BY GREG SELBER

Now that Harlingen has vaulted past the third round of the state playoffs for the first time since 1989, it is about time to break out the ol’ Who’s The Best arguments.

It isn’t often that a club breaks into the conversation spanning more than 100 years of Valley football, but it says here that a third-round win is the qualifying criterion because only 13 area schools have ever done it.

For the purposes of this argument, let us consider only the 13 that have won three playoff games. Doing so leaves out a number of very good squads, mainly from the earlier era of Valley pigskin where teams either did not play enough postseason matches to qualify, such as the era from the Teens into the 1930s, or did not win three. Now, that does exclude a few groups that made it to the state semi-finals, such as the 1953 EHS and 1961 San Benito outfits.

However, it can be countered that picking the 13 best modern-era teams is a task that probably covers most of the best teams in Valley history. While Donna, San Benito, Weslaco, Mission, Harlingen, and Sharyland all captured regional titles (some multiple times) back in the day, it is almost impossible to compare football teams from that age to the modern ones.

With that said, the list starts with a special squad that seldom gets mentioned, for reasons that are obvious. Everyone knows about the 1961 Donna magic machine that won the Class 2A state title, but few remember that a decade earlier, the Redskins had another unstoppable edition. In 1951, Donna went 11-3 and won three playoff tries, expiring in the state semis versus Waco La Vega. That team scored 432 points to set a Valley record, in a defensive-minded era where averaging 31 points per night was hard to do.

Going in chronological order, the next super Valley team was the 1955 Weslaco Panthers, who rode the all-around skills of future UT quarterback Bobby Lackey to 13 straight wins before wilting against Hillsboro, 20-7, in the state semis. Weslaco managed 407 points that season and allowed a paltry 60, or just over four a game.

A year after Donna took the 2A title, the Bears of P-SJ-A began a two-year run which saw them make the state title game twice. They lost in 1962 to Dumas 14-3, capping a 11-2-1 season, and then compiled a 10-1-3 mark the next fall, dropping a tense 7-0 decision to Corsicana, falling just short of a state crown for the second season running. The rugged Bears posted 14 shutouts over that 28-game span.

Those were the greatest teams, per the 3-win criterion, of the Golden Era in Valley football, which lasted from the early 1950s into the mid-1960s. At its start, Lyford, McAllen, and Mercedes all enjoyed banner years, while San Benito was very tough in 1961, winning twice in the Dance.

In 1952 and 1954 the Bulldogs of Mac High made the state semis, but that was back when one win would get you there; actually, one could banter that in that era, only the best teams made the playoffs, so a win in the Dance meant more than it does today, and I would agree to an extent. The counter there is that one win in the 1950s is not usually as strong as three in the later era because in the latter scenario, we’re talking about coming out on top three weeks in a row. Anything can happen with a One-Trick Pony, but doing it again and again has to count for something. The case is not closed, a good argument for sure either way.

At any rate, after the Bears’ run, it would be 18 years before another Valley team joined the select Three-Win Club. Port Isabel was the squad back in 1981, as the Tarpons matched the earlier Donna (1961) and Weslaco teams with a record 13 victories, falling in the state semis to Cameron Yoe 25-14. For the season, PI under Coach Tommy Roberts amassed 417 points and surrendered just 59, or 24 in the first 13 games of a 13-1 season. That is hard to beat, really.

After that super PI juggernaut (which went 47-4-1 at one stage into the early 1980s), it was Harlingen’s turn. The 1989 Cards with current coach Manny Gomez at linebacker bested three playoff foes before a talented Judson team ended the Dream with a 31-9 win in a game that stirred up all kinds of fun in the Valley as it was broadcast live on TV.

This marked the beginning of the Second Golden Era, which lasted from the late 1980s into the early 1990s. It was a brief flourish, really, which continued after Harlingen 1989 with the great Mission club of 1990. Koy Detmer gained national recognition for his passing exploits under his father, Coach Sonny Detmer, as the Eagles went four-deep before getting blasted in the Astrodome by Aldine, one of the most menacing units to ever hit the field.

I still recall seeing Detmer get sacked seven times, knocked down on at least 10 more snaps, but gut it out to toss for 476 yards that day. Truly unforgettable. Mission notched 579 points to set a then-Valley standard.

The same season, PI was back in the Rare Air with a 12-2 campaign that saw Coach Tony Villarreal’s Tarpons score 500 and give up just 83 before a 21-7 loss to a dominant Sinton unit in the quarterfinals.

There will always be tons of disagreement over which of the fine PI clubs was the best, but you get one vote here for the 1994 masterpiece with Gabe Villarreal at QB-LB. He was 220, 6-2 and could run like a deer, and it was just not going to happen for 3A defenses against him. PI was 13-1-1 in ’94, finally breaking down in the semis against Sealy, 34-13 after rolling to 554 points in 15 contests and tying the Valley record of 13 wins.

Edcouch-Elsa makes the list for its 1997 team which won 13 times and made it to the fourth round under Coach Cris Cavazos before running into Calallen, losing 28-7. The punishing Yellowjackets allowed just 78 points all season, and though they would have some awesome teams in the 2000s, none of them won three times in the playoffs, though several could have.

To round out the decade, Edinburg made an unlikely but awesome sprint deep into the bracket, winning three times before getting pounded by Aldine Eisenhower in the semis. Sometimes a team just gets hot at the right time and Robert Vela’s Bobcats, paced by money QB Clarence Cruz, comprised such a unit.

Since then, there have only been two Valley powers clearing the third-round hurdle, PI in 2003, and the Harlingen Cardinals of 2011. First, the Tarpons, who rode the electric wheels of Misael “The Missile” Iracheta to the semis, taking 10 before getting beat by Marlin. That was a group like EHS in ’99, playing its best football late in the year. As with E-E, there were other PI teams that might have been more talented, such as the 2002 outfit that lost to state power Bandera by three in the third round, but they did not make the magic happen enough to win that saintly three games it takes to get on the short list.

As for Harlingen, in its second run to the fourth round, the unit has set a Valley record for points with 686, and allowed just 202. With a decent effort against San Antonio Madison, the Cards can reach the 700-point mark by halftime. Hell, it takes many teams three or four seasons to get that much scoring done.

So there is the group. And as Harlingen prepares for its date with extended destiny, it knows that as a Final 8 team already, one more triumph will push the program farther than its ever gone, to a regional title and into the state semis. The caveat here is that because the divisions are split into I and II based on enrollment, it means that a team can make it all the way to state without playing a few of the best teams (Steele) in Texas.

As stated, there have been crews that probably had better skill than some of the 13, but they did not manage to master three games. Take the 1947 Weslaco team as an example. The Panthers were 11-0-1, scoring 402 points to a ridiculous 26 for the opponent, beating Fal and Carrizo Springs (tied, won on penetrations) in the postseason. In those days, the regional title was all a school could garner; after two playoff games, the season was done. Anyone look at those numbers and figure Weslaco wouldn’t have had a good shot at keeping it going for a few weeks more? See how we have to cut the line in the sand somewhere? It’s at three playoff wins.

Again, always room for argument on many of these points; that’s what it’s all about. But suffice to say that the 2011 Cards have already accomplished the task of becoming one of just 13 teams to succeed thrice in the postseason. Donna captured five in the drive for the crown in 1961, and PI got four wins each back in 1994 and 2003. Beating Madison will make the Cards 14-0, setting a record for success in a single season and marking their fourth playoff triumph to boot. Six powerhouses share the 13-W mark right now: Weslaco, Edcouch, Donna, PI twice, and the Now Cards.

By that logic, the Cards will then have climbed almost all the way up the list of killer clubs in Valley history. Some would say that they are right there even now. Still…one has to suggest that until someone else wins the state championship, Donna 1961 is the eternal king. With two other squads boasting four playoff wins, it’s going to take more thrills before the Cards can start saying they’re the best ever.

But when someone asks, “Who has won the most football games in one year down here?” the answer may just be Big Red.

We shall know in less than a week.

Tags: harlingen cardinals, manny gomez