KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
SAN BENITO —Growing up, Jacob Cavazos saw countless games from the stands, watching and cheering on his Greyhounds every Friday night. As a kid, Cavazos pictured himself suiting up for the Hounds one day and taking center stage at Bobby Morrow Stadium.
Cavazos grew up watching quarterback Dylan Castillo, JR Gaitan and found himself alongside one of his closest friends, now former QB, Erick Retta.
Both Retta and Cavazos grew up playing football together and remain close friends to this day. Like a good teammate would do, he patiently waited for his turn to direct the offense and now Cavazos has that shot his senior year.
Now with Retta gone to graduation, Cavazos is now the Hounds signal caller and one of the team leaders.
“It was always a dream of mine to play for the Hounds,” Cavazos said. “It is one of those things, as a kid you see the games and want to be a part of it and now it’s all a dream come true and an honor for me to play for San Benito and this community.”
Cavazos who made his debut as the starting quarterback against Calallen in Week 1. Cavazos made plays with his feet and came up just short on the road against the Wildcats.
Against Calallen, Cavazos ran for 105 yards on 13 attempts and sniffed the end zone once. Through the air, Cavazos went 6 for 12 for 89 yards.
“After the Calallen game, Erick text me that he was proud of me,” Cavazos said. “It means a lot coming from him. He gave me some advice and told me to keep working hard.”
The challenge for Cavazos is adapting to a new offense under new offensive coordinator Steve Marroquin. However, Cavazos has a firm grip of the offense, and has been a smooth transition into the new system.
“There is a lot of studying that goes on for a quarterback,” Cavazos said. “As a QB you lead the guys and the younger guys look up to you, so it is important that I be a leader. The offense is fun to run this year, coach Marroquin does a great job with the offense, and we’re excited that he is here coaching our offense.”