By Ramiro Paez

956sports.com

SAN BENITO – After addressing his team, Harlingen High coach Manny Gomez turned and faced the madness that was unraveling behind him. Gomez, with almost an emotionless face, sternly watched a feverish celebration that not many outside the San Benito community may ever understand the significance of.

You see, there weren’t any underlying feelings. All that mattered to the Greyhounds in the 83rd Battle of the Arroyo was taking down a nemesis that’s been responsible for agonizing frustration the last five years in this rivalry.

On Friday night, that frustration turned into uncontrollable emotions. San Benito defensive back Nathan Mireles recorded two second-half interceptions that helped the Greyhounds to a 7-3 grind-out-victory against the Cardinals at Bobby Morrow Stadium.

Mireles’ second interception came in the winding moments as the Cardinals desperately tried to mount a comeback. When that final buzzer sounded, the San Benito sideline erupted as tears streamed down player’s faces, fireworks lit up Bobby Morrow Stadium and Gantt was hardly recognizable as a coach.

Gantt celebrated right along side his players as if he was one himself. It was a feeling he had never felt before since taking over the program in 2009.

“This is the most unbelievable feeling in the world,” Gantt said. “This is one thing that I have not been able to accomplish since I’ve been in San Benito and it was definitely on my goal list. My boys fought their butts off, and they just kept fighting and fighting and they got it done.”

And Gantt’s right. If it wasn’t for that “fight,” the result would have played out differently.

In what was a rare Battle of the Arroyo showcase, both teams significantly struggled to create any offense in a tightly-contested defensive juggernaut. With turnovers also plaguing both teams, it was evident the last team to make a mistake would fall.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it was them.

Harlingen quarterback Brandon Garza threw two costly interceptions in the fourth quarter that derailed any hope for a win.

“Our coach puts us in the perfect position to make a big play and we just have to execute,” Mireles said.

Which he did twice, including his game-changing 55-yard interception return with 5:04 remaining that set up the Greyhounds at the Harlingen 25. Two plays later, San Benito running back Arturo Coronado punched it in from 8 yards out that put the Greyhounds ahead 7-3.

“We’ve been dreaming about it since we were young,” Mireles said. “We finally got the opportunity to be the people that we saw, in their shoes. It’s huge. It’s huge. We’ve been putting in work since the end of last season and they’ve been marked on our calendar. We got ‘em.”

Mireles, a junior, was in sixth grade the last time San Benito defeated Harlingen, which came in 2007 in a 15-4 victory. The Greyhounds (2-0) also became the first Valley team to beat the Cardinals since PSJA North in 2008.

“This victory means the world,” Coronado said. “We really wanted this really bad.”

The Cardinals dropped their second consecutive game after being blanked by San Antonio Johnson last week. Even more alarming, it was Harlingen’s second straight game to get on track offensively.

Other than Samuel Bazan’s 21-yard field goal in the third quarter, which came off a Greyhounds turnover, the Cardinals struggled for offensive consistency. Like San Benito, which had only 128 total yards, Harlingen amassed 133 yards.

“They have a good defense,” Gomez said. “They made more plays than we did, bottom line. We got a young team on our side. It’s not about how you start, it’s about you finish. You can’t win them all.”