SAN ANTONIO--In their quest to be counted among the state's elite teams the Harligen Cardinals (3-0) have had several near misses along the way and on Saturday night at Heroes Stadium the Cardinals came out on the right side of a narrow escape as they pulled an upset of the Abilene Eagles (2-2) 45-44 in a thrilling double overtime non-district tilt. In a game that featured multiple twists and turns along with massive momentum twists, it was one final shake up that allowed HHS to escape.

After taking a 45-38 lead on a 23 yard touchdown pass from Kevin Ledesma to Charlie Powers, the Cardinals defense was unable to hold Abilene out of the end zone as Evin Abbe went 17 yards untouched for the score making the game 45-44. Abilene elected to kick the PAT and Tyler Peoples kicked what was the game tying point at 45 all. However, on the kick Harlingen was called for defensive holding and the Abilene coaching staff elected to go for the win from the one yard line. Lining up in the wildcat formation Paxton Grayer mishandled the snap and was stopped short of the goal line by Tadeo Rodriguez of Harlingen who ended up with a monster defensive performance.

The wild overtime sequence ended what was a wild game that featured 89 points, fifty first downs, several lead changes and 1075 total yards. Ledesma led the Harlingen offense with 339 yards passing and four touchdowns along with 85 rushing yards. RB Brian Blake had 114 yards on the ground and a pair of touchdowns, while speedster WR Randy Bermea has 113 yards receiving to lead all HHS receivers. Abilene's offense was in high gear as well, junior QB Abbe had 339 yards passing and two touchdowns and he chipped in a rushing score as well. Grayer ran for 120 yards and three scores to pace the Abilene ground game. WR Blayze Walker had 91 receiving yards and two touchdowns and his partner in crime Kevan Lucas was the leading receiver for Abilene yardage wise with 98 yards.

Harlingen opened the game with a strong defensive stand forcing an Abilene punt, the Cardinals quickly moved down the field but Ledesma was intercepted in the end zone by Abilene DB Nate Kittley. The Eagles wasted little time taking advantage, going 80 yards in just three plays as Abbe hooked up with Walker on a 47 yard scoring strike to put the Warbirds up 7-0. After an exchange of field goals, Abilene held a 10-3 advantage early in the second quarter when Ledesma's second interception of the half gave AHS a short field. Abilene answered quickly scoring on a ten yard run by Grayer and the apparent rout was on at 17-3 Abilene.

Harlingen however would show they had plenty of moxy going on an impressive drive to quell the Abilene momentum. After a big run by Blake, the Cardinals would cut the Abilene lead as Ledesma hooked up with Omar Dumont Hunter for a 14 yard touchdown pass making it 17-9 as Abilene locked the PAT. Harlingen's defense would rise to the occasion as Rodriguez would make a monster play blind siding Abbe and forcing a fumble which would be recovered by DE Justice Ortega at the Abilene 23. The Cardinals would quickly take advantage of the turnover as Blake would score on a six yard run to make it 17-15 Abilene with 3:41 remaining in the second as Harlingen's two point coversion attempt was stopped. Just when it appeared Harlingen had snatched the momentum from AHS, Abilene went on a great drive to extend the lead back to 24-15 as Abbe and Walker hooked up this time for a ten yard touchdown pass with just 1:06 left in the second as the Eagles took advantage of Harlingen's aggressive defense which blitzed the majority of the time leaving their DB's on an island. The nine point edge wouldn't last long as Harlingen speedster Randy Bermea returned the ensuing kickoff 86 yards to the Abilene 14. Harlingen was able to capitalize on the short field as Blake got his second touchdown run of the game from 14 yards out to make it 24-22 Abilene at the half.

Harlingen got the ball to start the second half and immediately the Cardinals jumped on top with an impressive drive, but the march stalled in the red zone and HHS settled for a field goal as Grant Gormannailed a 25 yarder to give the Cards their first lead of the game at 25-24. The breaks appeared to all go Harlingen's way later in the third, as Abilene looked to be poised to jump back ahead marching inside the Harlingen five. Grayer looked to be on his way to another score, but a fumble in the end zone was recovered by Harlingen ending the Eagles scoring chance. Again, Harlingen was ready to pounce on the Abilene miscue as Mark Rosales scored on an 18 yard touchdown pass from Ledesma to make it 31-24, but the lead could not be extended as once again Abilene blocked the PAT.

After forcing an Abilene punt, Harlingen would march 84 yards to go on what many thought was the game winning drive. Charlie Parker would break several tackles en route to a 30 yard touchdown catch and run from Ledesma and Harlingen held a 38-24 lead with little more than six minutes remaining.

Abilene went into hurry up mode, with just two timeouts remaining and the Eagles would show they would not go away easily. The Warbirds would cut the lead to 38-31 as Grayer scored from eleven yards out with just 3:09 left. On the drive, Abilene's offensive line which struggled with the Harlingen defense finally was able to pick the blitzes up and give Abbe time to get the ball out to his capable receivers. Trailing by seven, Abilene decided to go with an onside kick but the kick went outside of bounds and Harlingen would keep the football. Abilene had two timeouts left and with a little help from Harlingen the Warbirds would get the ball back. On first down, Harlingen would get a five yard illegal participation penalty which immediately put the Cards in a hole. After two negative run plays, Harlingen called a QB draw but Ledesma made a big mistake running out of bounds instead of staying in bounds to run the clock saving Abilene at least forty seconds.

Abilene took over after the Harlingen punt at their own 25 with 2:35 remaining and the Warbirds offense wasted no time marching down the field against a tiring Harlingen defense. The drive culminated in a 29 yard run by Grayer with 1:36 remaining to tie the game up at 38.

After a short kickoff, Harlingen took over on their own 37 and with three timeouts left the Cardinals had eyes on winning the game in regulation. However, the Abilene defense once again bowed its neck stopping the Harlingen offense and apparently sending the game into overtime. On fourth and two from their own 45, Harlingen lined up for a punt. Inexplicably, Harlingen attempted a fake punt and the Abilene special teams were ready for the trickery and they stopped Harlingen for a two yard loss with 36 seconds left in the game. Abilene with the ball in Harlingen territory got one first down, but looking for more with 24 seconds left in the game Abbe was picked off by Daniel Ramirez to prevent a possible game winning field goal try and send the game into overtime.

Abilene took possession in the first overtime and on 4th and six AHS elected to go for it instead of attempt a field goal. A Harlingen offsides penalty gave Abilene new life as instead of a 4th and six, Abilene had a 4th and one at the 16. Once again for Harlingen's defense it was Rodriguez who stepped up and made the play stuffing Grayer for three yard loss to give Harlingen the ball after Abilene failed to score on their possession. Harlingen's offense would get a first down, but after getting inside the Abilene 15 the Cardinals offense would move backwards and they would be forced to kick a field goal. Gorman would line up for the potential game winning forty yard field goal, but once again the Abilene special teams came through blocking the Harlingen kick setting up the thrilling ending in the second overtime.