Admit it. We’ve all been frothing at the mouth for this one since the first snap of the year. With all due respect to the fellas over in Gilroy, there’s Palma Week and then there’s everything else when it comes to ‘Baler football.
As much as the local lads have captivated our attention with their fast start, this season has been devoid of any substantial peaks (or valleys, for that matter). But all that changes tonight.
Simply put, we’ll find out just what this team is capable of when San Benito faces Palma in a clash of Central Coast Section titans.
Win, and the sky’s the limit for the ‘Balers. They would control their own destiny in the Tri-County Athletic League. They might even play themselves into the elite postseason field, the Open Division, alongside the likes of Serra, Mitty and Bellarmine. Cracking that bracket would rank right up there with last season’s Large School Division Championship in terms of accomplishments.
“If we beat Palma, we’re good enough to beat anybody in our section,” senior Dru Blake said.
But lose, and the ‘Balers may as well kiss their designs on a league title good-bye. With emerging Alisal coming to town next week, San Benito could well be staring at a 2-2 TCAL record entering November.
So much hangs in the balance at the Salinas Sports Complex, and that’s what makes the Palma game so exciting.
Mind you, the stakes used to be even more pronounced. With the league’s offseason restructuring, the San Benito-Palma showdown was moved to the midseason from its traditional Week 10 or Rivalry Week slot. So in point of fact, tonight’s loser will still have half the season to make up ground.
But nobody’s kidding anybody with that kind of talk. As ‘Baler linebacker Nate Mendoza said, “Whoever wins this game is going to win the league title.”
Sure enough, the winner of the last two years’ games played its way into shared TCAL championships with the other (and Live Oak, in a three-way tie, in 2005).
And while we’re at it, success in the postseason appears to have a correlation with this game’s result as well, at least in the case of the ‘Balers. San Benito has advanced to a CCS title game six times in the past seven years, but has only won the title in a year that it also defeated Palma (’00, ’05).
Trend or coincidence? We’ll toe the line and call it a strong indicator.
And that means that if the ‘Balers hope to defend their section title, they’d better come out on top tonight.
(Note: The ‘Baler-Chieftain game appears to have no impact on Palma’s postseason success. The Chieftains have won two CCS titles since 1997 in years they beat San Benito, but have also emerged as champs three other times after falling to the ‘Balers.)
In the Cameron Era, the ‘Balers have split their 10 games with Palma, with each team enjoying a winning streak of three games. The teams have split the past two meetings in the series, with the home squad prevailing both times.
“They know we can beat them; I know we can beat them,” said San Benito assistant coach Tod Thatcher, who has been at the helm of the defense throughout the last decade.
But will the ‘Balers beat them? That’s why this is fascinating theater. Stay tuned.
