Harlan over came a sloppy second half by coming up with key defensive stops as the Hawks held on to beat Sotomayor 22-19 Saturday in a District 29-6A game at Gustafson Stadium.
In a game marred by penalties and mistakes, Harlan (6-1, 5-0) won its fifth game in a row by forcing four turnovers as Sotomayor (5-3, 4-2) came up short after rallying from a 22-2 halftime deficit.
Harlan, ninth in the Express-News rankings, secured the win after Chaesen Palmer intercepted a Sotomayor desperation pass in the end zone on the last play of the game.
"Very much too close for comfort, but they're (Sotomayor) a very good opponent and they got some really good athletes on that team. Just coming out with a ‘W,' it feels good," Harlan coach Matthew McKinney said.
McKinney said Harlan has had to rely on its defense as a young, inexperienced offense tries to find its way.
"We knew coming into this season that our offense was young and a little inexperienced and that we really had a good experienced defensive line that's really strong up front with our linebackers, and they're going to make plays," McKinney said. "We knew the defense was going to have to carry us, so we live on that. So, we're really proud of our defense."
Harlan held Sotomayor to 248 yards of total offense, while Sotomayor's defense was just as solid, limiting Harlan to 272 yards.
Sotomayor coach Juan Morales said his team made too many mistakes in the game.
"When we look at it, we don't always put it on one play," Morales said. "At the beginning of the game, we made a few mistakes. We can't make mistakes against a good team like this and little mistakes will cost you and they (Harlan) put some points on the board. Of course, they're a good team and they deserve that, but at the same time we needed to buckle down. We did and we had some great plays on special teams, a great defensive stand, great defensive score.
"It was a good game, and these guys have nothing to hang their head about," Morales added.
With the win, Harlan remained in a first-place tie with Brennan, who the Hawks will play in the regular season finale on Nov. 6, while Sotomayor is tied with Warren for third.
The game was chippy as the teams combined for 134 yards in penalties, including several personal foul infractions, with two players being ejected, one from each team.
Special team miscues played a key role in the game for both teams, as Sotomayor scored nine points off Harlan special teams mistakes.
Jayden Brown scored on a 4-yard run to put Harlan up 6-0 at the 3:36 mark of the first quarter as the point after kick failed. At the beginning of the second quarter, the Hawks came up with a turnover as Addon Palmer intercepted Sotomayor quarterback Isaiah Pena in the end zone, setting up a long Harlan drive which ended in Bryant Enriquez's 2-yard score on a quarterback sneak, putting the Hawks up 13-0.
After a 51-yard Sotomayor punt pinned Harlan at its own 7-yard line, the Hawks were up to come up with a big play quickly, as Enriquez connected with Jordan Sneed in stride for a 93-yard scoring pass with 2:23 left in the first half.
The point after kick was anything but routine for Harlan, as Sotomayor blocked the kick with Eden Jackson scooping up the ball and returning it for two points.
Harlan stopped Sotomayor on the ensuing possession, forcing a turnover of downs. The Hawks took advantage, setting up a 29-yard field goal from Cruz De Los Santos with no time left on the clock that put Harlan up 22-2 at halftime.
Sotomayor started to chip into the huge Harlan lead, as the Wildcats went on a 15-play drive, capped off by Brayden Luna's 31-yard field goal at the 3:48 mark in the third quarter. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Wildcats had a chance to put more points on the board, but Addon Palmer stripped Sotomayor's Cameron Grady of the ball at the 1-yard line after a 12-yard run, forcing a fumble Harlan recovered.
But Sotomayor got defensive stops to keep getting the ball back, and Xavier Victor scored on a 3-yard run to get the Wildcats within 22-12 with less than nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Sotomayor took advantage of a special teams play to score again, as Jackson picked up a fumbled Harlan punt snap and raced 30 yards to the end zone to whittle the Hawks advantage to 22-19 with 4:42 remaining in the third quarter.
On the next possession, Sotomayor forced Harlan to punt, but the Wildcats committed a crucial special teams mistake of their own. The Hawks' punt went off the back of a Sotomayor player, and Nicholas Tutterow pounced on the live ball at the Sotomayor 38-yard line.
Sotomayor's defense kept getting stops and gave the offense one last chance to score. For a moment, it looked like the Wildcats had pulled off a comeback win when Grady pulled in a 76-yard scoring pass from Pena with 13 seconds left in the game. Unfortunately for Sotomayor, the score was nullified by a block in the back penalty.
Two plays later, Chaesen Palmer ended any hopes of a Sotomayor miracle as he picked off Pena in the end zone.
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There’s more to San Antonio with the Express-News. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Harlan gets key defensive stops to hold off Sotomayor in sloppy game.