The Balers will open the 2011 season Friday in Palo Alto, hoping
to enact some revenge for last years 23-6 loss at Andy Hardin
Field.
The Balers will open the 2011 season Friday in Palo Alto, hoping to enact some revenge for last years 23-6 loss at Andy Hardin Field.
The final score doesn’t exactly tell the whole story for the Balers, who at halftime trailed only 7-6 to the eventual Division I state champs Palo Alto.
“We were right there, and we fought hard,” starting quarterback Michael Bocksnick said last week.
Last year, Bocksnick was in the game for only a couple of plays – rushing for 12 yards on 2 carries – but this year he’ll have to make a bigger impact if the Balers want to start their season off with a major upset.
Going into the game the Balers will have to replace 33 players from last year’s squad – including leading rusher Cody Hendricks, leading receiver James Flook and defensive leaders Conner Stevens and Marcos Silva.
The Balers will return All-TCAL selection Garret Avina, and defensive lineman Ryan Di Salvo and linebacker Jon Huaracha.
But changes across the entire team isn’t just San Benito’s problem. The defending champions will need to replace starting quarterback Christoph Bono.
Sophomore Keller Chryst will take over behind the center, but he will be able to rely on the two-headed running back attack of seniors Dre Hill and B.J. Boyd, who rushed for more than 1,700 combined yards last year.
Baler head coach Chris Cameron did not return phone calls before press time.
