Hollister’s brutal preseason schedule continues tonight at San
Jose City College against Bellarmine
It’s been a rough start to the preseason for the San Benito High football team. And things don’t get any easier for the Haybalers in game four tonight at San Jose City College.
The 1-2 ‘Balers will travel to San Jose this evening to face a tough Bellarmine team, a team whose relentless running attack looks a lot like that of the Wilcox squad’s that handed Hollister a 27-19 defeat last Friday.
“They have a couple of extremely talented players,” said SBHS head football coach Chris Cameron of his team’s competition tonight. “They’re big and strong, kind of like what we saw last week against Wilcox. So, we’re playing another really solid football team.”
Solid indeed.
The Bells have some potent weapons in their offensive arsenal. San Benito can expect to see a lot of Bellarmine running back Brandon Warren. The Bells’ sophomore tailback rushed for 195 yards and a touchdown in his team’s 21-7 win over Piedmont Hills in week two and the Haybalers will have to do a better job against him than they did versus Derome Fowler of Wilcox last weekend. When Bellarmine quarterback Jordan Vargas looks to go downfield through the air, he’ll have a big target in 6-4, 193 pound wideout Jalal Beauchman.
None of this bodes well for the Haybalers, whose first three games of the season have left them hurting on the injury front. ‘Baler wide receiver, defensive back and kick returner Anthony Francis suffered a minor injury that will relegate him to the defensive side of the ball tonight. Starting linebacker Mike Harbell has been out with injury and his replacement Kevin Medeiros is also hurt.
The good news as far as injuries are concerned is the fact that the Haybalers are coming up on their bye week and should have enough time to recover from their injuries before facing San Luis Obispo on October 7.
“I’m just looking forward to some time off so we can get healthy,” Cameron said. We’re a little bit banged up right now.”
No doubt, tonight’s game will represent a huge challenge for the struggling Haybalers. But the team isn’t without some big-time weapons of its own.
In last week’s loss to Wilcox, the San Benito offense showed flashes of brilliance. Quarterback Karson Klauer looked sharp on several passes that went for big yardage and tailback Jeff Weltz scored on a pair of runs from 41 and 37 yards out.
Kickoff for tonight’s game at San Jose City College is set for 7:30pm.
