BY ARMANDO GARZA |
SAN BENITO — This one had a little bit of everything and a whole lot of everything else.
In a contest that featured a safety and two kick returns for scores by the visitors and highlight plays galore, the top-ranked San Benito Greyhounds indeed got all they could handle from sixth-ranked Los Fresnos, but prevailed 43-33 in the District 32-6A league opener at Bobby Morrow Stadium on Friday night.
San Benito (4-0 overall, 1-0 district) withstood the spirited Falcon effort in the latest chapter of the exciting rivalry featuring the Valley’s only two Class 6A one-high school pro-grams. The hard-earned win gave the ‘Hounds their second straight win over their neighbors while notching a pivotal league win in the process.
“We know what we’re gonna get from any-body who plays us and Los Fresnos was no different,” San Benito head coach Dan Gomez said. “Every year it’s been a battle and those are the ones that are fun and that you remember. My hat’s off to them and Coach (Patrick) Brown and the job they did tonight. But our kids came out and played well. In this district, it’s big (to start off with a win).”
War Dog got big games from running back Tyrone Harper (168 yards rushing) and quarter-back Erick Retta (144 yards passing, 101 yards rushing) to stay perfect, while Los Fresnos (2-2, 0-1) will look to regroup.
The ‘Hounds opened the scoring with a 16-yard run from wideout Isaiah Trevino, while Los Fresnos answered on a 10-yard scamper from quarterback Charles Chapa to tie it with 3:28 left in the opening stanza.
With the game still knotted at seven midway through the second, Harper dove in from two yards out to score, while Retta later added a three-yard scoring toss to Ryan Reza. Jacob Cavazos’ two-point reception made it 22-7 San Benito as it appeared the Valley’s number one squad would roll.
But the Falcons answered with a 40-yard field goal from Adrian Torres as time expired in the first half to put the score at 22-10. And in the third, things got wild, wacky, wondrous, or any other adjective that begins with a ‘w’ for that matter.
Falcon defensive end Matthew Ortiz wreaked havoc all night and he was at it again in the third, forcing an intentional grounding call on Retta in the end zone to give the Falcons two points and the ball. However, Los Fresnos didn’t need to send out the offense, as Isaiah “Kobe” Muniz took the free kick and zipped up the gut to the end zone to cap a nine-point Falcon flurry in 10 seconds, putting the score at 22-19 ‘Hounds with 6:06 left.
While not in a panic, there was rightfully some concern on the home sideline as the Hounds sought a counterpunch.
“I got on our kids to wake up and get going,” Gomez said. “Football’s a violent sport and sometimes you have to coach aggressively when the time calls for it to get ’em going and our coaching staff did a good job of that.”
The magic words had a positive effect, notably on Harper. The senior ran with a purpose, time and again breaking tackles as shown on his 32-yard touchdown jaunt with 4:14 to go in the third, putting the score at 29-19. But then it was the Falcons’ Albert Banuelos’ turn to take a kickoff to the house, and he did so on an 82-yarder with 4:02 left in the period.
A San Benito punt gave it back to the Falcons, who had all momentum and a capacity crowd on its feet. However, a crucial fake-punt call on 4th-and-5 was sniffed out by the Hounds as the gamble did not pay off.
That put SB on the Falcons’ 34 and Harper made them pay with a three-yard TD on the first play of the fourth quarter. Nico Valencia hauled in a 20-yard TD for the Falcons with 3:58 left in the game before Retta slammed the door shut with a spinning 11-yard score.
