’Hounds show potential in Palmview scrimmage

By FRANCISCO E. JIMENEZ
Special to the NEWS

They’re baaaack.

The Greyhounds, that is. And they made sure that the La Joya Palmview Lobos were well aware of that on Friday night.

The ’Hounds scrimmaged the Lobos at Bobby Morrow Stadium in a controlled portion followed by two quarters of timed play. The ’Hounds dominated both portions on offense and defense, especially the latter.

“I’m excited. I’m more excited now than I was going in to this scrimmage,” said Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Spencer Gantt. “Just to go out there against someone in a different colored jersey, our kids have been waiting for this for a long time. This is something we’ve been working very hard for, and when you go out there and have a scrimmage like we just had, it’s very exciting.”

Coach Gantt has a lot to be excited about.

In the controlled portion of the scrimmage, the ’Hounds outscored the Lobos by finding the end zone four times. Even more impressive was the ’Hounds unrelenting D. They were able to prevent the Lobos from finding the end zone throughout the course of the evening.

During the game portion of the scrimmage, senior quarterback Jacob Puente completed 5-9 passes while junior running back Arturo Coronado ran for 83 yards on seven carries, including a 29-yard scamper for a touchdown.

On another drive, Puente was able to connect with senior wide receiver Sammy Soria for a 40-yard play. With the ’Hounds defense swarming the pigskin like a pack of rabid dogs, they were able to keep the Lobos out of the end zone and secured the ’Hounds victory over the Lobos with a score of 14-0.

“I’m so excited about our defense,” said Gantt. “When you have seven guys returning on defense, and they’re committed to each other and to the football team, they work out together every day, and they believe in what Coach (Dave) Evans is doing, when you get all that together and everyone on board… the sky’s the limit.”

Also showing some potential at the back-up quarterback position was junior Angel Hernandez, who threw for a total of four touchdowns during the controlled portion of the scrimmage, including a 32-yard strike.

“I don’t think we have any questions on our offensive line, but we still have some things we need to fix,” said Gantt. “I think I’ve got the right personnel there, but as far as basic mechanics and recognizing fronts and sticking to the rules, we need to really focus on that. The other thing we need to focus on is receiver blocking.”

“Credit to Coach Gantt and his group, they have a good team over there,” said La Joya Palmview Head Coach Manuel Flores. “There’s no doubt about the experience that Coach Gantt’s club gives us. They are a playoff team, they’ve been there. We’re trying to get there. It’s beneficial in a sense that we’re going up against a seasoned group, and that’s what we’re aiming to become ourselves.”

The ’Hounds will scrimmage Laredo United on Friday, August 26 in La Joya.