SAN BENITO — A lot of the talk surrounding PSJA North football over the offseason was about how the Raiders would look after graduating a strong senior class that earned statewide recognition and entered the 2024 campaign as winners of 20-straight regular season games.
This year’s Raiders answered any questions with a convincing 42-22 victory over the San Benito Greyhounds in the RGVSports.com Game of the Week on Friday at Bobby Morrow Stadium in San Benito.
In order to get past San Benito, PSJA North had to overcome two first quarter turnovers and two key injuries to returning starting offensive lineman Jordan Brewster and running back Ethan Guerra.
The new-look Raiders didn’t let the losses or giveaways bring them down.
Instead, PSJA North outscored San Benito 36-8 over the final two and a half quarters as players stepped into starting roles and delivered in their season opener for a 1-0 start.
“We had some of the guys coming back get hurt, then we had other people step up. Everybody’s done a good job of knowing their role and trying to fill those roles,” PSJA North head coach Marcus Kaufmann said. “We had other kids step into those roles and we almost didn’t miss a beat and kept right on going, so I feel pretty good about that.”
San Benito landed the first punch of the fight with a 3-yard touchdown run by Gabriel Covarrubias, then blocked a PSJA North extra point attempt after the Raiders’ first score to make it 7-6.
The Greyhounds kept their foot on the gas with another scoring drive capped off by an 11-yard touchdown run by Tommy Ramirez to extend the lead to 14-6.
The Raiders would respond again, however.
Facing a 2nd-and-20 at the San Benito 33-yard line, Raiders’ junior quarterback Daren Garcia dropped back to pass and took a hard hit that forced him out of the game for one snap.
In stepped backup quarterback Drayden Espinoza for the third down play and the freshman threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Bryan Guerrero for a PSJA North score. Garcia hit Guerrero on the 2-point conversion to tie it up at 14-14 at the break.
The Raiders’ rode their strong close to the first half to a better third and fourth quarter with 22 consecutive points.
PSJA North’s Garcia ran for two touchdowns and tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Darren Guerra. Running back Andrew Alvarado and Ethan Guerra finished with one rushing touchdown each.
“It was just making a statement right off the bat. We had two turnovers in the first half, but we regrouped as a team and came out here and got the victory,” Garcia said.
San Benito’s second half points came off a blocked and returned extra point attempt by defensive back Kian Jones and a 8-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Ruiz to Christian Estrada late in the fourth.
PSJA North senior linebacker Jesse Montez and the Raiders’ “Blackshirts” defense locked in after allowing two early touchdowns to stuff the Greyhounds’ ground game and shut down their spread passing attack. Montez intercepted a pass off a deflection late in the third quarter to set up Alvarado’s rushing touchdown.
“We matched their energy and played with intensity,” Montez said. “That ain’t the first time we got scored on, so we just had to keep fighting and keep moving.”
Next for PSJA North (1-0) is a rivalry game against PSJA High (1-0) scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday at PSJA ISD Stadium in Pharr.
Meanwhile, San Benito (0-1) moves on to a non-district road matchup against state-ranked power Austin Westlake (1-0) at 7 p.m. Friday in Austin.
