Now you see me — The San Benito Greyhounds gave it their all but fell short in the 113th Annual Battle of the Arroyo against the Harlingen Cardinals. (Courtesy photo/Hector Avila)
By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
The San Benito Greyhounds are trying to get back to their winning ways now that they once again qualified for the postseason, but they had to swallow a bitter pill as they lost to the Harlingen Cardinals in their district finale at home last Friday.
The 24-10 score in the 113th Annual Battle of the Arroyo at Bobby Morrow Stadium last week dropped the ‘Hounds to third place with a 2-2 record in District 32-6A, behind the Cardinals (3-1, 4-6).
Now San Benito (2-8 season) will play a Class 6A Division I bi-district game at Weslaco for a second consecutive year.
Game time is 7 p.m., on Friday.
The Panthers won the District 31-6A title with a 5-0 record, and improved to 8-2 overall.
The ‘Hounds take on a team that is averaging 35 points per game and allowing just over two touchdowns per contest.
This is the fourth time the two teams have faced off in the past two years, as they’ve played each other twice in non-district games the past two years.
Last year, Weslaco won both home games, 28-14 in non-district play and then 28-0 in bi-district.
The last time they played in San Benito on Sept. 26, the Panthers just barely won, 10-7.
In fact, it was the lowest offensive output Weslaco had all year, but it marked the start of a six-game winning streak. The Panthers’ second-lowest point total was a 22-20 loss to Laredo LBJ in mid-September.
The ‘Hounds played much better on both sides of the ball once district play began.
The 10 points that Harlingen allowed was also the lowest total San Benito produced.
The ‘Hounds averaged just over 24 points per game with quarterback Albert Gonzalez behind center. The junior signal caller, however, left the last game after being sacked on the team’s final offensive drive.
Weslaco’s offense centers on senior quarterback Chris Luna, who has thrown for 1,409 yards and 22 touchdowns. He has completed just under 100 passes.
He’s most effective with his quarterback keepers, leading the Panthers with 628 rushing yards on 104 carries.
He and senior running back David Garcia each have seven TDs. Garcia ranks second in rushing with 533 yards on 101 carries.
Last time they faced the ‘Hounds, it was a pass play between the two that helped their team win.
If San Benito wants to have a chance to win, it needs to keep playing like it did in district competition. Scoring happened often, sometimes taking time off the game clock.
Kickers Francisco Barrientos and Elias Olvera connecting on field goals.
Touchdowns during district play were by committee with the likes of Kian Jones, Victor Rodriguez, Axel Hernandez, Peter Buenrostro, and Gonzalez finding the end zone.
The offensive line only gave up two sacks during district play. Quarterback Gonzalez or backup Noah Mesa were never intercepted, but were hurried by defenders just over a dozen times.
San Benito suffered 13 tackles that resulted in losses behind the line of scrimmage, thus stalling offensive drives.
Defensively, the ‘Hounds allowed on average about 300 yards per game.
In the Harlingen contest, the ‘Hounds’ first score came courtesy of Barrientos, who made a 33-yard field goal in the second quarter. San Benito trailed, 14-3.
In the second half, the Hounds took the opening drive and scored on a five-yard Gonzalez run. The 16-play drive took nearly seven minutes off the clock. Barrientos’ PAT saw the Harlingen lead cut to 17-10 at the 5:06 mark.
The Cardinals scored their last TD at the 4:09 mark of the fourth quarter.