By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
The San Benito Greyhounds have revamped their schedule after adding an extra district game, meaning one fewer non-district opponent.
That’s a result of the University Interscholastic League (UIL) biennial realignment, which now places District 32-6A in a six-team alignment, including the talented PSJA North Raiders and the PSJA Bears, both moving up from Class 5A Division I.
North and SBHS players aren’t strangers, as they opened the season against each other for the past two years, with the Raiders coming out on top, 42-22 and 49-14, respectively.
The teams the ‘Hounds will face in the non-district portion of their schedule aren’t as dynamic as in the past two seasons. No more Austin Westlake or Carthage, which have either won state titles or advanced deep into the postseason.
They will instead play an Odessa Bronchos (1-9) team that has also struggled to win, with just one victory a year ago out of Class 6A, in the same West Texas district as Midland Lee and Odessa Permian.
SBHS looks to outpace the past two seasons, which produced identical 2-9 records. By virtue of their 2-2 mark in District 32-6A, four of five teams advanced to the postseason.
It will be quite different this season, with the two PSJA schools, the Harlingen Cardinals, Los Fresnos Falcons, and Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers rounding out the district.
Two district teams will not make the playoffs, and the ‘Hounds don’t plan to be among them.
One thing the ‘Hounds should look to mirror from a year ago is staying close to even with their opponents. Only once, and that was against P-SJ-A North, did SBHS allow an opponent to come out of the gate scoring.
Even in losses, the ‘Hounds didn’t let opponents build insurmountable leads.
In eight games, SBHS had five ties after one quarter. The defense allowed 28 total points in those games, while the offense scored 20 points. They trailed by a touchdown against Westlake and by four points against Harlingen going into the second quarter—games that ended in losses, respectively.
If the ‘Hounds want to win or at least remain competitive heading into the final quarter, the offense will need to score more points.
Quarterback Albert Gonzalez is primed to lead his senior year and build on what he’s learned over the past two seasons at quarterback. He’s had offensive linemen with impressive size who have moved on to play collegiately.
If they can protect him long enough, Gonzalez could prove effective.
“I have high expectations for this season because our guys have come in and been fully dedicated,” Gonzalez said. “We have great chemistry that’s been building toward this year.”
Some of his best targets have graduated; however, sophomore receiver Sonny Ratliff should exceed his completion total from his inaugural season.
He’s one of several targets Gonzalez will throw to, including running backs who will be working double time as pass catchers.
Defensively, senior Peter Buenrostro will man the backfield, and his return should have an impact on the field against opposing offenses.
Senior safety Henry Quiroz said that Buenrostro and the defenders have built trust this year.
Quiroz is confident the defense will force punts and turnovers, giving the offense more chances to score.
If the defense comes close to replicating what it did last season, it may help it earn more than two wins this year.
The season will begin against the Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets, a team that has traditionally been sound.
They’re in a small district with Alice and Zapata, so they needed to fill the non-district portion of their schedule. They’re a well-seasoned team with back-to-back postseason appearances.
The ‘Hounds’ lone scrimmage this month was at Sams Stadium against an old district rival, the Brownsville Hanna Eagles.
The teams played in controlled offensive and defensive segments, followed by game-like scenarios.
Although no score was kept, the SBHS offense and defense looked good early but struggled as the scrimmage progressed.
The offense scored twice on a long run and a pass. The defense recorded a couple of quarterback sacks, an interception, and forced fourth-and-fourth downs several times.
If the SBHS defenders, as they did last year, force their foes to turn the ball over, it gives their Head Coach Dan Gomez and his staff even more opportunities to run scoring drives.
“The players have been working hard this summer to prepare for our season,” said Coach Gomez, now in his 13th season.
The first month sees the ‘Hounds play at Edinburg Vela and Laredo Alexander before hosting Harlingen South. They will play Odessa in San Marcos on Sept. 25 at 7 p.m.
SBHS will play four district games in October, ending at PSJA.
The team will continue playing at Bobby Morrow Stadium, which received improvements as part of an $846,000 scoreboard replacement project. The project was funded after trustees unanimously approved taking funds from SBCISD’s General Fund.
The scoreboard was introduced at this school district’s annual Meet the Greyhounds event, which drew hundreds of fans.