Behind quarterback Trevor Fabing’s two touchdowns, Nick Acosta’s
102 yards rushing and Andre Cornell’s 109 yards receiving, as well
as a Balers defense that forced four turnovers and pocketed another
touchdown all by itself, San Benito sent shockwaves through the
Central Coast Section on Friday night when it romped Wilcox 31-7,
showing Cameron exactly what their made of.
SANTA CLARA
Prior to Friday night’s contest at Wilcox High in Santa Clara, San Benito head football coach Chris Cameron discussed the Chargers’ power running attack, its 79 points scored in just two games this season, and its meaty offensive and defensive lines that were sure to test the Balers up front.
“Can we match up with their might?” Cameron said last Tuesday. “We’re gonna find out what our boys are made of this week.”
Behind quarterback Trevor Fabing’s two touchdowns, Nick Acosta’s 102 yards rushing and Andre Cornell’s 109 yards receiving, as well as a Balers defense that forced four turnovers and pocketed another touchdown all by itself, San Benito sent shockwaves through the Central Coast Section on Friday night when it romped Wilcox 31-7, showing Cameron and San Benito’s remaining opponents exactly what they’re made of.
“I guess we’re made of something good,” Cameron said following Friday’s win, which improved the Balers to 3-0 on the season – the first time San Benito has begun the season 3-0 since 2006.
“That was a great win for us and that’s gonna get us rolling,” said Fabing, who threw for a season-high 121 yards and rushed for 65 yards.
Fabing’s 1-yard touchdown early in the second quarter put San Benito on the scoreboard first, and set the tone for an offense that compiled 367 yards in the game. Kicker Celestino Granados also added a 35-yard field goal late in the second to make it 10-0 Haybalers with three minutes remaining in the half.
“Confidence,” Fabing said of the early lead, adding the offensive line controlled the game up front.
“They put people on their back,” he said. “They set the tempo against those big boys.”
The game appeared to be gearing up for a close finish, though. Wilcox cut into San Benito’s lead just before halftime when quarterback Kyle Johnson hit wide-open wideout Jordan Gibson on a 62-yard score down the right sideline to make it 10-7 at the break – a somewhat controversial play as the San Benito sideline believed Johnson threw the ball past the line of scrimmage.
But responding almost immediately in the second half, the Balers exploded in the third quarter with 21 unanswered points during a nine-minute stretch – three straight touchdowns which were all set up by San Benito’s defense.
“We showed ’em,” linebacker Michael Murphy said simply. “We’re doing all the things we need to do and stopping all the things we need to stop.”
Most notably, the Balers stopped running back Anthony Herrera. The senior back compiled more than 2,000 yards on the ground last season, and had already racked up more than 400 yards rushing in two games this season.
On Friday night, though, Herrera was held in check to the tune of 73 yards on 21 attempts.
“We just key on him and wrap him up and not let him get those breakaway runs like he’s had the last two games,” Murphy said. “We came out and played and basically showed them Hollister football.”
Holding Wilcox, which was averaging more than 480 yards per game of total offense, to just 196 yards was enough of a feat in itself. But the Balers defense also quickly stole any momentum Wilcox gained early in the second half.
On just the second play of the third quarter, free safety Sal Ornelas picked off an errant pass over the middle from the quarterback Johnson, then sprinted 45 yards toward the left sideline to paydirt.
“It was pretty intense,” said Ornelas, who also recovered a fumble late in the fourth quarter to seal San Benito’s victory. “It was going on and off with the momentum, but our defense held it and that play gave us even more momentum. I knew our defense was going to hold them down.”
And the clairvoyant Ornelas was right. On just the fourth play of the third quarter – two plays after Ornelas’ interception – Johnson’s pitch to the running back Herrera was fumbled in the Charger backfield, and Murphy corralled the loose football at the Wilcox 12.
Three plays later, Fabing rushed up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown, his second 1-yard rushing touchdown of the day, giving San Benito a 24-7 lead less than three minutes into the second half.
“We got on the ball and we smashed them in the mouth,” Fabing said. “We smashed them instead of them coming at us.”
The Chargers appeared to receive the spark it’d need to keep the game interesting when kick returner Jordan Gibson wedged up the middle 62 yards to the San Benito 33-yard line on the ensuing kickoff. But once again, just three plays later, Herrera fumbled the football while running up the middle, and San Benito linebacker Isaak Ramos recovered.
Although the Balers turned the ball over on its following drive, Wilcox couldn’t mount any offense for the remainder of the game. The Chargers later turned the ball over on downs, and the Balers converted with a six-play, 64-yard drive, culminating in a Bryan Gutierrez 5-yard rush up the middle to give the Balers a four-possession lead.
It was Gutierrez’ first game this year after he suffered a left ankle sprain early in the preseason. He finished Friday with six attempts for 40 yards, most of which came on the option pitch that helped spread out Wilcox’ defense.
“I thank God for having a good game, keeping my ankle strong,” said Gutierrez, who added that he felt some slight pain during the game. “This is our biggest victory so far. We put in so much work for this game. This is best thing we could have come out with.”
The victory ended on a sour note for San Benito, however. Afterward, defensive lineman Adam Robles was taken off the field on a stretcher. His status at press time was unknown.
“It’s a bad way to end the game,” said Cameron, who was on his way to the hospital on Friday night.
The Chargers, meanwhile, were held to just a single score after averaging nearly 40 points per game this season. It was only the second touchdown allowed by San Benito in 12 quarters of football.
The Balers (3-0) will return home next Friday after two straight weeks on the road. San Benito will host Oak Grove (1-1), which is coming off a bye week, at 7:30 p.m. in Hollister.
“We’re working as a team. It’s not just one or two guys,” Ornelas said. “We’re playing together, practicing hard, and it’s working out good. I’m not trying to look super far, but I’m pretty confident in our defense against other teams in the league.”
More to come.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SANB 0 10 21 0 – 31
WLCX 0 7 0 0 – 7
SCORING SUMARY
Second Quarter
RUSH (9:49) – SANB, Trevor Fabing, 1-yard touchdown, PAT (Celestino Granados) is good; 7-0 SANB.
KICK (3:04) – SANB, Celestino Granados, 35-yard field goal is good; 10-0, SANB.
PASS (1:03) – WLCX, Kyle Johnson to Jordan Gibson, 62-yard touchdown, PAT (Cesar Duenas) is good; 10-7, SANB.
Third Quarter
INTERCEPTION RETURN (11:02) – SANB, Sal Ornelas, 45-yard touchdown return, PAT (Celestino Granados) is good; 17-7, SANB.
RUSH (9:04) – SANB, Trevor Fabing, 1-yard touchdown, PAT (Celestino Granados) is good; 24-7, SANB.
RUSH (2:12) – SANB, Bryan Gutierrez, 5-yard touchdown, PAT (Celestino Granados) is good; 31-7, SANB.
SAN BENITO STATISTICS
Passing: Trevor Fabing – 8 of 15, 121 yards, 1 interception. Rushing: Trevor Fabing – 13 attempts, 65 yards, 2 touchdowns; Nick Acosta – 17 attempts, 102 yards; Bryan Gutierrez – 6 attempts, 40 yards, 1 touchdown; Andre Cornell – 1 attempt, 2 yards; Nathan Castro – 2 attempts, 6 yards; Felipe Davila – 3 attempts, 12 yards; Cody Hendricks – 4 attempts, 19 yards; Tyler Decker – 1 attempt, 0 yards. Receiving: Andre Cornell – 6 receptions, 109 yards; Jake Hunter – 1 reception, 5 yards; Bryan Gutierrez – 1 reception, 7 yards.
WILCOX STATISTICS
Passing: Kyle Johnson – 5 of 13, 77 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception. Rushing: Kyle Johnson – 4 attempts, 16 yards; Anthony Herrera – 21 attempts, 73 yards; Anthony Pohahau – 2 attempts, 4 yards; Michael Roman – 2 attempts, 25 yards; Jordan Gibson – 1 attempt, 1 yard. Receiving: Jordan Gibson – 3 receptions, 69 yards, 1 touchdown; Kory Johnson – 1 reception, 3 yards; Connor Dunn – 1 reception, 5 yards.
TURNOVERS
San Benito – 2
Wilcox – 4
TOTAL OFFENSE
San Benito – 367 yards (121 pass, 246 rush)
Wilcox – 196 yards (77 pass, 119 rush)
JV Note:
Leading 13-0 at one point late in the first half, the San Benito High junior varsity football team couldn’t stave off host Wilcox late in the game Friday and suffered a tough 22-21 defeat in Santa Clara.
“The kids played hard and that was a good team,” San Benito head coach Matt Andrade said. “If you can say anything, it was a good loss.
“It’s a good game we’re gonna learn from, in terms of our mistakes and being able to hold on to the football.”
The Balers went up early in the contest when Anthony Cervantes found paydirt from seven yards out. San Benito’s defense then chimed in with a score when Austin Nye hit the Wilcox quarterback, forcing an errant pass attempt that Baler Roascio picked off and returned 35 yards to the end zone.
The Chargers claimed the lead early in the third quarter by a 14-13 margin. The two teams went back and forth when San Benito’s Nick Ramirez scored the go-ahead touchdown from three yards out with just five minutes remaining.
The Balers had two chances to put the game out of reach but fumbled on both occasions, including one instance where it turned the ball over in the Wilcox red zone. The Chargers were able to take advantage of San Benito’s miscues, and capitalized with a touchdown with 38 seconds left in regulation.
Wilcox was successful on the two-point conversion, and stole a one-point victory.
San Benito (2-1) will host Oak Grove next Friday at 5 p.m. in Hollister.
Frosh Note:
The San Benito High freshmen football team easily dispatched host Wilcox 34-6 on Thursday night in Santa Clara.
Cody Cameron and Angel Pasillas each pocketed a pair of touchdowns, while Giano Del Curto added a fifth score for the Haybalers.
San Benito led 34-0 at halftime.
The Balers (2-0) will host Palma next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Hollister.
