Football Wrap: ‘Balers looked more composed than in years past
against one of the section’s elite teams
After three straight years of suffering opening-day losses to Valley Christian without scoring a single point, the San Benito High football team finally broke through with a touchdown in Friday night’s season opener.
“We didn’t get physically out-manned up front,” said Haybaler head coach Chris Cameron. “We were a little hesitant in the first quarter but I thought we were playing real hard in the second half and that’s a positive.”
HIT OF THE GAME:
The ‘Baler offense coughed up the ball on its first play of the second half to set the Warriors, up 20-0 at the time, up with solid field position. But the ‘Baler defense held its ground and, on third and long, Chase Graves and Mark Sullivan teamed up to sack Valley Christian quarterback Dante Perez for a loss. The Warriors’ sent out the field-goal unit for fourth down but a fired-up Haybaler special teams squad blocked the kick.
DRIVE OF THE GAME: Hollister’s third possession of the second half saw the team score its only points in Friday’s game. Nick Bonnaud got things going from Hollister’s own 27-yard line with a nice run for a gain of nine yards. Travis Ross picked up the first down on Hollister’s next play. Quarterback Karson Klauer came up with a big run on third down later in the drive to get a first and then completed a nice screen pass to tight end Art Esparza, who rumbled all the way down to the 11-yard line. Two plays later, from the seven, Klauer took it in himself for the score.
