Published Thursday, September 7, 1961
Editor’s Note: In observance of the 50th anniversary of the 1961 San Benito Greyhounds, the San Benito News will feature in each weekend edition the story that covered the game of that week 50 years ago. This is the prelude; the first game, the San Benito Greyhounds vs. the Brownsville Eagles, will be featured in the Sept. 11 issue.
San Benito News
- Gene Uptegraph, a member of San Benito’s “Big Three Across The T”, is shown here doing some running which local fans well remember. Upte racked up well over 1000 yards last season and scored 79 points for the Hounds. He is considered a potential all-state candidate this year by the coaches and sportswriters. (Staff Sportsfoto)
Football will take over the spotlight in San Benito come 5 p.m. Friday when the San Benito Greyhounds host the Brownsville Eagles in the first encounter of the season.
Head Coach J.W. Helms seems very optimistic about his Hounds’ chances in the game. According to Helms the team will be running at full strength, no injuries being suffered in practice sessions so far.
The Hounds are an experienced team, having some 21 players back from last year’s team which finished with an impressive 9-1 season mark. Included among these boys are 12 lettermen and five all-district players.
Leading with Hound attack on offence will be the “Big Three Across The T”, Gene Uptegraph, Jim Lewis, and Jim Helms. The three averaged 239 yards a game last season and were chosen for all-district honors, all three on the starting 11.
The quarterback position is still undecided upon with two players battling it out for the starting assignment. Eddie McKaughan and Don Uptegraph are so evenly matched right now that it is hard to decide upon just will get the starting nod, according to Helms.
The Greyhound backfield will average 178-pounds per man, with an average speed of 10.8 for the hundred yards.
In the line the average weight per player is 175-pounds per man. The line will be anchored by all-district guard Jerry Crow, weighing in at 200 pounds and Jesus Yanes, a 178-pound second team all-district tackle. The rest of the starting line are Doming Ramirez, 176-pound end; Tommy Goode, 155-pound end; Sonny Cortez, 184-pound tackle; Uvence Galvan, 161-pound guard; John Cook, 170-pound center.
There will be nine lettermen in the San Benito starting lineup and two squadsmen. Cook, the center and either McKaughan or Don Uptegraph at quarterback will be the squadsmen. The overall starting San Benito team will average 177 pounds per player.
San Benito will run out of the straight T with variations and will stick predominantly with a running game.
Brownsville on the other hand runs from the pro-type T formation and fills the air with passes. The Brownsville team has 14 lettermen back.
Mike Briggle will quarterback for Brownsville with John Sharp, a hard runner, at fullback. The halfback slots will be filled by David Compton and Stanley White.
Helms said that the Brownsville team outweighs his Greyhounds and has two fine ends for their passing attack. Defense and punting are the team’s two big weaknesses. Gene Uptegraph will handle San Benito’s punting and is reportedly looking good. He will also be the extra point kicker for the Hounds.
The game will be Helm’s chance to even his series with the Eagles. Since he has been coaching in San Benito, his teams have won two games while dropping three.
To see this story in print, pick up a copy of the Sept. 4 edition of the San Benito News. Or view our E-Edition by clicking here.
1 comment
Good to see those old articles. For those of you who do not know, all school districts in the valley back then had only one school. That means San Benito played Brownsville, Harlingen, Edinburg, and Mcallen teams that had only one team. Not split like they are now. SB still competed well in spite of being outnumbered enrollment wise 4 to 1 in some cases.