By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
Not even halfway through the season, the San Benito Greyhounds matched their gridiron win total from a year ago after earning a 21-15 homecoming victory over the Harlingen South Hawks at Bobby Morrow Stadium last Friday.
The win didn’t come without its share of fourth-quarter drama, however. South ended the scoring with 58 seconds left on a one-yard run by Kaden Edward, followed by a point-after kick by Gael Sanchez. The Hawks, however, recovered an onside kick at midfield.
South ran five plays, but a relentless San Benito defense stalled the drive on South’s side of the field, culminating in defensive lineman Christian La Bell’s sack of quarterback Aiden Acuna.
The ‘Hounds, who played their last two games on the road, improved to 2-2 on the season in non-district play. The Hawks fell to 1-3 this season.
SB played soundly throughout the game and, when it needed to, came up big offensively and, once again, made defensive stops.
The ‘Hounds held strong against a Hawks team that passed 20 times and gained about 250 yards through the air.
Unlike their last two games against the Edinburg Vela Sabercats and the Laredo Alexander Bulldogs, there was no need to wait long for what the ‘Hounds already knew they could do on offense.
They produced almost 300 yards of offense, even though they didn’t run as many passing plays as in the previous three games.
In the first quarter, the teams traded punts before South got on the board with a 34-yard field goal from Sanchez.
Even though the ‘Hounds were gaining positive yards, penalties, fumbles, and fumble recoveries stalled any forward progress.
The ’Hounds finally scored at the 7:05 mark of the second quarter on an Ezra Lozano three-yard run.
The drive started at the SB 35, and each of the seven plays gained positive yardage. Running backs Carter Green and Gabriel Garza contributed.
On second down, quarterback Robert Lozano handed off to his older brother, Ezra, for the score. The ‘Hounds had the ball twice more before halftime.
The first drive ended with a Lozano interception in Hawks’ territory. The SB coaching staff put the young signal caller back in the fire, so to speak, on the next drive, calling a pass play to receiver Raul Villanueva for four yards.
During the next drive, South was called for roughing the passer, and SB was called for unnecessary roughness.
After a delay of game against the ‘Hounds, senior kicker Francisco Barrientos booted a 57-yard field goal that fell short. With seconds to play, an alert South player, Camilo Montoya, returned the ball from inside his own end zone into SBHS territory, but Barrientos tackled him at the 16. The play was nullified due to a South penalty.
For the fourth consecutive game, the ‘Hounds scored in the third quarter after a halftime discussion by Head Coach Dan Gomez and his assistants. SB orchestrated a 13-play drive that consumed nearly half the game clock. Ezra Lozano once again put an exclamation point on the drive, scoring his second TD from one yard out.
Barrientos then kicked a PAT, which seemed to give the team a comfortable lead.
On the drive, running back Garza carried the ball on most plays, and Axel Hernandez gained yardage on fourth-and-two from the South’s three-yard line.
If not for a fumble on the ‘Hounds’ next drive, South wouldn’t have had another offensive possession.
The Hawks scored on the fourth play of their possession when quarterback Acuna connected with Christian Treviño on a 22-yard slant route with 1:21 left in the third quarter.
The teams traded scores late in the game, but SB’s was set up by a turnover deep in South territory.
Starting QB Lozano shared his duties with another sophomore, Sonny Ratliff, throughout the game. So it was no surprise that he got the nod with 3:18 left.
It took just one play for the ‘Hounds to extend their lead on Ratliff’s 12-yard quarterback keeper. Barrientos again connected on his PAT.
Of the three running plays by the ‘Hounds, the coaching staff designed the Lozano routes to go through the offensive line’s right side, while Ratliff’s was set up to run through the left side.
Ezra said the TDs can’t happen without the big guys who take the offensive lead on goal-line plays.
“Those two touchdown runs were thrilling. I felt adrenaline surge through my veins. I had full faith in my line to block,” Ezra said. “My linemen did their job because they wanted it more, and I knew I had to set the tone after those TDs so we could do it again and set that standard of aggression and focus.”
The line is helping a bevy of runners produce far more yardage than in the past couple of seasons. SBHS has scored in the 20s on three occasions.
Among the linemen who continue to get the job done in the trenches are Cesar Grimaldo, Devyn Barrientes, Isaiah Ojeda, Noah Garcia, Roel Abrego, Carlos Mares, Raul Garcia, Carlos Moreno, Hector Diaz, and Kaleb Ruelas.
GETTING DEFENSIVELY
The ‘Hounds’ defense allowed the second-lowest scoring output this season.
The reason was the numerous quarterback pressures, secondary coverage, and interceptions and sacks that followed.
Among the players to get in on plays of minus yardage were linebacker Pedro Suarez, and defensive linemen Adrian Loa and Ramon De La Rosa. The Hawks also had short gains thanks to the quickness of such players as Suarez and De La Rosa once again, as well as defensive back Juan Gonzalez, and linebacker Austin Najera.
Among those who pressured quarterback Acuna were again De La Rosa and Suarez, along with defensive lineman Rolando Cortez, linebacker Luke Gonzalez, and defensive lineman Christian La Bell.
In the secondary, defensive back Henry Quiroz was in on incompletions. Defensive back Santiago Cruz had a multitude of plays in which South receivers threw incompletions, too. He eventually forced an interception that he returned around 30 yards. The play set up SBHS’s third TD.
Defensive back Adam King also halted a South threat when he caught an interception and returned it about 30 yards in the second half.
Suarez also recorded a minus-12 sack. La Bell finished the game in the same fashion.
NEXT OPPONENT
This week, the ‘Hounds go on the road for the third time in five weeks, this time to San Marcos to take on a much-improved Odessa Bronchos team that has the same non-district record as SBHS.
Like the ‘Hounds, the Bronchos are 2-2, an improvement over a 1-9 campaign a year ago.
The ‘Hounds are riding high right now as they travel to San Marcos to take on Odessa. Senior Ezra Lozano said the players will keep playing with heart and not focus so much on the statistics tied to victories and losses.
“We are focused on getting better each week because, win or lose, we are going to get better and play good football. When we win, it’s because we are the best team,” Lozano said. “We are going to restore our standard. Our effort and determination will be world-class. This team is ready. We are the Greyhounds people expect to see on a Friday night, the team that fought all four quarters.”
Odessa is grouped in District 2-6A programs, including Odessa Permian, Midland Lee, and other San Angelo and Midland schools from West Texas.
All these schools still share what SBHS once did: play in a small five-team district. Following realignment this past February, Odessa coaches were scrambling to find opponents this season. After SBHS, Odessa will have one more non-district opponent, Compass Prep of Arizona.The ‘Hounds’ will face an Odessa team that has lost two straight games: San Antonio Johnson (37-0) and Abilene Cooper (34-14). Odessa opened the year with two wins over Mexico City Prep (51-14) and El Paso Coronado (19-11).
Odessa’s stats are based on only two games. The team has started three different quarterbacks, who have completed 54 percent of their passes for 461 yards.
The Bronchos’ rushing attack has combined for 368 yards.
Defensively, the team has recorded 5 sacks and 3 fumble recoveries.
