By FREDDY GONZALEZ
Staff Writer
SAN BENITO — After wrecking havoc all morning Mother Nature decided to take a few hours off and give Greyhounds and PSJA North enough time to get their final scrimmage in the books.
In a game that had all the characteristics of a much more important game the San Benito Greyhounds managed to stave off a second half Raider comeback and win 28-24 Thursday night at Bobby Morrow Stadium.
“We wanted to see some physical play and we knew we would get it from PSJA North and it was good,” said San Benito head coach Dan Gomez. “It was a good test for our team and it was a good test for the younger players that are on varsity for the first time.
“I think we became a little bit tighter as a team tonight and took the challenge that was put in front of us even though it was a scrimmage.”
On the second play of the night the San Benito’s running game gave the home fans with a 70-yard rushing touchdown only to see it called back on a late flag. However the running game would produce three touchdowns before the end of the second live quarter.
A 2-yard rushing touchdown by Jonathan Gutierrez put the ‘Hounds on top 7-0 before PSJA North evened things up with a short rushing TD of their own.
Before the end of the first period Edward Alvarez broke loose on a 47-yard run and capped it off two plays later with a 6-yard TD run.
Just before the half PSJA North cut the lead 21-10 on a 20-yard field goal to give the Raiders some momentum heading into the break.
Another bright spot on the offense for the Greyhounds was senior Mando Medrano who linked up with starting quarterback Gaitan some big plays through out the night.
“He’s one of our senior leaders coming back with some experience,” said Gomez. “The expectations are him to make plays and he also expects himself to make big plays and he did a good job tonight.
“I liked what I saw from all of our kids tonight. Our defense was struggling early and came up big at the end when we needed them the most and showed up at the right time.
With the score 28-24 and under a minute remaining in the game the Greyhound defense held firm to stop the Raiders from finding the game-wining TD.
Next week San Benito Kicks off the 2015 season at Edinburg High at 7:30 p.m.