San Benito and McAllen Rowe (also known as ‘Nikki Rowe) battled it out in the state 7-on-7 consolation game Saturday afternoon at Kyle Field. The Greyhounds of San Benito won their first ever 7-on-7 championship in a showdown of the Valley schools with a 41-34 victory.

These two teams traveled more than seven hours to College Station and their two schools are a mere 42.2 miles apart in distance. Either way, the fans from each of the schools will likely remember this summer match up.

Greyhound senior quarterback Abel Aguirre was on point in the first half with touchdown passes to JC Guzman, Matt Montalvo, and Moe Sandell (2 times) to help San Benito to a 26-14 lead. For Rowe, it was Luis Martinez and Travis Chavin who caught the touchdown passes for the McAllen team.

To open the second half, Greyhound defensive back Brandon Anderson picked off a pass on Rowe’s opening drive in the end zone to give San Benito possession. Aguirre would hook up with Brandon Marquez to extend the Greyhound lead to 34-14.

Rowe athlete Ricky Soto responded with a touchdown pass followed by an interception that was nearly ran in for a touchdown. Soon after, Chavin caught another touchdown pass to close in on the Greyhound lead.

For Rowe, it was Soto again who intercepted a pass and back-doored that with a touchdown catch to tie the game at 34 apiece.

With less than two minutes remaining in the game, Leroy Zamora caught a 40-yard touchdown bomb from Aguirre that gave the Greyhounds the lead. Rowe had one last shot to the end zone, but the San Benito defense stood tough. On the next possession, San Benito ran the clock.

This 7-on-7 victory is the first in school history for the Rio Grande Valley school.

*Check back shortly for photo galleries*

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