By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
When Hanna and Rivera battled, every possession was crucial.
The Golden Eagles were down early but took control during the first half and never looked back as they defeated the Raiders 27-7 on Saturday night in a District 32-6A game at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Ernesto Benavidez, filling in for the injured Andy Lopez, ran for a pair of touchdowns and threw for another score. Lopez, who was injured against Harlingen South in Week 9, has a strained knee and is out for six weeks.
“Ernesto did good, he’s our future,” Hanna coach Rene Medrano said of the junior quarterback. “We lost Andy for the year, and we lost our No. 2 quarterback. We’re really banged up.”
Benavidez ran for 32 yards and threw for 170 yards to go with the three scores.
The Hanna defense allowed a score early but kept the pressure on Raiders quarterback Angel Tolentino, sacking him four times and intercepting a pass during the third quarter.
Rivera took a lead on its first drive. Jesus Muniz scored on a 17-yard run to put the Raiders up 7-0.
But it was all Hanna after that.
“We just couldn’t make first downs,” Rivera coach Tom Chavez said. “Hanna started playing better than us, and we couldn’t get things going.”
The Eagles drove down to the red zone on their first drive and settled for a 33-yard field goal from Alberto Huerta. During the second quarter, Hanna took a 10-7 lead as Benavidez had a 2-yard touchdown run.
Late in the quarter, the Eagles added to their lead. Huerta hit a 24-yard field goal as time expired to make it 13-7 at the half.
During the third quarter, Benavidez scored on a 1-yard run to make it 20-7. Later, Benavidez hit Joe Cavazos on a 22-yard touchdown strike to take a 27-7 advantage.
The Hanna defense did the rest, holding Rivera to just 87 yards of offense.
“They did really good,” Medrano said. “They manned up and did a heck of a job. I’m proud of them, I really am.”
After another loss, Chavez is still looking for answers going into the final week of the season.
“We’ve had a hard time all year,” he said. “We just got what we got, but we have to keep working and see what kind of character we have with this team to finish out the season. We have to keep on playing, put everything behind us and get better. Get the program back on track.
“We need to have a good offseason. We need to keep working and do what we can to get a little bit better, that’s all.”
Medrano was happy for his senior class as it celebrated during its final home game.
“I’m proud of the kids,” he said. “Some of these kids won’t ever play in this stadium again, so that was great for them, it was big.”
The Eagles hope to take this momentum and finish out the season strong after falling short of the postseason.
“The season didn’t turn out the way we wanted,” Medrano said. “It was all district wars this year, it really was, every one of these games. We need to finish what we start, that’s what you have to do.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.