By KEVIN NARRO | Valley Morning Star
SAN BENITO — The old saying, “To be the man you gotta beat the man,” held true Friday night.
Brownsville Hanna leaned on its rushing attack from running back Cesar Mancias, who ran 24 times for 105 yards, along with a three-rushing touchdown performance from Victor Campos en route to a 30-0 win over San Benito.
The win puts the Golden Eagles in sole possession of first place in District 32-6A at 3-0 with two games remaining in the regular season.
“ We have been preparing for this type of battle since I got to Hanna. My goal when I got here was to build a championship team,” Hanna coach Mark Guess said. “These kids put in the time and work, this has to be the biggest win for us in some time. For us to come into San Benito and to perform the way they performed, I’m so proud of these kids.”
Heading into the second half Hanna only led 7-0, but the Eagles scored on their first two drives to extend their lead to 16-0 with 1:08 left in the third quarter.
“ I feel great right now, to come in here and get a win and be ahead in the district,” Mancias said. “This week of practice was intense, all of us knew what was on the line and we knew what we had to do.”
The big blow came in the fourth quarter. San Benito had a 67-yard touchdown called back due to holding, a score that would have made it a 16-7 game.
Instead, the momentum stayed with the Eagles. Campos later scored his third TD of the night, pushing the lead 23-0.
Campos scored twice from the goal line and ran for a 52-yard TD during the first quarter. Campos finished with 98 yards on the ground on 11 carries.
“ On offense, we knew what we had,” Mancias said. “We knew what we had to do going into the second half. We didn’t adjust much, we just stuck to our game plan. We are going to enjoy this but we will be back to work tomorrow, and we still need to win these next two games to win district.”
Hanna’s defense was lights out all night. Johnny Aleman put the nail in the coffin with a 53-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles’ defense held San Benito quarterback Jacob Cavazos in check by only allowing 44 yards on the ground on 11 carries.
“ Without a doubt, this is our best performance against a solid team,” Guess said. “San Benito is a great ballclub, and for us to be able to pitch a shutout is incredible. We believe we have the best defense, and tonight our boys took the field and showed it.”
Hanna will now meet Los Fresnos next week, and San Benito has a date with Brownsville Rivera.