San Benito suffers loss at the Battle of the Arroyo

Elijah Hernandez (#1) seeks to make a run but is soon stopped by Harlingen’s defense.
(Photo by TJ Tijerina)

By JUAN ESTEVE
Special to the NEWS

Harlingen-The San Benito Varsity Greyhounds went on the road for the fifth consecutive week to face their classic rival, the Harlingen High Cardinals, at the Battle of the Arroyo. Under the Boggus Stadium lights Friday night, the ‘Hounds fell to the Cardinals by a score of 35-13.

 The Cardinals were entering the game with a 4-1 record, winning two consecutive games against Weslaco East and Midland; thus, their confidence, as well as the team’s expectations, were extremely high.  On the other side, we found the mighty ’Hounds coming from two straight losses on the road against Laredo United and Midland Lee, expected now to hold their reputation at this rivalry game as they looked to complete a three-peat after victories in 2017 (by a score of 53-0) and again in 2018 by a score of 42-28. Coach Dan Gomez’s squad knew very well that the game on Friday night was being closely observed.

The game started on the wrong side for San Benito with an 84-yard pass completion  by Cardinal QB Jaime Galvan (#4) to Rayden Berry (#27) good for 6 points and the Cardinals missed the PAT; then San Benito took possession of the ball and turned over on downs and had to punt on their first possession, the game went on in the first quarter until the San Benito defense via Mauricio Padilla (#28) Intercepted a pass from Galvan, giving the San Benito offense a great field position. San Benito found themselves inside Harlingen’s 20 yard line, and a couple of plays afterwards, the ’Hounds converted a TD run via Kyler Castilleja (#20) to put the score at (7-6) with the PAT in favor of the Purple and Gold, but the game was still in its beginning first quarter and there was much more to come. Then, in the same first quarter the Harlingen offense took over again and converted on 3 and 11 to complete a pass from Ross Camacho (#4) to Donny Serna (#2) for a touchdown pass and the score plus the PAT was 13-7 in favor of the home-team. Moreover, San Benito had to punt on their next possessions, giving the Cardinals the initiative in the ballgame. 

On Friday night the defense for the Cardinals performed flawlessly, allowing few opportunities for the ’Hounds. Then, with about four minutes to go in the second quarter, San Benito had a turnover, letting the Cardinals another possession before the first half ended. With 3 minutes left in the second quarter, the Cards put together a solid drive that culminated in another touchdown by Ross Camacho (#4) with a 27 yard-run, this gave the Cards the advantage 20-7. Heading to halftime, the ’Hounds were behind by two scores and they needed an impacting offense in the second half.

Editor’s note: This article has been edited for length. To read the full story, click here or make sure to grab a copy at one of our various newspaper racks.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2019/10/12/san-benito-suffers-loss-at-the-battle-of-the-arroyo/

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