(Courtesy photo/Hector Avila)
By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
The San Benito Greyhounds won their first game of the season, 26-20, and more importantly did so in their district opener against the Brownsville Hanna Eagles at Bobby Morrow Stadium, Friday.
The District 32-6A victory puts San Benito (1-6 overall) solely in second place behind Brownsville Veterans Memorial, which defeated Harlingen, 40-9. The only other district foe, the Los Fresnos Falcons, had a bye.
They’re hosting the Greyhounds this week.
To build off the victory over Hanna is something San Benito Coach Dan Gomez said he would like his team to learn from. “We will take the positives and get back to work because we have a tough opponent coming up,” Gomez said. “There’s no time to rest and relax. We still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
To win against the Eagles, the ‘Hounds had 19 unanswered points in the first half to dominate their district foes, including two scores off special teams and one on defense.
Quarterback Tyler Ruiz filled in with the rest as he scored twice on runs of 20 and one yards.
Hanna, which fell to 1-6 on the season, did put the game in question with back-to-back scores in the second half.
Hanna scored on its first two offensive drives via the run to give San Benito a precarious 19-14 lead at the 7:17 mark of the third quarter.
But, San Benito responded on its next offensive drive. The ‘Hounds were helped by a Hanna personal foul that put the football deep in their foe’s territory. Six plays later, San Benito scored on a Ruiz one-yard run.
Kicker Elias Olvera put his team up, 26-14. He made good on three of his point after attempts and also connected with a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter.
The San Benito defense forced Hanna to punt on its next three possessions before allowing a meaningless touchdown with a second left in the game.
San Benito defenders Victor Rodriguez and Pedro Lopez had tackles for losses as Hanna tried desperately to get back into the game.
Before halftime, San Benito cornerback Kian Jones picked up a fumble and ran it in for a 40-yard touchdown.
Gomez sang the praise of his team. “All we ask from our kids is to play with Greyhound effort, and that’s to play as hard as they can, and our kids did that today, and we’re proud of them,” Gomez said.
Ruiz rushed for nearly 90 yards. Teammate Carter Green earned nearly 70 yards.
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