SAN BENITO — There was no question which team was ready to go during San Benito and Mission Veterans Memorial’s non-district bout Friday at Bobby Morrow Stadium.
The San Benito Greyhounds (2-0) looked solid in all three phases of the game, resulting in a blowout 51-0 victory over the Patriots (0-2). After a slow start during the first quarter, San Benito got on a roll powered by another stellar outing from the defense, and the ’Hounds didn’t take their foot off the gas until the final buzzer sounded.
“It’s really good. Saturday through Thursday we just come in and work. We have a lot of dogs on defense, and we execute in every phase — special teams, offense and defense. If you do that, you’ll be successful like tonight,” senior receiver Jermain Corbin said. “Every week it’s a new opponent, and you just fight, fight, fight to the end and it hits all zeroes.”
Corbin was the leading scorer for San Benito, finding the end zone three times. He dove over the offensive line for a 2-yard score during the second quarter, then got the second half started with a 77-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
Late in the third quarter, the Greyhounds started a possession at first-and-goal from the 10-yard-line following a blunder by Mission Veterans on a punt. Corbin notched two consecutive 5-yard carries to reach the promised land. He hauled in four passes for 40 yards, including one where he beat single coverage on the sideline to convert on fourth-and-5, in a solid, all-around outing.
“It’s a great feeling. I give credit to these guys, they push me to be the best that I can be, so all credit goes to my coaches and my teammates,” Corbin said.
San Benito pulled its starters for the fourth quarter, and still the Greyhounds kept Mission Veterans contained. Unofficially, the Patriots accumulated less than 75 yards of offense and committed two special teams blunders — both resulted in scores, including a safety for San Benito’s first points of the night — and one fumble.
“Put it on me, I didn’t have this team ready to play. Point blank, bottom line, end of discussion. We got dominated on the field in all three phases, and that falls back on the head coach,” Patriots coach David Gilpin said.
Senior Ricky Reyna got the start at quarterback for Mission Veterans, but once the game was out of reach, he was replaced by sophomore Vincent Abrego. Senior running back Allen Vazquez had some good runs for the Patriots, but the offensive line was manhandled by the Greyhounds all night.
Erik Arredondo, Justin Munoz and Rene Trujillo were among the top contributors for the Patriots’ defense. Gilpin wants his team to move on from this contest quickly and focus on its upcoming District 16-5A Division II season, which starts Thursday against Valley View.
“We’re going to forget this one. We got to get in and get better on film tomorrow, and get ready to open up district play,” Gilpin said. “We want to play teams at the level of San Benito. They have an outstanding program, I’ve got a lot of respect for the job they’ve done and look forward playing them. We just didn’t show up. Give them complete credit. They showed up to play football, we did not, and that’s on me.”
Greyhounds coach Dan Gomez felt his team was more prepared and focused this week. San Benito used two quarterbacks who alternated throughout the game. Rodney Rodriguez got the start and handled most of the reps, but southpaw Andres Villagran showed promise, too. Rodriguez threw a 34-yard touchdown during the first quarter, hitting receiver Ricky Perez in stride.
Running backs Fabian Garcia and Atticus DeLeon moved the ball well to aid San Benito’s offense, as did Gavin Suarez playing with the reserves in the fourth quarter. DeLeon scored on a 5-yard touchdown run during the third quarter and threw a touchdown to Perez on a double pass play in the second.
With 11 seconds on the clock, San Benito’s Rene Trevino turned the final snap into a 15-yard touchdown run.
Mauricio Padilla, Mariano Garcia, Joseph Herrera and DeAnthony Mireles were just a few names called often as San Benito’s defense dominated. Next up, the Greyhounds will face Schertz Clemens at 7 p.m. Thursday at home.
“We had more focus before the game started. Mentally our approach was much better than it was last week. Still have a lot to work on, little things (like) blocking and tackling,” Gomez said. (Tonight I saw) hustle, heart, physicality and pride. The work that all the kids did … they came out with a lot of pride tonight. Got a big one coming up, so I’m ready to move on. We’ll let the kids enjoy it, and the staff will get ready for the next one.”
