Nobody will win a trophy Friday at the Salinas Sports Complex. Instead something more important will be on the line – a Tri-County Athletic League championship.
After tallying five league wins, and allowing only 24 total points, San Benito has given itself a chance to do something it hasn’t done since 2005 – win the TCAL championship. Standing in the Balers’ way, though, is undefeated Palma, which has beaten San Benito in each of the past five years.
Like always, playing the private school will be a tough task for San Benito, but the players seem ready for it.
“Palma is one of the big, bigger schools out there,” captain and center Zach Szyndrowski said. “Personally, I haven’t beat Palma. I come out to practice every week saying ‘I have to win, I have to win.’ They’ve got big kids, but our job on Friday is to ground and pound, and beat them.”
The key for San Benito is to keep the same consistent message the coaching staff has preached all season long, head coach Chris Cameron said.
“There isn’t anything extra special we are doing on the field,” Cameron said. “We are delivering a consistent message – it’s always the same. There is nothing extra special going on, but defensively, we have a really sound gameplan. Our kids have learned a lot of what we are doing at this point in the season.”
And San Benito will rely on its defensive front seven anchored by linebackers Jonathan Huaracha, Damon Perez and Ryan Di Salvo. The defense will have to slow down Palma rushing leader Jack Meyers, who has run for 922 yards and 15 touchdowns on 137 carries. His backup, Marcus Washington, has been just as effective, running for 658 yards on 107 carries.
Slowing down Meyers and the running game will be San Benito’s focal point but luckily, that’s the defense’s strength.
“We’ve done a really good job on that stuff,” Cameron said. “But you have to be ready on any given snap. We have a good chance – we have a better chance than we’ve ever had.”
And the players realize that.
Di Salvo believes the team needs to be, and will be, prepared to slow down Palma’s attack.
“They play hard every second of the game – they are undefeated,” Di Salvo said. “They are a good team so we have to make sure we do our assignments and make sure we are prepared to beat them. It’s huge, this is a huge game.”
It’s the second time in three years the Balers head to Palma undefeated in league with a chance to win the TCAL title. The last time – in 2009 – the Balers fell after they went for a two-point conversion while down one point in the game’s final seconds. Wanting to avoid a tie, San Benito went for the win.
Last year, the Balers led in the fourth quarter only to allow a last-minute Palma touchdown.
This year, San Benito hopes to finish off Palma.
“This game is always tough for us, it always goes down to the wire,” Di Salvo said. “Hopefully, we can finish it off.”
Szyndrowski expects the most out of his team.
“This week is going to be one of the toughest weeks because they are a really big line and they are tough,” he said. “They are going to play us tough. We are going to have to play the best game we ever had to play. I just told them to know your assignments and play every down 100 percent and just play your heart out.”
He continued, “It’s going to be a great game.”
And it’s one of the many reasons why Palma can be considered just as big of a rival as Gilroy.
“Palma is another big rival because it’s always a battle between first and second – something is always on the line,” Szyndrowski said. “You can say Palma, you can say Gilroy. It goes either way.”
For Cameron, Palma is easily San Benito’s biggest game every year.
“When you post the schedule, it’s the one you look for,” he said. “There is a reason why they are on the schedule last.”
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