Falcons prevail in dramatic fashion

BY MIKE GONZALEZ
The Brownsville Herald

SAN BENITO — October 14, 2006 — The Los Fresnos Falcons stormed into the new Bobby Morrow Stadium and crashed the party.

After the Falcons blew a 10-point halftime lead and trailed by 11 with 7:21, Los Fresnos scored two late touchdowns and escaped with a remarkable 38-35 District 32-5A win in the inaugural new home of San Benito in front of approximately 12,000 fans.

The Falcons are now tied for first place with Weslaco, which won its contest against Rivera.

Trailing 35-24 with just over six minutes left in the contest, Los Fresnos (3-0 in 32-5A, 6-0 overall) had a 4th and 1 from their own 49. Luis Campos not only was able to get the first down, but also rumbled 51 yards to pay dirt to cut the margin at 35-30 after the failed two-point conversion.

With 6:08 still left, Falcons coach Scott Ford did a surprise onside kick, but the Greyhounds were able to recover at their own 47. Though the attempt failed, Los Fresnos got the biggest break of the game. On San Benito’s first play, running back Abel Aguirre fumbled on his carry and Rod Kirkconneol recovered the fumble right at midfield.

After that, the Falcons went for the jugular.

On the first play, quarterback Jeremy Springer (16-of-31, 249 yards) found wide receiver Esia Rivera (7 catches, 134 yards) for a 44-yard reception, setting up a first and goal from the four. Springer (14 carries, 63 yards, 2s touchdowns) then scored the go-ahead touchdown and Campos’ two-point conversion put Los Fresnos up 38-35 with 5:30 left.

Ford said the play that set up the score was one Springer and Rivera had begged him to call all night, and the fourth-year Falcon coach finally gave them the green light.

“I think they were telling me and not asking me,” Ford joked. “I told them ‘GO FOR IT!’”

By then the momentum had changed. After the Greyhounds (2-1, 4-2) went three-and out, Los Fresnos ate the last 4:33 to secure the victory.

“I have to give it up to San Benito, but I felt we had the best heart,” Springer said. “(The win) showed how much heart we had. Great job to all of us.”


That includes Campos and the Falcon offensive line. Behind the line, Campos rushed for 167 yards, three touchdowns on 20 carries.

After leading 24-14 at halftime, Los Fresnos did San Benito a big favor by turning the ball over three times, four total, which led to 14 points. On top of that, it looked as if Campos scored a touchdown late in third after he extended the ball toward the goal-line, but instead fumbled it, leading to a touchback after the San Benito recovery.

“We just had to keep our heads up,” Campos said. “Everybody makes mistakes, and we just had to keep going.”

Thankfully for the Falcons, their heads didn’t stay down as they managed to make comeback. For the game, the Los Fresnos offense was able to rack up 458 yards against the No. 1 defense in 32-5A.

For San Benito coach Mario Peña, the disappointment was obvious after giving up the lead.

“We let it slip,” Peña said. “We let it get away.”

The Falcons went up 7-0 on a 20-yard run by Springer for the first ever score in the new stadium. Los Fresnos increased its lead to 14-0 on Campos’ five-yard scamper in the first quarter.

The Greyhounds were able to make some noise in the second with two touchdowns from Aguirre (12 carries, 42 yards) and wide receiver Greg Castillo. For the night Castillo had seven receptions, 81 yards and scored three times including the last two touchdowns, which gave San Benito a 35-24 lead.

Castillo’s second score was in the third quarter on a seven yarder from quarterback Raymond De Los Santos (10-27-115, 3 touchdowns) after the Greyhounds recovered a Los Fresnos fumble by second string quarterback Danny Silva.

Then, his last came midway through the fourth on a 25-yard fly pattern that gave San Benito its 10-point cushion.

mgonzalez@brownsvilleherald.com

Posted on Oct 14, 06 | 11:08 pm