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HARLINGEN — The Hawks played some of their best run defense all year. But it wasn’t enough to hold off four J.J. Rodriguez’s touchdowns, which keyed the undefeated PSJA North Raiders (6-0, 3-0) to a 27-6 District 31-5A victory over the Harlingen South Hawks (0-6, 0-3) at Boggus Stadium Friday night.

Indeed, the Hawks held North to 292 total yards on the night, nearly 50 yards under the Raiders’ district-leading per-game average. Raiders head coach Bruce Bush was very impressed, admitting that “we had to fight for every yard we got. They (South) are getting better every week. Their coaches are really doing a good job. They’re kind of crippled up a bit but those kids play hard. I told our kids it wasn’t going to be easy.”

He added a caveat for upcoming Hawks opponents, saying that “They’re going to be somebody, I’m just glad it wasn’t [against] us. They’re probably the best 0 and 6 team in the conference.”

Yet throughout most of the first half, the Raiders moved the ball with ease.

Justin Luna’s 31-yard scamper midway through the first quarter set up Rodriguez’s first touchdown two plays later.

Then early in the second quarter, Rodriguez broke a tackle and charged through the middle of the field untouched for a 32-yard score to go up 14-0 with nearly 11 minutes left in the half. But then the Hawks defense dug in, holding them scoreless until late in the third quarter.

Unfortunately, the Hawks offense never really got going (152 total yards), punting five times on consecutive drives until late in the third quarter, when they lost possession on downs.

Steven Remmenga connected with Dillon Dawi on a nifty 26-yard catch-and-run with two minutes left in the game, but it was too little too late.

Hawks head coach Gilbert Leal expressed measured enthusiasm for the team’s performance.

“We’re playing tough football every single week,” he said. “Our kids are playing tough, they’re just making mental mistakes at crucial times that you can’t do against good football teams. We’re not good enough to make mistakes.”