For their efforts, Garate and Kruse were named the Valley Morning Star’s Athletes of the Week.
Garate, a senior running back, proved his worth in a huge 40-0 win over Grulla on Friday as he rushed for 247 yards on 21 carries for two touchdowns, including a 94-yard romp to open the game.
Garate had 176 yards on 15 carries before the half, while Grulla’s offense had just under 40 yards at the time.
“It feels great and (I) want to thank my offensive line and coaches that are doing a great job teaching me what I do, and moving forward and getting all the yards that I can,” said Garate after Friday’s win.
With the win, the Bob-cats improved to 4-1 as they enter their bye week. The next time they hit the football field will be on Oct. 10 when they open District 16-4A Division II play at Corpus Christi West Oso.
“The team played great football on both sides of the ball and I think the overall effort was just unbelievable,” said Bob-cats head coach Rocky James after the game. “I think this is probably the best game we’ve played so far this year as a whole. I think the offense had over 400 yards rushing again, very hard to do against a good Grulla team.
“It was just something the kids had been doing all week. They beat us last year 30-0 so we need some payback here at home.”
Earlier in the week, Kurse led the Lady Hawks in a much-needed District 32-6A win over Brownsville Rivera by contributing nine kills, 12 assists, 11 digs and three blocks.
“It’s a big win because in this district, every match is going to be critical. Hope-fully this will be a learning experience and we’ll continue to move forward,” said South head coach Brian Molina after the win on Tuesday.
South stormed out of the gates and took the first two games, but could not complete the sweep as the Lady Raiders finished the third game on an 18-7 run to steal it.
But thanks to play from leaders like Kruse, the Lady Hawks held tough and took Game 4 to win the match 25-13, 25-19, 21-25 and 25-20.
The Lady Hawks host San Benito tonight then take on Harlingen High on the road Saturday afternoon.