By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — Two of the best offenses met when Los Fresnos battled San Benito, but it was the defense that made the difference.
The Falcons’ defense did its job and the offense took advantage when it could as Los Fresnos held off San Benito 14-7 in The Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week in District 32-6A action Friday at Leo Aguilar Stadium.
“We had a great plan and the kids understood exactly what we wanted to do, and they did a great job of going out and executing,” Los Fresnos coach Clint Finley said.
After San Benito took a 7-6 lead during the third quarter, Los Fresnos answered in the fourth quarter when Rene Ortega hit Pete Perez on a 26-yard touchdown pass and added the 2-point conversion to take a 14-7 lead.
“They made some adjustments, and it wasn’t easy in the second half,” Finley said. “We went back to our home base (offense) and that allowed our kids to play with confidence, with speed. That was the adjustment we made, and it worked for us.”
The Los Fresnos and San Benito defenses were stout and limited the opponent’s offense during the first half. The teams played to a scoreless tie in the first quarter, and it wasn’t until midway through the second quarter that Los Fresnos broke through.
The Falcons got on the board when Ortega found Everardo Garate on a 28-yard pass for a touchdown, but the point-after attempt was missed and Los Fresnos held a 6-0 lead.
San Benito had a chance to tie the game or take the lead late in the second quarter, but the Falcons’ defense withstood two plays from the 1-yard line as the first half ran out.
“We didn’t execute,” San Benito coach Dan Gomez said. “They did a good job all night defending us, and at the same time we didn’t execute.”
San Benito finally took a 7-6 lead in the third quarter when JR Gaitan hit Armando Medrano on a 57-yard pass play, but Los Fresnos answered during the fourth quarter with Ortega’s pass to Perez for the score and the two-point conversion.
The Falcons had worn down the Greyhounds’ defense and capitalized on the gap in the pass coverage.
“Our defense was tired, they were. They played a great game tonight, but they had been out there too long,” Gomez said.
The Falcons’ defense held off a determined San Benito offense down the stretch. It stopped one drive on a sack on fourth down and stopped another by forcing a fumble late in the fourth.
“They did exactly what we wanted them to do, and that was part of that rust from last week,” Finley said. “We weren’t doing the things we needed to do. We got back to that, and it paid off big for us. We’re happy with the defensive play tonight.”
Gomez said his team wasn’t going to hang its head, especially with another big district game next week against Harlingen High.
“What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger,” he said. “We have to push forward and get back to work. No time to weep, we have a big one next week.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.