After four games, the Balers are still searching for that
perfect, four-quarter game. But Friday, they got half the equation
right.
Using a swarming defense, which continuously got pressure on the
quarterback, the Balers forced a 21-21 tie with Willow Glen in
front of their home crowd.
HOLLISTER
After four games, the Balers are still searching for that perfect, four-quarter game. But Friday, they got half the equation right.
Using a swarming defense, which continuously got pressure on the quarterback, the Balers forced a 21-21 tie with Willow Glen in front of their home crowd.
Despite playing three teams considered among the best schools in the Central Coast Section, the tie moves San Benito’s record to 1-2-1 going into league play next week.
But a tie was nothing to celebrate for the Balers – instead the game will serve as motivation moving forward.
“I’m going to take it as a loss,” starting linebacker Jonathan Huaracha said. “I don’t see nothing coming out of it. We need to go into next week and we need to work hard and take league by storm.”
To coach Chris Cameron the game represented a missed opportunity for the Balers, who led 21-6 late in the second quarter.
“We had an opportunity but we didn’t play well enough in the second half,” Cameron said.
But the problem wasn’t the defense, who shut down the Willow Glen’s passing attack and quarterback Mitchell Ravizza for a majority of the game.
Ravizza threw the ball 40 times for the Rams, but only completed 19 attempts for 227 yards.
On the ground, Ravizza carried the ball 15 times for 108 yards and two touchdowns. But when the Balers needed a stop they were able to control the Rams.
“I thought we did great on the run because obviously they couldn’t run nothing,” Huaracha said.
The defense was the main reason why the Rams didn’t blow out the Balers at Andy Hardin Field, Cameron said.
“We gave them a lot of opportunities, the score could have been them winning by two touchdowns but we stopped them,” Cameron said. “The defense was very good.”
On offense, the Balers relied on a heavy rushing attacking, giving the ball to seven different ball carriers including quarterback Michael Bocksnick.
Once again, Bocksnick was the offensive leader for the Balers, evading tacklers as he took option plays around the offensive line.
Bocksnick ran for 113 yards on 13 carries, including a 40-yard scamper down the left sideline that put the Balers ahead 7-6 and answered an early first quarter Willow Glen score.
On the play, Bocksnick faked a long pass – forcing Ram defenders to jump in the air – and tucked the ball away to take off down the left side of the line. Avoiding tacklers, Bocksnick cut to the middle of the field around the 10-yard line to fall into the end zone.
Through the air, Bocksnick tossed one touchdown, going 4-10 for 43 yards. The touchdown pass – to Robert Soto – gave the Balers their largest lead of the day.
With about three minutes left in the half, the Balers finished a slow, methodical drive with a leaping catch by Soto. The ball from Bocksnick was placed perfectly over the hands of the Rams’ defender as Soto leaped over to grab the ball near the front-corner of the end zone.
Wrestling for the ball, Soto kept a foot in bounds to give the Balers the important points. But it was the last time the Balers would score on the night.
Sophomore running back Zak Hicks pounded the ground for the Balers, taking 18 hand-offs for 90 yards.
Jacob De Leon rushed for 50 yards on seven carries and Anthony Cervantes contributed 24 yards and a touchdown for the Balers on six carries.
The ground game allowed the Balers to chew up time in the first half and give the team a commanding 21-6 lead. But that’s when the game changed.
Despite the success of the ground game, the Balers struggled to get first downs – especially in the second half follwing a 30-minute halftime delay because of lightening.
“In the second half we just got delayed there – that storm really killed us,” Hicks said. “We just came in and settled down and we weren’t as fired up as before. We tried … I have to give it to the defense – they did a great job. But the offense – we couldn’t get a first down to save our life.”
Hicks thought the delay killed the Balers’ first half momentum.
“We were just bad,” he said. “We just sat there for a while. It was hard to get fired up again. I honestly think it was the reason.”
It was the Rams’ veteran leadership that allowed them to come out in the second half as the better team, Cameron said.
“They handled it better than we did,” Cameron said. “They have more veterans on that team. I would say that since both teams had to go through it … they handled it better than we did.”
Cameron hopes the Balers can use the tie as a stepping stone for league play Friday.
“We are still searching for the four quarters of football, hopefully we’ll figure that out soon,” he said. “To me, we are a little bit behind schedule.”
The Balers begin league play Friday as they host Alisal at 7:30 p.m.
Willow Glen 6 7 0 8 – 21
San Benito 7 14 0 0 – 21
First Quarter
WG – De La Rocah 5-yard pass from Ravizza (Ravizza kick no good) 7:57
SB – Bocksnick 40-yard run (Canes kick) 4:40
Second Quarter
SB – Cervantes 3-yard run (Canes kick) 10:09
SB – Soto 19-yard pass from Bocksnick (Canes kick) 3:46
WG – Ravizza 10-yard run (Ravizza kick) :55
Third Quarter
No score
Fourth Quarter
WG – Ravizza 12-yard run (2 point conversion good) 6:23
RUSHING – SB: Cervantes 6-14, Bocksnick 13-113, De Leon 7-50, Hicks 18-90, Valencia 1- -6, Cameron 2-8, Perez 2-21; WG: Ravizza 15-108, Haysbert 1-0.
PASSING – SB: Bocksnick 4-10-0-43; WG: Ravizza 19-40-0-227.
RECEIVING – SB: Soto 3-38, Adamson 1-5; WG: Bigger 4-36, Jenkerson 3-112, De La Rocha 4-24, Johnson 5-34, Gotelli 3-34.
SACKS – SB; Huaracha 1- – 4, Orozco 1- -6, Perez 1- -3; WG: Heinkel 1- -6
