By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
One game is all the San Benito Greyhounds have to make up for losses over the past three weeks against teams that will represent District 32-6A in the postseason.
In the regular-season finale, the ’Hounds can become the fourth district team to qualify for the postseason if they defeat the PSJA Bears, who are at the bottom of the district standings.
SB Head Coach Dan Gomez said the Weslaco Panthers would be their bi-district playoff opponent. This would mark the third consecutive year the ‘Hounds play the Panthers in the Class 6A Division bracket.
A date and site have yet to be decided.
Entering the game against PSJA, the ‘Hounds lost to the Los Fresnos Falcons (63-7), PSJA North Raiders (45-17), and the Harlingen Cardinals in the Battle of the Arroyo last Friday.
One positive is that the scoring margin has decreased as the weeks have progressed. In their home finale last Friday at Bobby Morrow Stadium, the ’Hounds lost to the Cardinals 24-9.
In the game, the ’Hounds once again struggled mightily on offense. They didn’t get a first down in the first half, despite good field position from squib kicks, an Austin Najera fumble recovery on a punt return, and a Josue Montelongo fumble recovery on defense.
SBHS didn’t throw its first pass until its third offensive drive: Sonny Ratliff threw a one-yard pass to wide receiver Joziah Davis on third-and-eight.
The Cardinals, however, scored touchdowns on their first two drives. Both drives featured quarterback Hassan Woolery connecting with Eric Castillo for seven yards and with Dayton Mireles for 29 yards.
He then threw a 50-yard TD strike to Aiden Cervantes, who outpaced the SBHS secondary on his catch-and-run.
Harlingen kicker Josiah Perez scored a point after kick three times following TDs and made a fourth-quarter field goal of 31 yards.
SBHS gave their devoted fans something to cheer for in the second half by scoring twice.
The ’Hounds, who had been in Harlingen territory for virtually the entire game, finally drove deep on their opening third-quarter drive.
Quarterback Robert Lozano and running back Gabriel Garza combined for five runs of positive yardage, and the signal caller completed one pass on four attempts. The drive stalled at the Harlingen 11, but kicker Francisco Barrientos nailed a 28-yard field goal.
The ‘Hounds then scored with 1:04 remaining in the game on a 23-yard run by Garza. A two-point pass attempt failed.
On the drive that started at the Harlingen 40, Lozano completed two passes to wide receiver Angel Garcia for 34 yards.
The ‘Hounds had nine offensive drives and gained about 180 yards, most of it in the second half. The Cardinals earned about 270 yards of offense.
This is the 114th time the Battle of the Arroyo has been played, with SB winning 29 times. Harlingen won for the second consecutive year.
If SB wins the final game at PSJA on Friday, it will advance to the Class 6A Division 1 bracket. The team aims to reach the postseason for the 13th consecutive year.
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