By FRANCISCO E. JIMENEZ
Special to the PRESS
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the historic campaign of the 1961 San Benito Greyhound football team, an unforgettable squad of savvy go-getters who came a game shy of reaching the state championship game.
That year, the team set the bar for generations of Greyhound football as the epitome San Benito sports. In 1961, among the ’Hounds star players were halfback Ray Saldaña and All-State halfback Jim Helms.
The latter of who has seen his fair share of success on the football field since. “Back in that time, it was more of a power running game, so you had to be more of a power back. That kind of transformed into being more of a scatback. It was kind of a combination of a powerback and a scatback,” said Helms, who now resides on South Padre Island. “(Greyhound football) hasn’t really changed, as far as the enthusiasm. I think the town is still as enthused about it as it’s always been. Obviously the players change, they get bigger, stronger and faster than what they used to be. As far as the town and the enthusiasm, I think it’s still there.”
To see this story in print, pick up a copy of the July 18 edition of the Port Isabel South Padre Press or check out our E-edition by clicking here.
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