By ARMANDO GARZA
Special to the NEWS
PHARR— Last season, the San Benito Greyhounds started their season with a resounding effort in a scrimmage at PSJA North.
It proved to be a sign of things to come, including a shared District 32-6A title and plenty of highlights to pound their chests over.
Fast forward to Friday night. The ’Hounds were dominant once again, putting up five total touchdowns and stifling PSJA High in an all-around effort that will serve as a great base to draw from in the coming weeks.
In the controlled portion against the Bears, the ’Hounds scored three touchdowns, one apiece from quarterback J.R. Gaitan (11 yard rush), and running backs Eddie Alvarez (2 yards) and Juan Salas (20 yards).
In the game-like quarters, San Benito found the end zone twice more. Alvarez, making the most of his newfound role as a featured ball carrier, scooted in from 15 yards out while Salas added a five-yard score to his night. As a bonus, reliable kicker Alejandro Lugo boomed a 46-yard field goal for good measure.
San Benito looked crisp offensively and defensively and will have one more tuneup to tighten things up even more. The ’Hounds will host PSJA North next Friday night at Bobby Morrow Stadium to close out the scrimmage slate. The season opener will be Friday, Aug. 28 at Edinburg High.
RIO HONDO vs. BROWNSVILLE ST. JOSEPH: At Brownsville, despite a slow start, there were several bright spots for Rio Hondo at Canales Field.
The teams went in a 20/20, 15/15 controlled format followed by two live quarters of action.
In the controlled portion, the Bobcats prevailed over the Bloodhounds 3-2. Rio Hondo got a short touchdown pass from Josh Gonzalez to Albert Adames to start things off in front of a good scrimmage crowd on both sides.
St. Joe, which changed head coaches last month and is now being led by Tino Villarreal, answered when Kai Money found Bernie De La Garza on a TD strike and the two hooked up one more time on a 71-yard bomb as the Bloodhounds went up 2-1.
But on their 15-play series, the Bobcats, repping in Gonzalez and Daniel Flores at quarterback along with Jesse Atkinson, responded with a short scoring run from Andy Vasquez and Gonzalez later tallied one of his own as the offense found its legs.
“I think defensively, we were able to match Rio Hondo’s aggression and that’s why we scrimmage them,” Villarreal said as the second-stringers went at it. “We’re happy we were able to match the intensity. Offensively, we’re starting to find our pass game and we’re looking for Kai to take a leap from year one to year two.”
In the live portion, the teams stayed deadlocked, 14-14 and it was nearly a mirror image of the controlled part.
Rio Hondo opened things up with a short Vasquez run before Money threw two more TD passes, including one to De La Garza, as the Bloodhounds took the advantage.
Once again, Rio Hondo retaliated with a 5-yard scoring run from Daniel Flores on fourth-and-goal to tie things up.
With under a minute to go and the Bloodhounds driving, Flores ensured the draw when he alertly snagged a tipped ball in the end zone for an interception.
“We started a little slow, but the kids are getting better,” Rio Hondo head coach Rocky James said. “We’ve got work to do but we were able to tighten things up defensively and the offense started moving the ball.”
Rio Hondo closes out its scrimmage slate next Friday night at home against Valley View.
Recent Comments