By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
SAN BENITO — Brownsville Hanna coach Mark Guess told his team it needed to believe it could walk out of Bobby Morrow Stadium with a win Friday night if it wanted to beat the San Benito Greyhounds.
The Golden Eagles didn’t just believe. They wanted it and they fought for it, and they earned a District 32-6A southeast zone win over San Benito, 20-13.
“Coach (Jose Ramirez) told them, ‘If you’re not laser focused, don’t come onto this field,’ and I’ll tell you what, these guys came out and played their butts off,” Guess said. “In that last timeout I told them, ‘This is the game-winning drive right now,’ and I’ll be darned if they didn’t get it done.”
Hanna took the lead with 2:39 remaining in the game on a 5-yard rushing touchdown from sophomore running back Kriz Pena and a successful PAT by junior Thomas Green. Senior quarterback Diego Escovar found senior receiver Ryan Trinidad for a 15-yard gain to set up the score.
With his team trailing by one touchdown, quarterback Elijah Hernandez got San Benito moving downfield with a completed pass to receiver Jermaine Corbin and a 13-yard scramble for first downs.
But a big sack by junior defensive lineman Humberto Garcia got the Hanna defense fired up. After an incomplete deep pass to Corbin, who was covered well all night by senior defensive back Edgar Zertuche, Trinidad raced across the field to swat away another pass intended for Corbin.
Escovar followed that play with a hard hit on San Benito receiver Rodney Rodriguez to knock the pass he was trying to secure incomplete. On fourth-and-10, Hernandez overshot the outstretched hands of Rodriguez to turn the ball over on downs with 1:01. Victory formation ran out the clock as the Hanna sideline roared.
“That’s what I expect our defense to look like,” Guess said. “We saw shades of it last year, but we just weren’t getting that last stop. Tonight, they put the pressure on themselves and they were well-prepared. Hats off to San Benito, they’re a great ball club and a great program. We were just fortunate tonight to get the ‘W.’”
San Benito found the end zone on its opening drive as Hernandez found Corbin in the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown pass. Hernandez attempted to run it in on the 2-point conversion, but Hanna made the stop. The offense couldn’t get much going for the rest of the opening quarter, and a bad snap on a punt after a three-and-out set up Hanna’s first score.
Golden Eagles senior defensive back Andrick Flores recovered the stray snap on San Benito’s 6-yard line, then Escovar connected with Trinidad, his favorite target on the night, for a 3-yard touchdown pass. Trinidad made the play despite solid double coverage from the Greyhounds. Green made the PAT to give Hanna a 7-6 lead.
San Benito found some momentum during the second quarter. Hernandez rushed for a fourth-down conversion to get into Hanna territory, but junior linebacker Ramon Reyes took the wind out of the sails with an interception.
Hanna took over on San Benito’s 44-yard-line and got down inside the 30 after a powerful run by Pena. Then, the Greyhounds turned the tides as outside linebacker Aaron Reyes forced a fumble that was recovered by defensive back Leonel Fuentes, who had a monster game. Fuentes made a number of tackles and notched an interception during the third quarter.
San Benito drove 72 yards thanks to big gains in the air as Hernandez hit receivers Justyn Martinez and Cristian Alvarado. Running back Kyler Castelleja capped the drive with a 3-yard rushing score, and a successful PAT from Yahir Reyes made it 13-7 Greyhounds.
Hanna had chances to cut into the lead before halftime, but the Golden Eagles’ offense couldn’t capitalize. They turned the ball over a second time as Greyhounds defensive end Gabriel Sandoval knocked the ball loose and defensive end Zachary Galvan recovered.
The Golden Eagles did take advantage of opportunities during the second half. They turned an interception by junior defensive back Anthony Ambriz into a 27-yard touchdown pass from Escovar to junior receiver Ethan Pena to tie the game at 13. A high snap on the PAT forced Escovar, the holder, to improvise, and his pass was intercepted by linebacker Robert Trevino.
Solid defense and a long drive aided by San Benito penalties and good play from Escovar, Trinidad and Pena set up the win for the Golden Eagles down the stretch.
“Excitement man, that’s the only way I can describe this,” Escovar said. “This was our Super Bowl right here. We came out with the dub, and it’s an amazing feeling. After (the Garcia) sack, I felt like we had it in the bag. We always tell ourselves, ‘Go 1-0 each day.’ We went 1-0 today, and we’re one step closer to that gold ball. That’s our goal, get that gold ball and go deep into the playoffs.”
Greyhounds coach Dan Gomez appreciated the fight his team showed all the way through, but the self-inflicted errors were too much to overcome.
“We kept on fighting all the way to the end. We just had some mistakes that didn’t help us, and Hanna played good,” Gomez said. “We just have to focus more and execute the things that are asked, and keep on working. (Penalties, special teams and turnovers) are things we stress in practice, we just got to do a better job of being focused.”