Post by redbird on Aug 7, 2008 9:44:53 GMT -6
Gabe Hernandez/Valley Morning Star
Former Harlingen Cardinal players (l-r) Bobby Lucio (class of 1978), Charlie Torres (1980), Monty Woodall (1975), Ralph De La Rosa (1990), Lupe Gonzalez (1998), Rey De Leon (1995) and Harvey Noyola (1987) were instrumental in the Cards’ amazing 26-
Paint it Red
Tradition propelled Cardinals to 26 straight winning seasons
August 1, 2008 - 11:16PM
By ELADIO JAIMEZ/Valley Morning Star
HARLINGEN - Monty Woodall can still hear the blasts.
Woodall grew up near Boggus Stadium in the late 1960s.
And in the fall when the Harlingen Cardinals were in town, he always knew it.
So did everyone else.
"They used to shoot off a cannon when they (Harlingen) scored," recalled Woodall, now an assistant with the Cards. "I grew up wanting to be like those guys. Like the old Cardinals."
And once Woodall started naming his former Cardinal heroes, it seemed he couldn't stop.
Woodall was definitely a Cardinal fan growing up.
And like many boys growing up in Harlingen, Woodall wanted nothing more than to one day wear the red and white.
And he did.
Woodall played for Jesse Longhofer from 1972-74. And in ‘72 the Harlingen Cardinals started one of the most impressive streaks in Valley football history.
From 1972-97 the Cardinals never endured a losing season.
That stretch is the focus of the Valley Morning Star's latest By The Numbers Summer Series.
"To finally play on the varsity squad was an amazing experience," Woodall said. "Coaches implemented the attitide that Cardinal spirit never dies. And to this day I bleed nothing but Cardinal red. I wouldn't want to go anywhere else.
I'm a Cardinal at heart."
And he's not the only one.
Nearly the entire Harlingen coaching staff are former Cardinal players.
And they all reiterated in their own words exactly what Woodall felt.
"A lot of teams talk about tradition but it's all just a bunch of lip service," said longtime Harlingen assistant Bobby Lucio. "That's not the case at Harlingen High."
Lucio played for the Cardinals on their first ever undefeated team in 1976.
Ruben Elizarde (another Harlingen alumn) coached the Cards (1976-81) that year.
"He talked to us about the Cardinal way," Lucio said. "He lived it and he preached it. Now as a coach at Harlingen, I do the same with our guys."
Tradition is a huge reason why the Cardinals program has been one of the most successful in the Valley.
In that 26-year span, Harlingen went 213-55-10.
The Cards were 66-15-3 from 1972-79. That decade produced guys like Lucio, Woodall along with others like Charlie Torres (also an assistant at HHS) and the great Freddy Paredes.
"Now we have our own kids and they're playing for the Cardinals," Torres said. "They were ball boys now they're Cardinals. There's nothing else like it."
In the 1980s, Harlingen went 76-22-2 producing many more outstanding players including current Harlingen head coach Manny Gomez, Scott Swinnea, James Duncan, Harvey Noyola, Gilbert Leal, Garth Fennegan, Sammy Garza, Leo Araguz and Justin Jacobs to name a few.
"Growing up all we wanted to do was play for the Cardinals," Noyola said.
The 80s also produced one of the best teams the Valley has ever seen.
The 1989 Cards were the first 5A squad from the Valley to win three playoff games before losing to Converse Judson in the state quarterfinals.
Ralph De La Rosa - now the boys track and field head coach at Harlingen South - played on the '89 squad.
"We just had incredible players," De La Ros said. "We always knew we were going to win. No matter what the odds were. We just took care of business between the lines."
Then from '90-'97 Big Red went an impressive 71-18-5 despite being split to two high schools before the 1993 season.
From 1994-97 Harlingen only lost seven games including four postseason affairs.
Harlingen was undefeated in 1996 and went three-deep in 1994 and 96-97.
The 90s produced players like Maurice Hunter, Nacho Sauceda, Kenny Rubio, Art Galvan, Adrian Rubio, Josh Moody and Rollie Gonzalez are just some of the greats.
"We didn't make the playoffs in 1993 and the public started labeling us the ‘new Cardinals,'" said Rey De Leon, also an assistant at Harlingen. "We set out to prove them wrong. And we did."
Cards' assistant Lupe Gonzalez played on the last team with a winning record in 1997.
"Just like these guys said, I grew up wanting to play for the Cardinals," Gonzalez said. "When I was in the eighth grade, I asked my parents to move because I wanted to be zoned to attend Harlingen High. They moved and it's the best thing they've done for me."
Following the '97 season Harlingen had two uncharacterisitc down years going 4-6 then 3-7 in 1998-99.
But since 2000, Harlingen is 64-22 and it's made the playoffs each year.
"It was difficult," Lucio said of the two losing seasons. "At most high schools everything's cyclical but not here. We'd never experienced anything like it. We saw it in the 60s but that's it. It became difficult to preach tradition when you're losing. But the kids worked just as hard and they halped maintain the tradition for the 2000 team."
And that tradition is what's kept the Cardinals program going strong.
"I don't think a day goes by that any of us coaches revert back to that tradition in our minds," Woodall said. "It's the tradition of Cardinal spirit never dies."
www.rgvsports.com/articles/_2425___article.html/_.html
Now that was just a beautiful piece of work. ;D
