Haybalers rout North Salinas 42-6 for homecoming win, 2-0 TCAL
record
Hollister – The San Benito High football team had a checklist of things it wanted to get done in Friday night’s homecoming game against North Salinas. Scoring first, protecting the football and keeping the penalties to a minimum were some of the major items the Haybalers worked on in practice this week and their preparation aid off big time as Hollister upended the Vikings 42-6 to bring its Tri-County Athletic League record to a perfect 2-0.
“We did everything we needed to do tonight,” said SBHS head coach Chris Cameron. “It was good because we came out hard and didn’t let up. We also came out strong in the second half, we didn’t roll over or anything like that, there was no lack of intensity, the kids played real hard.”
The Haybalers had not scored first in any game so far this season but the offense came out firing on Friday night looking to reverse that trend. Jeff Weltz carried the ball into North Salinas territory with a tough 12-yard run made possible by some outstanding blocking. On the next play, Tim Lango powered his way through the line and into the Vikings’ secondary on a 20-yard run, setting up a Karson Klauer pass to Jeremy Burns, who beat his man on single coverage, that went for 19-yards and the first touchdown of the game.
The Vikings failed to get anything going on their opening drive as intense pressure on the quarterback from Hollister’s Ryan Dunn forced an incomplete pass on third down.
Later in the first, The Haybaelrs took over possession at their own 44-yard line and picked up short yardage on first down. But on second, Klauer went up top with a perfect pass that came right over Anthony Francis’ shoulders. Francis had easily beaten his man and was on a dead sprint when the ball floated right into his hands and he had no trouble getting into the endzone for a 56-yard score.
When the defense took to the field on the ensuing drive, it was Francis who would again come up with the big play. On third-and-eight, North Salinas quarterback Tramaine Lamb went deep to the left side but the ball was thrown short of his target. Francis broke off coverage just in time and scooped the ball out of the air just before it hit the field for an interception.
Hollister’s offense would need only one play from there to get into the endzone.
Weltz took the ball at the North Salinas 38-yard line, put a wicked move on the only defender with a shot at wrapping him up and rumbled down the right sideline for a 62-yard scoring run that put the ‘Balers up 19-0 with a little more than three minutes left in the opening quarter.
The Haybalers came up with another big stop when North Salinas got the ball back, forcing the Vikings into a three-and-out when a host of ‘Balers, including Johnny Sanchez and Vinny Sardam, brought Lamb down behind the line of scrimmage on third down.
The game moved out of reach for North Salinas midway through the second quarter when Lango set the Haybalers up at the one-yard line with a 30-yard carry and then took it in on the next play. Which meant that the Hollister coaching staff was able to start bringing in new personnel.
The backups performed great for Hollister. Quarterback Ronnie Fhurong didn’t get any deep-ball opportunities but when he did drop back to pass, he seemed confident and his throws were crisp. Brannon Pumphrey did a good job of keeping the clock moving in the second half with some hard-fought yardage on the ground and the second-string defensive unit did its job, giving up only one big play that saw Lamb go 56-yards to the endzone on what looked like a play that would lose yards. Lamb hit a wall when he tried to go up the middle but was somehow able to bounce out of the pile to the right side to find enough daylight to make a run for the goal line.
