Published Sept. 18, 2011
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 game featuring the San Benito Greyhounds vs. the Harlingen Cardinals.
San Benito News
Gene Uptegraph (12), with ball, heads wide around Harlingen’s right end Friday night in the San Benito-Harlingen game in Harlingen. The play gained six yards in the third quarter. The Greyhounds went on to whip the Cards, 30-6. (Staff photo)
Stymied for a quarter, the San Benito Greyhounds loosed their full fury in the last three periods here Friday night to topple Harlingen’s Cardinals 30-6 and take their second win of the season without a loss.
The victory was the first in 16 years for San Benito in Harlingen. The last time a San Benito team whipped Harlingen on Cardinal Field was back in 1945 when the Hounds turned the trick 7-0.
It was the slick and speedy San Benito offense, coupled with an almost impregnable line defense, that propelled the Greyhounds to the convincing victory. San Benito was the fourth-ranked team in class AAA in the state last week.
So tough was the San Benito defense that the Cardinals were able to pick up only two first downs all night. And both those first downs came in the first quarter in the Cards’ only touchdown drive.
Especially tough on ground plays up the middle, San Benito allowed Harlingen only one first down on the ground for the night and gave up only 46 yards rushing.
The Harlingen touchdown came on a pass play.
The Hounds, meanwhile, were scoring in each of the last three quarters and had the game wrapped up by the halftime with a 14-8 lead.
The story of the game is revealed in total yardage gained for each team. San Benito racked up 355 for the night to Harlingen’s 72. The Hounds picked up 17 first downs compared to Harlingen’s two.
It was a 42-yard punt by Rusty Smith of Harlingen that set up the Cardinals’ only score. His boot died on the San Benito 5-yard line and the Hounds were never able to work out of the hole.
After three running plays netted only seven yards, the Greyhounds were forced to punt. G. Uptegraph managed a 26-yarder out to the San Benito 38-yard stripe and the Cards were all set for their first and last scoring drive.
From the 38, the Cards went the distance to the San Benito goal in 11 plays and picked up two first downs on the way.
The big play of the drive was a 25-yard pass from quarterback Pablo Zamora to halfback Thel Walters that carried all the way to the Hound four yard line.
Earlier in the drive, however, Ronnie Foster had picked up a yard for a first Down on the San Benito 28 as the Cards faced fourth down and lacked a yard for new life.
The Greyhound forward wall stiffened on the four yard line as the Cards had their first down and goal-to-go there after the 25-yard heave. Three running tries into the middle of the San Benito line by Smith netted no yards as Rene Lerma led the savage San Benito defense up the middle.
On fourth down, though, Zamora dropped back and spotted end Gary Robertson on the left side and hit him with a jump pass for a touchdown on the last play of the first quarter. A running try for two extra points failed and Harlingen owned a 6-0 lead going into the second period.
After an exchange of punts, the Hounds used a pass to set up their first touchdown.
With a first and 10 on their own 49, the Greyhounds moved down to the Harlingen 37 before quarterback Eddie McKaughan uncorked a 25-yard aerial complete to end Domingo Ramirez that carried to the Cardinal12-yard stripe.
Ramirez snared the ball from the arms of two Harlingen defenders at the 20, then got to the 12 before being tripped up.
From the 12, Lewis gained none, Helms picked up eight and then two more for a first and goal from the Harlingen two. On the next play, Helms squirted around the left side for the six-pointer and then used the same play to run over two extra points for an 8-6 San Benito lead with 4:02 left in the first half.
The San Benito drive of 51 yards took nine plays and the Hounds picked up three first downs on the way.
With little more than a minute remaining before halftime, the Hounds took possession of the ball on their own 37 and used but four plays to get their first insurance touchdown.
On the first play, Helms picked up 16 yards up to the Harlingen 47, G. Uptegraph added another nine down to the Cards’ 38 and an incomplete pass brought up a third and one situation.
One his favorite left-end sweeper, Helms was almost stopped at the 25 yard line as he cut back up the middle of the field, but jerked away from two Cardinals and went across standing up with only 37 seconds remaining before intermission.
A running try for two extra points was no good and San Benito led by 14-6 at the half.
It took only two minutes and 28 seconds for the Greyhounds to find the range as they came out to start the last half. After taking the kickoff on their 39-yard line, the Hounds used only four plays to score. The long gainer was a 42-yard camper by fullback Jim Lewis.
His dash put the ball on the Cardinal one-yard line. On the next play, Lewis lugged over with 9:32 left in the third quarter. G. Uptegraph tacked on two extra points around the right side for a 22-6 San Benito advantage.
Lerma jumped on a Harlingen fumble on the Cardinal 46-yard line on the first play from scrimmage following the San Benito touchdown. From there the Hounds moved down to the Harlingen 11-yard marker before another fumbler killed the drive.
But again the Cards were unable to move and were forced to punt out to the Hounds at the San Benito 31. Smith boomed a 55-yard punt for the Cards.
After driving down to the Harlingen 37-yard stripe as the third quarter ended, however, the Hounds were also forced to kick and G. Uptegraph sent his boot into the end zone for a Harlingen first and 10 on the Cardinal 20-yard line.
After another exchange of punts, San Benito got its last touchdown drive in motion midway through the fourth quarter. The drive started on the Greyhound 37. The Hounds used 11 plays to the 63 yards for the final score of the night.
The biggest gainer in the drive came on a brother combination as G. Uptegraph picked up 16 yards and a first down on the Harlingen 13 yard line following a handoff and key block from brother Don.
An incomplete pass with only 10 seconds left came before McKaughan kept the ball around the left side, danced along the sidelines and crossed the goal just inside the red flag with just five seconds left in the game. Lewis added two extra points on a running try from three yards out and San Benito had its 30-6 win.
Time ran out before the Cards were able to put the ball in play following the kickoff.
Helms Leads Greyhounds in Rushing, Scoring
Jim Helms, scoring all of San Benito’s first 14 points Friday night in the Greyhounds’ 30-6 victory over Harlingen, grabbed the scoring lead for the Hounds this season while adding to his first place rushing total.
The fleet right halfback scored two touchdowns and added two extra points to bring his scoring total for the season to 26 points.
Helms carried 19 times against the Cardinals and picked up 122 yards. That gives him a total of 328 yards gained rushing in two games this season.
The busiest ball toter on Cardinal Field Friday night, however, was the other half of the Greyhound halfback attack, Gene Uptegraph.
Upty carried an even 20 times and gained 102 yards. That brings his rushing total for the year up to 222 yards.
While scoring 13 points against Brownsville in the opener, however, Upty managed only two against Harlingen for a season scoring total of 15 points.
Big Jim Lewis, San Benito fullback, had his number called 13 times in the Harlingen contest and responded for 74 yards. Lewis picked up eight points for the night on a touchdown and two extra points to bring this year’s total up to 10 points.
Quarterback Eddie McKaughan edged into the scoring column for the season with his touchdown scamper in the late stages of the fourth quarter Friday night.
Altogether, McKaughan carried three times and picked up a total of 13 yards.
On the passing side, McKaughan tossed a 25-yard aerial to Domingo Ramirez for 25 yards to set up the first San Benito touchdown. Don Uptegraph threw a nine-yard pass to Tommy Goode.
G. Uptegraph punted four times for the night, the longest being for 28 yards, the shortest a 20-yarder. His average for the night was just over 24 yards per kick.
Thus far this season, San Benito has rolled up 741 yards on the ground in two games while limiting the opposition to only 148 on the ground.
To see this story in print, pick up a copy of the Sept. 18 edition of the San Benito News. Or view our E-Edition by clicking here.
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