SAN BENITO — The 2017 San Benito Greyhounds have high expectations, as they do every year under head coach Dan Gomez.
The Hounds hit the ground running for their first scrimmage Friday morning versus Corpus Christi Carroll at Bobby Morrow Stadium.
Up next for the Hounds is a scrimmage next Friday at McAllen High before they kick off the regular season at home against Laredo United Sept. 1.
“We always want to be the hardest-hitting team on the field,” said Gomez. “I always tell the kids that the X’s and O’s we can fix, but we came out and set the tone early. We’re excited to be out here and we’re ready to continue working.”
Retta gets in sync: Senior quarterback Erick Retta showed why he is arguably one of the top signal callers in the Valley. Retta shook off a slow start and found his groove as the scrimmage progressed. On the first set of possessions, he overshot a wide open receiver down the left sideline in what would have been six. On two separate plays, Retta hit his receivers, but they were unable to come down with the ball.
Outside of that, the Hounds displayed command of the line of scrimmage and Retta settled down and showed his quick feet in and out of the pocket. On one play, Retta read the defense, went through his check downs and called his own number as he rushed in for the score from 50-plus yards out.
The receiving corps showed its experience and chemistry. Retta hit his trusty targets Isaiah Trevino and Tyler Solis, who are expected to be a solid 1-2 punch for the Hounds this season.
Running back Tyrone Harper looked sharp when he carried the ball by breaking tackles and staying light on his feet. Harper also displayed soft hands in the receiving game.
“It’s always a timing issue on offense. It takes a little time to get going but it’s early and we have a long way to go,” Gomez said. “We have plenty to improve on, on all phases of the game. We will be back to work and fix some things that we saw.”
Defensive Quick Hits: San Benito’s D returns five members from 2016 and quickly displayed some heavy hitting and a strong pass rush against Carroll.
Up front, the Hounds put plenty of pressure on Carroll’s QB all morning long and landed a bevy of solid hits to set the tone early in front of a nice home crowd. San Benito’s secondary also showed toughness.
“Defensively we want to see guys flying to the football. They’re (Carroll) learning a new system but, overall, we saw things that we liked and we’re getting back to work, and will continue to get better,” Gomez said.
