‘Balers know win was expected; Cameron cites special teams as
concern as team enters bye week
Hollister – Although it certainly wasn’t always pretty, the San Benito football team was in control of its Tri-County Athletic League opener against Alvarez from first snap to last Friday. The ‘Balers’ 38-6 win raised no eyebrows because, well it was expected.
“Good teams are supposed to beat the teams they’re supposed to beat,” San Benito head coach Chris Cameron said Monday. “We need to beat those guys. We need to beat those guys soundly. And it should never be a close game. And Friday’s game was never close.”
Jumping to a 22-0 lead with minutes to go in the first half, the ‘Balers manhandled Alvarez (0-4-1, 0-1 TCAL) throughout. When the dust settled, San Benito had notched season bests in both points scored and points allowed.
The ‘Balers (4-1, 1-0 TCAL) piled up 273 yards on the ground, including four rushing touchdowns, while almost completely denying the Eagles any offense. San Benito’s defense stuffed Alvarez’s running game for -36 yards on the night and held the visitors to 52 total offensive yards.
“They didn’t get no pass,” safety Josh Schroder said. “They didn’t get no first downs. They basically got no yards. … That was a team we knew we could do that to, and we did.”
Which brings up a valid question – how much stock should the ‘Balers put into their convincing win?
“Considering (the opponent) wasn’t very good, I don’t think we can take a lot from it,” said fullback Tim Lango, who scored San Benito’s first two touchdowns en route to his 145 offensive yards (126 rushing, 19 receiving). “I thought we had too many penalties. I thought we should’ve put a lot more points on the board offensively than we did.”
Facing a winless opponent that had scored just 13 points in its four contests entering the league opener, San Benito was able to win going away despite a less-than-sharp performance. The ‘Balers committed nine penalties, fumbled three times and continued to make special teams an adventure.
“You don’t play your most intense football game because the level of competition isn’t all that great,” said Cameron, noting the Eagles’ 30-man roster.
The game in hand well before halftime, the ‘Balers took advantage of the opportunity to work in their second- and third-string players, something senior linebacker Johnny Sanchez said was one of the main ways the team would improve from the game. “It makes our team better,” he said, “because they got to see some action, and that makes our practices better next week.”
Cameron said the special teams miscues – which included botched snaps, a missed PAT, a missed field goal and two unsuccessful conversions – were a continuing headache. “That’s a glaring problem we need to get fixed,” the head coach said. “We work hard on special teams, but we need a lot more work on special teams.”
The ‘Balers are in their bye week – they don’t return to action until their Oct. 13 contest at North Salinas – but they did conditioning drills Monday and know they must remain focused even without a game.
“It’s our bye week, but we’ve still got to work hard, lift hard especially,” Sanchez said, “not fall back at all.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Fullback Tim Lango had his way with the Alvarez defense throughout, rushing 16 times for 126 yards. The senior scored San Benito’s first two touchdowns on runs of 8 and 22 yards, and nearly had a third. On the ‘Balers’ first offensive series, Lango bulled through the line for an apparent 29-yard score, but a penalty nullified the play. On punt returns, he twice raced into Alvarez territory (even while losing his shoe on a 25-yard scamper in the second quarter) to hand San Benito prime field position for eventual scoring drives. Lango added one reception for 19 yards, and his 145 total offensive yards were nearly three times what the entire Eagles roster could manage.
STAT OF THE GAME
Zero turnovers. Even with eye-popping numbers across the board (-36 rushing yards allowed, 38 points scored, 273 yards rushing), holding onto the ball constitutes an essential facet of the game. The ‘Balers kicked their season-long Achilles heel, for one game at least, even with 10 ballcarriers and two quarterbacks getting touches.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“The guy suddenly emerged out of a pack of humanoids, and just chucked it.”
San Benito head coach Chris Cameron on the Eagles’ lone score, a reverse pass in which fullback Joey Alvarez found tight end David Valenzuela all by himself for a 77-yard touchdown.
ALVAREZ 0 6 0 0 – 6
SAN BENITO 6 16 9 7 – 38
1st quarter
SB Lango 8 run (kick failed) 1:58
2nd quarter
SB Lango 22 run (conversion failed) 11:26
SB Blake 40 field goal 5:43
SB Burley fumble recovery (Blake kick) 1:53
A Valenzuela 77 reception from Alvarez (kick failed) 0:10
3rd quarter
SB Griffith 3 run (conversion failed) 5:51
SB Blake 21 field goal 2:14
4th quarter
SB Fhurong 26 run (Blake kick)
Individual Statistics
SB rushing: Lango 16-126-2, Sutton 8-35, Grimaldo 6-12, Fhurong 4-32-1, Smith 4-22, Ramsey 3-18, Griffith 3-12-1, Hamilton 3-7, Hopkins 2-2, Covey 1-7
SB passing: Covey 5-9-77-0
SB receiving: Blake 2-49, Lango 1-19, Sutton 1-8, Ramos 1-1
A rushing: Green 4-0, Estrada 4- -26, Manzur 3-3, Ad. Lopez 3- -19, Curnow 2-7, Jones 2-1, Hill 1-1, Dean 1-1, Jo. Alvarez 1-2
A passing: Estrada 3-5-11-0, Jo. Alvarez 1-1-77-0
A receiving: Jones 2-5, Valenzuela 1-77-1, Venegas 1-6
Team Statistics
First Downs: A 1, SB 14
Fumbles (lost): A 4 (1), SB 3 (0)
Penalties (yards): A 6 (50), SB 9 (85)
Turnovers: A 1, SB 0
Rushing Yards: A -36, SB 273
Receiving Yards: A 88, SB 77
Total Offensive Yards: A 52, SB 350
