With three undefeated district seasons in the past five years, the Harlingen Cardinals have been one of the top football teams in the valley over that span.

Last season wasn't the district outcome the Cardinals wanted with a third-place finish, but things are different this year.

The reigning district champion Weslaco Panthers are gone from the district after realignment.

That opens the door for Harlingen to jump back into the top spot.

The team is not taking the task of preparation lightly.

"Brutal, brutal but educating." Harlingen linebacker Sterling Tomlin said when asked to describe the August practices. "We don't do a lot of tire flips and sledgehammers and all that stuff, but here we're extremely educated in Harlingen. So, it's brutal. We're out here working, but we're extremely educated with everything we do."

"We truly believe we have a lot of battle tested kids." Cardinals head coach Manny Gomez emphasized. "Not just that but we also have a young group that are battling... Which is unique, but it makes it exciting."

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