KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
The 89th Battle of the Arroyo will kick off Friday night at Boggus Stadium. Along with the Valley’s biggest rivalry comes the district 32-6A opener for both Harlingen and San Benito.
Harlingen leads the all-time series 59-25-5. Overall Friday marks the 91st Battle which includes two playoff matchups in 2009 and 2010 with Harlingen winning both postseason matchups.
Harlingen dominated the series for 27 straight years dating from the 1968 season all the way through the 1995 season where San Benito snapped the drought with a 15-6 win. In those 27 years, there were three ties in 1974 and in 1993 and 1994.
Despite the rivalry being one sided, upon current head coach Dan Gomez’s arrival in 2014, Gomez is 4-1 against Harlingen.
San Benito’s only loss to Harlingen under Gomez was in 2016 when Harlingen’s Giovanni Guillen nailed a 52-yard field goal with 3:51 left and sent the Cards to a 29-27 win.
On Friday San Benito has an opportunity to complete a three peat, something that hasn’t happened since the 1962 season when the Greyhounds beat the Cardinals 25-6 completing their second three peat. In 1960 San Benito won 29-6 and in 1961 the Hounds picked up a 30-6.
The first time San Benito beat Harlingen three years in a row was over the 1932-1934 seasons. The 32 season saw the Greyhounds win 6-0, in 1933 it was a 30-0 win and in 1934 San Benito won 13-0.
Most recently, San Benito is currently on a two game win streak against Harlingen. In 2017 the Hounds won 53-0 and walked away with a 42-28 win last season. The 53-0 blowout win was the largest margin of victory for the Greyhounds and the most points San Benito has scored against their rival.