By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
San Benito needed to get a victory against Brownsville Rivera to earn a share of the District 32-6A title.
The Greyhounds took advantage of a mistake-prone Raiders offense and turned the miscues into touchdowns, propelling them to a 52-0 victory Saturday night in a District 32-6A game at Sams Memorial Stadium and a share of the district crown with Los Fresnos and Harlingen High.
Rivera had four turnovers during the first half — two interceptions and two fumbles — and San Benito turned them into 28 points as part of a high-scoring first-half.
“The coaching staff on both the offense and defense did a great job all week keeping the kids mentally sharp, keeping them focused,” San Benito coach Dan Gomez said. “And it showed.”
The Greyhounds scored 35 points during the first quarter. Quarterback J.R. Gaitan hit Armando Medrano on a 26-yard pass for a touchdown and, a couple minutes later, Jose Martinez had a 44-yard run that made it 14-0.
Rivera quarterback Angel Tolentino threw an interception to the Greyhounds’ Mario Valdez, and one play later Gaitan hit Eduardo Barron on a 35-yard pass for another touchdown.
Gaitan scored on a 22-yard run on the next drive and later, after a Raiders fumble, Edward Alvarez found the end zone on a 6-yard run to give San Benito a 35-0 lead.
During the second quarter, San Benito’s Jonathan Gutierrez scored on a 3-yard run and caught a 37-yard screen pass from Erik Retta for another score to make it 49-0. After a an interception by Carlos Estrada, Alejandro Lugo kicked a 29-yard field goal to give the Greyhounds a 52-0 lead at the break.
The Raiders had a few chances in the second half, but didn’t convert. The Greyhounds’ defense held Rivera to 152 yards.
“(The defense has) been playing good ball all year,” Gomez said. “It was a matter of time, because as the season goes on the kids get better because they get more experience. We’re playing good ball on both sides.”
The loss means the Raiders end up with a winless season, but that isn’t sitting well with the Rivera coach Tom Chavez.
“The thing we take back from this is we’re never going to let this happen again,” he said. “We’re going to have to work harder as coaches, and the players are going to have to work harder. Whatever it takes, we’re going to do that. We’re going to make a commitment to do that. We’re going to learn from this and the kids will learn from this.”
Chavez said the work starts today.
“We’re not going to waste any time, we’re going to get things taken care of right away,” he said. “We had a hard time, we didn’t have a whole lot of seniors (this year). I’m not blaming anybody, we just didn’t play very well throughout the year, but we’re going to correct it.”
The win gives San Benito momentum as it enters the postseason. And Gomez was happy to get a share of the title, especially after some lowered their expectations for the Greyhounds’ season.
“It’s a testament to the coaches and the kids,” he said. “A lot of people after last season saw the amount of seniors that we graduated and really didn’t think much of us, but I guess the kids just came out and did their thing.”
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.