San Benito quarterback Erick Retta threw four scoring tosses to help build a huge lead the Greyhounds never relinquished as they breezed past Brownsville Hanna 49-20, keeping the top-ranked ‘Hounds unbeaten on the season.
Retta, the junior quarterback who’s steered the Valley’s top-ranked offensive unit all season, upped his season TD pass total to 22, while backup Aaron Medrano came in and tossed another as San Benito rolled up better than 300 yards through the air.
With the victory, San Benito (8-0 overall, 5-0 District 32-6A) remains tied atop the district with 5-0 Harlingen, a winner over Los Fresnos on Friday. With two games remaining, (San Benito at Weslaco, Harlingen at Hanna) the neighboring rivals could be headed for a colossal Battle of the Arroyo at Boggus Stadium in two weeks.
But the ‘Hounds certainly are not looking ahead, and their performance against the Eagles (3-5, 2-3) proved that point.
After a Hanna punt to start the game, Retta and the offense came out smokin’. On the fifth play from scrimmage, halfback Mars Morales ran a crossing route and took his reception 52 yards to paydirt.
Another Eagle punt gave it back to the ‘Hounds and Retta connected with Jacob Cavazos, who avenged a couple of early drops with a 54-yard scoring play, making it 14-0 San Benito with 4:05 in the first. Yet another punt resulted in a touchdown for the ‘Hounds when Retta found a wide-open Mitch Guajardo, who dove into the end zone to complete a pretty 19-yard touchdown with 10:33 to go in the second quarter.
The War Dog lead swelled to 28-0 when Rene Garcia took a Retta pass and scored from 17 yards out. With 2:26 to go before half, Medrano came in and lofted a pass for Isaac Pope, who hauled in a three-yarder to make it 35-0, the score at halftime.
An uneventful third quarter ensued until San Benito’s Tyrone Harper ran in a six-yard score, pushing the lead to 42-0 late in the third.
It was then that Hanna, suffocated by a swarming San Benito defense in the first half, showed signs of life late in the game.
Chris Cardenas got behind the Greyhound defense to catch a 33-yard TD, while Jaime Gonzalez cashed in the Eagles’ next possession with a 36-yard scoring run. Quarterback Ernie Benavides rounded things out for Hanna with an 11-yard run midway through the fourth.
San Benito’s Medrano closed the scoring with a 27-yard score with 2:35 left.