KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
SAN BENITO — Big players make big plays in big games.
Senior quarterback Jacob Cavazos delivered the play of the night during a 42-28 win over Harlingen High in the 88th edition of the Battle of the Arroyo on Friday night in San Benito.
On fourth down, Cavazos needed 11 yards to keep the chains moving. Tied at 28 with 4:49 on the clock, Cavazos hit Brandon Valadez for 12 yards and a first down.
“I just went out there and did was I was supposed to do,” Cavazos said. “The coaches believe in me and our offense. They called that play for a reason.”
Cavazos capped the big play with the go-ahead touchdown from 7 yards out to put the ’Hounds ahead 35-28 with 3:04 remaining.
After a defensive stand from the San Benito defense, Cavazos put the icing on the cake with a 2-yard score to seal the win.
“We saw the confidence in our kids,” ’Hounds coach Dan Gomez said about the fourth-down conversion. “You play the game to win, and we felt that was the right play call and we made the right plays on that drive. It is a testament to our coaching staff and how well they prepared our kids.”
The win gives the ’Hounds back-to-back Battle of the Arroyo wins, and Gomez is now 4-1 against the Cardinals.
The surprise of the night came from senior outside linebacker AJ Garcia. The senior barreled his way in for three scores, all from the goal line.
Garcia put the San Benito ahead 14-7 right out of the gate on two straight drives. The offense continued to roll from there when Cavazos hit Antonio Torres down the seam for a 21-yard strike, putting the ’Hounds ahead 21-7 with 6:06 left in the second quarter.
“That was just something we worked on during the week,” Garcia said about his three-score night. “It was a part of the game plan, and I did my best to help out my team. This is an important win for us; this is how we wanted to get district play started. This is fun, playing in this atmosphere. This was my last battle, it was fun. I loved it.”
The Cardinals chipped away all night despite a slew of offensive penalties. After recovering a fumble deep in San Benito territory, junior quarterback Jaime Galvan put the Cards on the board, cutting the lead to 28-21 during the final seconds of the third quarter.
On the next drive, Galvan hit Joe Reyna on a 21-yard strike down the sideline, setting up an 11-yard, game-tying score from Galvan with 8:32 left in the game.
“We tell the kids to never give in, to always fight whether we are up by three scores or down by three scores. We tell them to never give in.”
The ’Hounds travel to Harlingen South next week, and the Cardinals play at Brownsville Hanna.
“This win is amazing, we had a great week of practice and this was fun,” Cavazos said. “I couldn’t have done it without my offensive line, and we came out and executed our game plan.”