By KEVIN NARRO, Staff Writer
RIO GRANDE CITY — Laredo United quarterback Wayo Huerta and wideout Ricky Chapa combined on three touchdowns and caused problems all night for the San Benito secondary, and the Longhorns held off a San Benito rally en route to a 45-28 win in the Class 6A Division I area round Friday night.
“This is Wayo’s third year as a starter, and we saw him play as a sophomore,” San Benito coach Dan Gomez said. “We knew that we were going to have our hands full, but our kids came out and played hard. They stepped up to the challenge.”
The Longhorns advance to the third round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season and for the eighth time under coach David Sanchez. The ’Horns will meet Converse Judson at 8 p.m. Friday at the Alamodome.
“It is a tremendous feeling to make it back to the third round,” Sanchez said. “I’m really proud of these young men. They have worked extremely hard and fought till the end. San Benito made a run there towards the end, but we were able to answer.”
Laredo United came out swinging during the first quarter and used the home-run ability from Huerta and Chapa to jump out to a 24-0 lead in the second quarter.
The Huerta-Chapa combo shined. Their three scores came on throws of 70 yards, 48 yards and 41 yards. Leading 17-0, Tristian Vela intercepted a pass and returned it for a score, giving the Longhorns the 24-0 lead.
After a late-second-quarter Kyle Castelleja touchdown, the ’Hounds had some momentum heading into halftime, trailing 24-7. San Benito marched down the field on its first possession of the second half and trimmed the lead to 24-14.
On the next drive, Huerta fumbled and Aaron Reyes recovered for San Benito, setting up the offense deep in Longhorns territory. A few plays later, the ’Hounds got on the board and cut the deficit to 24-21.
That was as close as the ’Hounds got on the night. Huerta answered with his third score to Chapa that pushed the lead back to 31-21. After a Smiley Silva interception, Huerta tossed another score, this time to Luz Leal that gave United a comfortable 38-21 lead with 9:22 left.
Huerta finished the night with four passing touchdowns.
Silva answered with a 64-yard touchdown pass to Juan Constante late in the game that made it 38-28.
“We went in and talked to the kids at the half, and we felt they adjusted,” Gomez said. “We were able to get some drives going in that second half. I think there were a lot of moments in the game where it could have gone either way. They just had more positives that we did tonight.”
The Greyhounds end their season with a 7-5 record and a 4-1 mark in district play, along with a bi-district victory.