San Benito freshmen football team goes 10-0 for the first time
since 1998
By the Numbers …
San Benito went 10-0 and outscored its opponents by a 301-78
margin. Its closest margin of victory was 13, it allowed
double-digit point totals to an opponent only three times, and, on
average, defeated opponents by more 22 points per game.
It didn’t take too long for Herb Bocksnick to figure out what he
had exactly. In fact, the Haybalers had just wrapped up a Week 3
victory over Palo Alto when the head coach of the San Benito
freshmen football team began to believe a perfect, undefeated
season was realistic.
”
We talked about 10-0 the day we met. It’s a goal we set every
year,
”
Bocksnick said.
”
But I think everyone knew we had something good going on once we
beat Palo Alto, because that was a good football team.
”
San Benito freshmen football team goes 10-0 for the first time since 1998
By the Numbers …
San Benito went 10-0 and outscored its opponents by a 301-78 margin. Its closest margin of victory was 13, it allowed double-digit point totals to an opponent only three times, and, on average, defeated opponents by more 22 points per game.
It didn’t take too long for Herb Bocksnick to figure out what he had exactly. In fact, the Haybalers had just wrapped up a Week 3 victory over Palo Alto when the head coach of the San Benito freshmen football team began to believe a perfect, undefeated season was realistic.
“We talked about 10-0 the day we met. It’s a goal we set every year,” Bocksnick said. “But I think everyone knew we had something good going on once we beat Palo Alto, because that was a good football team.”
“Even though that was Week 3,” he later added.
Sure, it’s the goal of every prep football team in the area — an undefeated season, although it’s not always a practical one.
But after a 28-12 victory over North Salinas to open the season, followed by a 21-7 win against San Lorenzo Valley, the San Benito frosh delivered a 20-7 triumph against Palo Alto in Week 3, a come-from-behind victory that catapulted the Balers to win-out the remaining seven games on their schedule.
And none of the games were all that close. San Benito went 10-0 this season for the first time since 1998, and outscored its opponents by a 301-78 margin.
The tightest victory (a 19-6 win against Everett Alvarez) was 13; it allowed double-digit point totals just three times all season (North Salinas and Alisal twice); and it defeated Watsonville by a final score of 54-0.
On average, San Benito defeated its 10 opponents by more than 22 points per game.
“I knew we were going to be a good, solid football team,” Bocksnick said. “I knew we’d win a lot of ball games, but I didn’t anticipate going 10-0.”
Before the season even started, though, Bocksnick could see his Balers were going to be a strong, skilled unit with few weaknesses on either side of the ball. But perhaps more important, it was a team that entered the high school already with a built-in chemistry.
After all, it was only three years ago when many of the players on the freshmen team played for Hollister Pop Warner’s junior pee wee Vikings, a team which went 15-0 in 2007 and claimed the national championship in Orlando, Fla.
“That was really nice,” Bocksnick said. “I had a team with a lot of experience. They knew the game pretty well.”
In his 10th season coaching, Bocksnick has never led an undefeated team, while his previous best team record was in 2006, when the Balers enjoyed a 7-2-1 record and split the Tri-County Athletic League title with both Salinas and Palma.
This season, not only did San Benito eclipse that record, but it defeated Palma 29-6, the first win over the Chieftains since 1998.
Implementing a triple-option formation at the beginning of the year, similar to that of their varsity counterparts, the San Benito frosh ran the formation mostly out of the wishbone as the season progressed, and exhibited a smashmouth-style of play that is often synonymous with Baler football, even in their first year.
That grind-it-out approach helped solidify San Benito’s Week 3 victory over Palo Alto, a game in which the Balers trailed 7-6 in the fourth quarter.
“The fourth quarter is where we realized this group was pretty solid,” said Bocksnick, whose Balers scored two touchdowns in the final quarter en route to the 20-7 victory.
Although Bocksnick realized then what he had, the team’s 10-0 record as freshmen may only be a sign of things to come.
The last team to go undefeated at the freshmen level was in 1998. In 2001, those freshmen were seniors, and the Balers advanced to the CCS championship. It was a similar story about the 1996 freshmen team, too, which went 7-2-1 that year. In 2009, as seniors, they advanced to the CCS championship.
What may become of this year’s freshmen team remains to be seen, of course. But Bocksnick feels early success usually translates down the road.
Said Bocksnick, “It totally sets the tone for the next four years.”