While tensions ran high, the Edinburg High Bobcats ran hard against the Rivera Raiders’ defense.
The Raiders had no answers for the Bobcats’ running game as Rivera was gashed for 349 yards and four scores during a 44-12 loss Saturday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Edinburg High running back Hearlin Benavides led the way, rushing for 142 yards on 15 carries and three touchdowns.
“That’s what we do,” Edinburg High coach J.J. Leija said. “We’re going to come at you, and we’re going to come at you every day. No matter who we put back there, these guys know that they have to drive and do everything to make things happen. We work on the little things, and our offensive line does a great job in making those things happen.”
The Bobcats (2-0) piled up 484 yards of total offense, with Benavides scoring on runs of 1, 10 and 64 yards.
Meanwhile, Rivera (0-2) gained just 148 yards, fumbled the ball twice and was penalized 19 times for more than 100 yards.
Still, coach Tom Chavez saw silver lining in his team’s efforts.
“We gave up a lot of yardage; we’ve been doing that,” he said. “We just have to play football and take care of our mistakes. That hurts us a little bit. We don’t have a whole lot of kids, but they’re playing hard. I was proud of them tonight. They grew up and played football compared to last week. We just have to grow from there.”
The Bobcats had a tough time with penalties as well, as they were hit with 17 for more than 150 yards, with the bulk of them coming in a messy first half, when the teams combined for 23 penalties.
Things came to a head during the second quarter when two separate brawls broke out, leading to four ejections and a play stoppage.
“We can’t do that,” Chavez said. “We just have to play football and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. We can’t get into fights because nobody is going to win that battle.”
“Things get heated in the game of football,” Leija added. “Sometimes it gets out of hand. Coach Chavez and I met at midfield with the referee and we just went back, calmed the kids down and told them we just have to play regular football and keep your composure.”
The first half began as an eventful one with a couple of big plays.
After Benavides put the Bobcats up 7-0 with a 1-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter, Rivera’s Ramiro Vega answered on the ensuing kickoff with a 95-yard runback to make it a one-point game.
Edinburg High blocked the Rivera extra point attempt, opening the door for an Emmanuel Duran return to make it 9-6 with 5:47 left in the first.
The Bobcats took to the ground again on their ensuing drive, marching 84 yards in six plays, ending with Benavides’ second touchdown, this one from 10 yards out to make it 16-6.
Rivera answered with a Frank Eguia 8-yard touchdown run to make in 16-12 with 1:39 in the first quarter.
Edinburg High really started to pour it on when quarterback Matthew Cruz found Erik Cano out of the backfield for a 32-yard pass on fourth down to make it 23-12 with nearly 10 minutes left before halftime.
Benavides broke a 64-yard run for a score early in the third to conclude his night.
Cruz also hit Jaime Zamora for a 46-yard score down the middle during the third quarter and finished with 135 yards and two scores on the night.
Cano also had a 3-yard rushing score in the second half, and finished with 151 total yards and two scores.