.”

But the big plays continued to keep Hanna alive.

“We got to be able to get off the field and we got to be able to eliminate big plays,” Krell said. “Big plays right now, the last couple weeks have really hurt us.”

Sharyland had a chance to run out the clock on its final possession, but back-to-back holding penalties helped give Hanna one more opportunity.

The Golden Eagles took over with 1:34 remaining and began moving down the field.

Renteria completed a pass for a first down before Hanna moved deeper into Sharyland territory. With the clock running down, another completion over the middle brought the Golden Eagles inside the 15.

Then came the fourth-down spike.

Despite the way it ended, Krell said Hanna’s late push was not a surprise.

“They’re a well-coached team,” Krell said. “They’re scrappy. They always fight. It doesn’t matter if they get down. They’re gonna fight all the way to the end of the game, and I didn’t expect anything less.”

The victory moves Sharyland to 1-1 after opening the season with a 55-43 loss to McAllen Memorial. Hanna falls to 0-2 after another close loss.

For Sharyland, the win showed what the offense is capable of with a young quarterback surrounded by veteran players.

It also showed Krell exactly what still needs work.

“I was a little bit disappointed in all the penalties,” Krell said. “I don’t know the number of penalties we had, but I know we probably had three times the number of penalties they had.”

Still, when the final seconds ran off the clock, the Rattlers had done enough to leave their home opener with a win.