Greyhounds begin Gomez era against Edinburg Friday

(Photo by Edward Cruz)
San Benito Greyhounds signal-caller Cristian Sierra is pictured during mid-pass at Friday morning’s scrimmage action against PSJA North.

By ARMANDO GARZA
Special to the NEWS

It truly is a new beginning for Greyhound Football.

With spring practices, offseason workouts and scrimmages out of the way, the time has come to pull the curtain back on a fresh start in San Benito as the ’Hounds host Edinburg High at Bobby Morrow Stadium on Friday night in their 2014 nondistrict season opener.

It will also be Parent’s Night for football players and their families.

The game will usher in the Dan Gomez era for San Benito, referring to the new coach who arrived last spring tasked with turning around a 3-7 season and two straight years of no playoffs. On a positive note, Gomez and his new coaching staff, including coordinators Gilbert Leal (offense), Haskell Buff (defense) and Alex Rosales (special teams), didn’t find a bare cupboard in terms of talent.

The ’Hounds (0-0) bring back a handful of starters and veterans who saw action last season. Among those is new quarterback Cristian Sierra, who moves over from running back. A supremely-talented group of wideouts led by Victor Gaitan, Armando Medrano and Javi Ortiz will be at Sierra’s disposal, as will RB Gabriel Vasquez and a solid stable of ball carriers.

Defensively, the edges will certainly be set with ends Pedro Coronado and Chris Padilla handling the duties. In San Benito’s lone scrimmage against PSJA North, both units had plenty of positives to take away. The offense showed promise with several big plays and good push from the offensive line while the ’Hounds’ stoppers was aggressive and in the Raiders’ backfield continuously, allowing just one late score.

The consensus on San Benito is that the ’Hounds will improve under the hard-working Gomez, but not all prognosticators aren’t convinced, as noted by some preseason polls and predictions. All which will deservedly get little attention from the team but definitely add a little fuel to their competitive fires.

On the other side, Edinburg (0-0) is also starting anew. Joaquin Escobar is the Bobcats’ new coach and unlike Gomez, did find a bare pantry in terms of experienced players. Escobar comes to Edinburg by way of Odessa Permian, Midland Lee, La Marque, Comanche, Athens and most recently Corpus Christi King, where he served as offensive coordinator and associate head coach for the Mustangs. He replaced Joey Caceres for a team that like San Benito, was forced to hit the reset button.

The Bobcats do not feature much experience, so they’ll all be learning Escobar’s spread, no-huddle attack together. The flagship Edinburg school won just five games over the past two seasons.

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