As the San Benito High football team begins Monterey Bay Gabilan Division play on Friday against Salinas at the Pit, it does so with two additional players who figure to add quality depth to the roster.
With the recent grading period having just passed, Haybalers coach Chris Cameron said two players became eligible, and, better yet, the team didn’t lose any starters to grades.
“Adding depth is always a good thing, a positive thing,” Cameron said. “We’ll get more guys into the mix, and hopefully they can make a positive contribution.”
San Benito (2-2) has had an up-and-down season featuring a pair of blowout losses sandwiched in between a couple of dominating victories, including a 37-7 rout of Oak Grove-San Jose in the team’s final game before last week’s bye.
“Of course we’d like to be much further along than where we’re at right now, but we made significant progress in our last game,” Cameron said. “That’s what we’re looking to do, to get a little better every week.”
Cameron said the team must make small, incremental improvements if it wants any chance of winning a league championship. The Gabilan Division swapped in Alisal, Monte Vista Christian and Seaside, while Alvarez, Christopher and Gilroy went down to the lower Pacific Division.
“Our division is going to be better than last year, no doubt,” Cameron said. “The teams that came in are better than the teams that left. The top of the league is always tough with Palma. They’re always the favorite and the team to beat.”
With last week’s bye, Cameron spent Friday night scouting Salinas (3-2 overall, 1-0 in league) in its 19-10 win over Monte Vista Christian.
“Salinas has some great numbers, maybe 80 to 85 guys who suited up (for last week’s game),” Cameron said. “They always have good players at the skill positions and good size on the line, and this year is no different.”
Cameron said his team has to be concerned with the Cowboys’ outstanding two-way lineman, Justin Pleasont.
“He’s a dominant player on both sides of the ball,” Cameron said. “He’s somebody we’ll really have to be smart about. He’s their best football player in my book.”
Anzar Notes
Sergio Gonzalez and three of his fellow teammates had waited an entire month to get on the field.
Out for the first three games of the season due to grades, Gonzalez and Co. made up for lost time in a hurry in last Saturday’s 46-20 beatdown of Stuart Hall-San Francisco on Treasure Island.
Anzar (2-2) plays at Pinewood-Los Altos Hills (3-1) on Thursday at 3:30 p.m., a game that will go a long way in determining just how far the Hawks can go this season.
“We’ve penciled in this game from the start of the season,” Hawks coach Luis Espinoza said. “They’re the epitome of where we want to get to, because they run the football well and play stout defense. I think man for man, we’re pretty evenly matched, so this game will show us a lot in terms of where we’re at.”
Anzar certainly looked like a different team with Gonzalez, Jose Casaneda, Angel Jimenez and Fermin Banuelos all making their first appearances of the season against Stuart Hall, and it didn’t take long for the four to make an impact.
Gonzalez rushed for a game-high 134 yards on 16 carries, including touchdown runs of 10, 3, 2, and 18 yards. Jimenez, a fullback-linebacker, proved to be a physical force, and Banuelos played a solid game at linebacker. All four players missed the first three games due to grades.
“I knew those guys would make a big difference with our team,” Espinoza said. “They’re tough, physical and they make plays. You can never have enough of those guys on your team.”
Despite the dominant win, the Hawks didn’t exactly finish the game strong, as they were outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter. True, the game had long been decided — a running clock started with 9:57 left in the third quarter — but other team issues contributed to a somewhat somber postgame speech from the coaching staff.
“Our guys didn’t show up in the fourth quarter,” Espinoza said. “That’s not the right way to play football.”
