By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — The San Benito Greyhounds dominated on both sides of the ball Friday night to earn a 60-8 win over the Los Fresnos Falcons at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.
The Greyhounds had two weeks to prepare for the contest after last Friday’s game against Brownsville Rivera was postponed, and they looked sharp from the first whistle. San Benito picked up its first win of the season, improving to 1-1 in District 32-6A’s Southeast Zone.
“The kids just wanted to come out here and redeem themselves from their last performance,” San Benito defensive coordinator Johnny Garza said. “That first game, you could tell it was the first game back from the situation we had over the offseason. The expectations are high on San Benito, and it just didn’t go our way. It was a learning experience. (Tonight) they came out and played with passion, had fun, and all glory goes to them.”
Los Fresnos dropped its second in a row and now sits at 1-2 in the zone. The Falcons struggled to move the ball after an early score, and an inexperienced defense didn’t finish tackles to slow down powerful San Benito running back Kyler Castilleja.
San Benito set the tone on the opening drive of the game. Defensive end Gabriel Sandoval stuffed the Falcons as they went for a fourth-and-1 in their own territory. Castilleja quickly used the short field to put the Greyhounds on top with a 4-yard rushing touchdown.
Los Fresnos answered in a hurry on a 76-yard rushing touchdown from senior quarterback Adrian Longoria. He pulled the handoff smoothly and fooled the Greyhounds’ defense, creating a big lane that led straight to the end zone. The Falcons made the 2-point conversion as Longoria pitched to junior running back Matthew Padilla and he ran in for the score, making it 8-7 Los Fresnos.
But that was the final time Los Fresnos found the end zone, and Longoria’s long run was one of a small few explosive plays allowed by San Benito. The Greyhounds’ defense, led by outside linebacker Aaron Reyes, tightened up and overpowered the Falcons’ offensive line to shut down the run game.
Defensive end Zachary Galvan and defensive backs Mariano Garcia and Michael Banda were other top contributors for San Benito. Garcia recorded a sack, and the quartet notched several tackles for loss as they busted through to the backfield to hit the quarterback and running backs in Los Fresnos’ run-heavy offense. San Benito’s defense forced and recovered four fumbles in the game.
“From the beginning to end, we preached 12 rounds,” Garza said. “We were on this field last year and it looked in the first half like we were going to run away with it, but Coach Brown has a great program and last year they fought back. So at halftime, we explained to the kids that at any moment these kids can strike. That offense, even though it is all running the ball, they can hit at any moment and it showed. We just had to keep our foot on the pedal and keep going.”
Not to be outshined, the Greyhounds’ offense flexed its muscles and lit up the scoreboard regularly. Quarterback Elijah Hernandez tossed two touchdown passes and added two more on the ground. Hernandez hit receiver Justyn Martinez in-stride on consecutive drives, first for a 39-yard passing touchdown and then for a 30-yard gain to set up Castilleja’s second rushing score of the night.
Hernandez connected with Jermaine Corbin for a long touchdown pass, then found Reyes in the end zone for a 2-point conversion. The quarterback scored on a 12-yard run during the second quarter and then capped a time-consuming opening drive in the second half with a 3-yard rushing touchdown to make it 43-8 in the third. Less than one minute later, the Greyhounds added another score on a trick play following a Los Fresnos fumble. Hernandez passed to receiver Rodney Rodriguez, and then he threw the ball to receiver Cristian Alvarado for the touchdown.
Andres Villagran took over at quarterback late in the third and notched the final score of the night on a 6-yard rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter. San Benito kicker Yahir Reyes made all of his point-after attempts and kicked a 42-yard field goal during the fourth quarter. Bomani Guy was a key piece of the second-string offense, moving the ball at running back and as a pass catcher.
Running backs senior Chris Resendiz and junior Miles McWhorter were top contributors, along with Longoria, to Los Fresnos’ offense. Resendiz showed power and balance to break off some sizeable runs, but the Falcons couldn’t consistently keep the ball moving to chip away at the deficit. Junior outside linebacker Gregory Jones and senior defensive end Alan Torres played well for the Falcons.
“They were just a better team, all around. We got outcoached, outplayed. Tough loss for us, for sure,” Falcons coach Patrick Brown said. “One of our biggest problems is we have a ton of injuries at our A-back spot, so trying to rotate those guys in and making sure they know what to do is tough. (San Benito) had a great scheme. They really did a good job stopping us, and all credit goes to them.”