The challenge that awaits the San Benito High football team
tomorrow on the field at San Jose City College will be a difficult
one to say the least.
The challenge that awaits the San Benito High football team tomorrow on the field at San Jose City College will be a difficult one to say the least.
The Haybalers’ 2004 caampaign comes down to this: One last game against an extremely tough opponent in the Oak Grove Eagles for the Central Coast Section crown.
And the Balers know that they must play a nearly-perfect game if they hope to emerge victorious when the dust settles Saturdy night.
“They’ve got some real fine players,” said San Benito head coach Chris Cameron. “They do a lot of good things. They pass protect well. They’re stout across the front on defense and they have the athletes to run a lot of man coverage. They’re also very well coached.”
The season statistics speak volumes as to Oak Grove’s level of talent.
Burton Iosefa, the Eagles’ 5-9, 185 pound running back, racked up an eye-popping 1823 yards this season on his way to 25 touchdowns. He averaged 7.86 yards per carry and nearly 152 yards per game.
But Iosefa won’t carry the load all by himself. Jarrid Ferrante has ran for 536 yards on a mere 74 caries this season with a 7.24 yards-per-carry average.
The Eagles also feature a good decision maker taking their snaps. Quarterback Kevin Vye sports a .616 completion percentage with 45 completions on just 73 attempts for 667 yards, eight touchdowns and only a pair of interceptions.
The Eagles outsize the Haybalers on the line. But the same was true of Wilcox, the team San Benito defeated last weekend to earn the right to compete for the CCS title.
One thing is for sure, The Balers will need to play all four quarters of tomorrow night’s game like they did the last two quarters against the Chargers when they seemed to snap back to their true form after halftime to take control of the game following a start that was somewhat sluggish.
San Benito won’t be expecting to recover any fumbles deep inside enemy territory like they were able to do on two seperate occasions against Wilcox. In fact, the Balers will be hard pressed to find any glaring weaknesses in Oak Grove’s game that they can exploit.
But San Benito has been coming up with clutch plays at the right time in recent contests. In the team’s first two playoff games this season, Anthony Vasquez has represented the proverbial nail in the coffin for opponents with his defensive play.
Against Wilcox last week, Vasquez intercepted a pass to seriously deflate the Chargers’ chances of a comeback. Vasquez also returned a fumble for a touchdown against Milpitas the previous week in the Balers’ 47-0 blowout win.
The key to a Haybalers win tomorrow will lie in their ability to execute on both sides of the ball the way that they know they are capable of doing.
“We’re going to need good play calling for the different situations we’re going to see and we need to be able to move the football,” Cameron said.
“We need to try to be real physical with them form the get-go. We have to let them know that we’re here to play the game and that we’re not star-struck by their talent on offense. We’re not going to win a shootout game against them. They give themselves real good field position and, if you turn the ball over to them, they’re like sharks coming to feed. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to have to play the best game of our season to win this one.”
