ARMANDO GARZA | Staff Writer
SAN BENITO — With just over four minutes left in a tie ballgame, Cristian Sierra had his shot to assert himself.
And with help from wideout Victor Gaitan, kicker Alejandro Lugo and a gritty defense, the San Benito quarterback certainly helped his team pass its first true litmus test on Friday night.
Sierra guided the Greyhounds on a 67-yard drive which ended with Lugo’s 27-yard eventual-game winning field goal as they held off Los Fresnos 17-14 at Bobby Morrow Stadium in the Valley Morning Star’s Game of the Week.
The senior QB willed his way to 101 yards rushing along with 163 passing while Gaitan was the go-to man with 102 yards receiving on five grabs. In addition, the ‘Hounds defense clamped down on the Falcons’ run game, allowing just 184 yards and earning a team win that the program has preached since the spring.
“I was real calm and focused on the drive. Just trying to help our team get down and score,” Sierra said. “We really wanted to score a touchdown, but we got that field goal which ended up winning the game.
We’ve been working hard all week. We saw they (Falcons) were coming back after we let them get that first touchdown. They came back with the momentum; they’re a good team. But we’re a good team, also. I just talked to everybody in the locker room and told them to keep playing War Dog football and we’d win.”
And win the ‘Hounds (3-2 overall, 2-0 District 32-6A) did. But not without a stiff challenge from Los Fresnos.
San Benito struck first, scoring on its first two drives as the offense was in high gear. Sierra steered the ‘Hounds on a 75-yard drive which ended with his one-yard TD and later the speedy Armando Medrano ran around end for a 12-yard score to put the Greyhounds up 14-0 with 2:25 left in the first quarter.
Los Fresnos (3-2, 1-1) appeared ready to claw back, but a 15-play drive ended with a fumble inside the Greyhound 20 early in the second. Then on their next possession, the Falcons failed to capitalize by missing a field goal. All night, their running game which ran wild against Lopez last week was corralled by a strong San Benito effort.
But with 1:11 left before half, the Falcons, who’d rallied a couple weeks ago at PSJA North, got to work. Back to back 13-yard passes to David Guerrero got them out past the 30 yard line. Then a San Benito interception was wiped out due to a penalty, putting the Falcons in Greyhound territory. With seconds left before half, quarterback Pierce Ruiz lofted a pass into the end zone and found the waiting Miguel Garcia for a 35-yard touchdown with no time left on the clock.
Late in the third, the Falcons’ Robert Lopez recovered a fumble near midfield and would cash in the turnover on a one-yard run from Eli Cruz. With Martin Ornelas hitting the PAT, the Falcons knotted the score at 14 with 10:52 left in the game and momentum had obviously shifted.
The teams traded jabs and before Lugo’s field goal to put the Greyhounds up by three with 2:05 to go in the game.
With the ball and a timeout, Los Fresnos started at its own 13 and went backward to their 8. On 4th-and-15, Ruiz found Pete Perez for a 20-yard gain and first down, but the play was negated by an illegal man downfield penalty. The do-over fell incomplete, giving the game to San Benito as penalties (12 for 104 yards total) doomed the Falcons.
“Penalties made all the difference in the world,” Los Fresnos head coach Clint Finley said. “We shot ourselves in the foot and you can’t do that against a good football team. That’s a very talented football team (in San Benito).”
With a lot of football left, no one was claiming anything on the San Benito sideline. But for the ‘Hounds, it truly was a gutsy effort against one of 32-6A’s top squads.
“Our defensive coaches did a helluva job all week long putting together a scheme and the kids executed it,” San Benito head coach Dan Gomez said. “Our kids are resilient and we’ve known that all season. They’ll fight to the end. We knew that if we had an opportunity and the end of the game, our chances to win would be high.”
Already matching last season’s win total, San Benito not has much to play for in the annual Battle of the Arroyo against Harlingen, which is also 2-0 in the league.
“It’s real big for us. This is my first year as the quarterback and I love each and every one of my teammates. We’re gonna work hard to be ready for them (Harlingen),” Sierra said.