By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
SAN BENITO — The San Benito Greyhounds scored 67 points to win an offensive shootout last season with Brownsville Veterans Memorial.
This time, 40 points by the Greyhounds did the trick.
San Benito, ranked No. 4 in the Rio Grande Valley by RGVSports.com, remained in the thick of the District 32-6A race with a 40-21 victory Friday against the No. 7 Chargers at Bobby Morrow Stadium.
When the teams played one year ago at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville, San Benito won 67-57. The combined 124 points are believed to be a Rio Grande Valley record.
On Friday, the Greyhounds (5-2, 3-1 district) trailed 14-7 after one quarter but came back to lead 24-14 at intermission en route to their decisive victory. The Greyhounds took a 27-14 advantage into the fourth quarter.
“I think we got closer to putting together all three phases of the game and seeing what we want to see (from our team) tonight,” San Benito coach Dan Gomez said. “This was a very good Brownsville Veterans Memorial team, and our players worked really hard for this win.
“Our offensive line did a great job tonight, and that’s the reason our backs, including our quarterback, were able to do so well,” Gomez added. “No one works harder than they do. And now, it’s back to the grind Saturday as we prepare for what’s ahead.”
San Benito quarterback J.R. Gaitan led the way for his team as he broke loose three times on touchdown runs of 41, 67 and 66 yards, and he also threw a 6-yard TD pass to Edward Alvarez for his team’s initial score on its opening possession. The three runs alone gave him 174 yards on the ground.
Also for San Benito, Alvarez scored on 3-yard run midway through the second quarter to make it 21-14, and teammate Alejandro Lugo kicked field goals of 49 and 21 yards during the second and third periods, respectively.
For the Chargers (6-1, 3-1), Carlos Garza rushed 3 yards for a TD during the opening quarter and had a 67-yard scoring burst up the middle during the final period to highlight the night for the visitors, who suffered their first loss of the season.
The Chargers uncharacteristically turned the ball over four times, with three interceptions and one fumble.
Perhaps the turnover that hurt the most was an interception thrown into the end zone by Chargers QB Marcus Castillo on a third-and-5 play from the San Benito 5-yard line as Brownsville Veterans appeared to be on the verge of pulling to within 24-21 of the Greyhounds’ lead with less than 1 minute to go in the first half. Instead, the pick sent the Chargers to the locker room at halftime trailing by 10 points, 24-14.
“I think we had, like, three chances (to score) in the red zone, but we failed to cash in,” Chargers coach David Cantu said. “That’s a credit to San Benito’s defense.”
Castillo, who appeared to be not quite 100 percent healthy due to a possible leg injury, gave the Chargers a 14-7 lead on the final play of the first quarter when he threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Stephen Flores.
Then, less than one minute later, Gaitan’s first of three long scoring runs, a 41-yarder down the right sideline, evened the tally at 14 with 11:03 showing in the second period. Gaitan’s two other long scoring runs came in the fourth period to put the game out of reach.
District 32-6A action continues next week as Brownsville Veterans plays Harlingen High at 7 p.m. Thursday at Sams. San Benito next plays at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Sams against Lopez.