MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
SAN BENITO — When the Battle of the Arroyo looked out of reach with Harlingen leading 21-3, the San Benito Greyhounds’ offense finally showed what it can do
The Greyhounds scored 22 points in the last 5:07 to overcome a 21-3 fourth-quarter deficit and bounced the Harlingen Cardinals 25-21 on Friday night at Bobby Morrow Stadium.
After the Hounds cut the lead to 21-18, San Benito’s Skylar Garcia recovered an onside kick with 1:08 to go, setting up a game-winning 29-yard touchdown pass from Cristian Sierra to Armando Medrano.
San Benito (4-2, 3-0) now has at least a share of the top spot in District 32-6A after four weeks, while Harlingen (3-3, 2-1) droped its first district game.
Brownsville Veterans plays Hanna tonight and are 2-0 in district.
The Greyhounds were out of timeouts on their last two drives, but they made plays through the air in the hurry-up offense despite several dropped passes on the night.
“It was tough without timeouts and time running down, but we executed and came out with the ‘W’,” Medrano said after the game.
On the night, the Greyhounds had missed opportunities that led to Harlingen’s lead.
San Benito fumbled the night’s opening kickoff and lost a fumble on its first punt of the second half on a fake attempt.
The Cards turned both into touchdowns from Fidencio Gonzalez and Michael Allen Gonzalez.
Despite the win, San Benito coach Dan Gomez believes his team has to play better and cash in on some opportunities of their own.
”If anyone has been to our games they’ve seen (what we could do all year); we take it one play at a time,” Gomez said. “We will go to the tape and I guarantee you we’ll fix those things. Those mistakes are on me as a head coach, but they’ll be corrected.”
The Hounds also lost a fumble on the Harlingen 1-yard line that would’ve given them a lead late in the first half, but instead the Cards held a 7-3 lead.
Harlingen looked to put the game away after forcing a turnover on downs leading 14-3 early in the fourth that set up an Allen Gonzalez 96-yard scamper to make it 21-3 with less than nine minutes to play.
Then the floodgates opened on the Harlingen defense as next three drives would end in a 4 yard touchdown from San Benito‘s Gabriel Vasquez plus a two-point conversion, a 28-yard touchdown pass from Sierra to RJ Atkinson that topped off a 96-yard drive and the game-winning toss to Medrano which was set up by the onside kick.
Aside from the fumbles and a defensive stop to set up scores for the Cardinals, their offense struggled throughout.
In the end, San Benito capitalized on their onside kick and big-play catches by receivers.
“They made more plays than we did, we had a couple of our defensive backs go down, but we competed and that’s what matters,” Harlingen head coach Manny Gomez said. “Certain things worked for us, but some didn’t. You have to give credit to San Benito’s defense. We also never saw them throw the ball to (Atkinson) and then they do and he makes a play. It’s the name of the game.”
Battle of the Arroyo
HARLINGEN — The following are the year-by-year results of the annual Battle of the Arroyo between the Harlingen Cardinals and San Benito Greyhounds. Friday’s game was the 85th anniversary of the Battle. Harlingen leads the all-time series 59-21-5 and 2-0 in the postseason.
1930: Harlingen, 19-0
1931: Harlingen, 19-6
1932: San Benito, 6-0
1933: San Benito, 30-0
1934: San Benito, 13-0
1935: Harlingen, 13-0
1936: San Benito, 6-0
1937: San Benito, 13-12
1938: Harlingen, 13-7
1939: Harlingen, 41-6
1940: Harlingen, 19-0
1941: Harlingen, 28-20
1942: San Benito, 32-6
1943: Harlingen, 20-0
1944: 6-6 tie
1945: San Benito, 7-0
1946: Harlingen, 16-14
1947: Harlingen, 31-0
1948: San Benito, 32-7
1949: Harlingen, 19-6
1950: Harlingen, 52-18
1951: Harlingen, 13-0
1952: Harlingen, 13-7
1953: Harlingen, 55-19
1954: Harlingen, 52-13
1955: Harlingen, 20-19
1956: Harlingen, 27-12
1957: Harlingen, 20-6
1958: San Benito, 26-18
1959: Harlingen, 28-6
1960: San Benito, 29-6
1961: San Benito, 30-6
1962: San Benito, 25-6
1963: 0-0 tie
1964: Haringen, 20-0
1965: San Benito, 13-9
1966: Harlingen, 9-0
1967: San Benito, 7-0
1968: Harlingen, 27-0
1969: Harlingen, 40-0
1970: Harlingen, 36-14
1971: Harlingen, 35-12
1972: Harlingen, 41-0
1973: Harlingen, 23-0
1974: 7-7 tie
1975: Harlingen, 27-7
1976: Harlingen, 19-0
1977: Harlingen, 15-0
1978: Harlingen, 42-7
1979: Harlingen, 29-7
1980: Harlingen, 27-0
1981: Harlingen, 28-7
1982: Harlingen, 35-30
1983: Harlingen, 13-11
1984: Harlingen, 20-0
1985: Harlingen, 27-7
1986: Harlingen, 49-0
1987: Harlingen, 20-8
1988: Harlingen, 43-6
1989: Harlingen, 27-2
1990: Harlingen, 15-0
1991: Harlingen, 21-13
1992: Harlingen, 27-16
1993: 18-18 tie
1994: 21-21 tie
1995: San Benito, 15-6
1996: Harlingen, 43-18
1997: Harlingen, 21-10
1998: Harlingen, 20-12
1999: San Benito, 8-0
2000: Harlingen, 21-14
2001: Harlingen, 21-20
2002: Harlingen, 28-10
2003: Harlingen, 54-14
2004: San Benito, 35-32
2005: Harlingen, 29-22
2006: San Benito, 29-0
2007: San Benito, 15-4
2008: Harlingen, 34-17
2009: Harlingen 35-6
2009: Harlingen 41-21 (playoff)
2010: Harlingen 45-21
2010: Harlingen 49-14 (playoff)
2011: Harlingen 49, San Benito 7
2012: San Bentio 7, Harlingen 3
2013: Harlingen 54, San Benito 0
2014: San Benito 25, Harlingen 21