SAN BENITO — Chances are Campbell Speights will likely have a successful career running the football for McAllen Memorial, just like his brother Trevor did.
But the prospects are even better that the freshman won’t soon forget the first time he played San Benito.
The top-ranked Greyhounds’ defense was relentless on Friday night, limiting the phenom running back to 82 yards on the ground while on the other side wide receiver Isaiah Trevino caught three TDs as they blasted the Mustangs 35-7 to stay perfect on the young season.
San Benito (3-0) showed its grit by allowing less than 185 total yards to the Mustangs (1-2) and forcing four turnovers to give its high-octane offense chances for big plays, namely by the speedy junior Trevino.
“We played our hardest to stop them, that was our number one goal,” said ’Hounds senior linebacker Emilio Garza, who spearheaded coordinator Mike Mull’s unit with a sack, several tackles and a two fumble recoveries. “We had to make sure our assignments were taken care of.”
While the War Dog defense took care of Memorial’s offense by forcing a three-and-out to start the game, San Benito’s offense, which is averaging more than 500 yards per outing, got cranked up in a hurry.
Just after crossing midfield, quarterback Erick Retta slashed through the line and raced 48 yards for the ’Hounds’ opening score with 8:06 in the first quarter. San Benito then went up 14-0 when Retta found Trevino in the flat and the speedster zipped for a 53-yard TD. Jooan Lopez caught the conversion pass with 1:22 in the first. In between, SB’s Payne Guajardo recovered a Mustang fumble.
Early in the second, Retta connected with Trevino again. Trevino hauled in the pass near the sideline, made an “excuse-me” move and darted 46 yards to paydirt and a 21-0 lead.
Later, a 14-play drive for Memorial produced no points and the Mustangs did not score until Angel Almaguer found Will Garcia on a 7-yard fade to make it 21-7 with five ticks left before intermission. Memorial tallied just 114 yards at the break, with most (50) coming on that final drive.
In the third, Memorial came out with a surprise onside kick and recovered, but Garza was everywhere and recovered his second fumble three plays later. That set up a beautiful 22-yard TD reception from Dante Zuniga with 8:26 left in the third, making it 28-7 San Benito.
Trevino, who on the night had five grabs for 157 yards, capped his hat-trick when backup quarterback Aaron Medrano hit him over the middle on a 41-yard score.
The Greyhounds will now rest a week before opening up District 32-6A play at Los Fresnos and their coach said it gives them a chance to fine-tune and correct over the break.
“We had some fumbles tonight but playing against a good squad (Memorial) is always fun because it’s a physical game,” ’Hounds coach Dan Gomez said.