San Benito uses 22-point lead to defeat Gilroy 29-21 in the
Prune Bowl and retain the bragging rights
Hollister – A week ago against Salinas, the San Benito High offense was a bit stagnant, scoring just once in a 6-3 win.
The coaching staff went back to the drawing board and came up with a big enough bag of tricks in Thursday’s 29-21 Prune Bowl victory over Gilroy to fool even the referees – literally.
At one point, the ‘Balers made a shift of formation and a flag was thrown. After some discussion, the referees realized no foul was committed on the play.
“We had a lot of different formations and motions,” San Benito coach Chris Cameron said. “It was the first time doing a lot of that stuff and the kids did real well.”
By adding so much new stuff to the offense – which Gilroy had undoubtedly scouted throughout the year and thought it was ready for – the Mustangs were unprepared and lost at times.
“They showed us a lot of different sets they hadn’t used before,” Gilroy coach Rich Hammond said. “They threw a screen over a blitz. If the screen goes to the other side, we have a spy ready to handle it.”
But the Mustangs didn’t handle that screen play, and Ronnie Fhurong’s third-and-8 pass to Tim Lango that became a 61-yard touchdown jumpstarted the ‘Balers’ offense.
“That just started the whole offense going, got us all pumped up,” Fhurong said. “After that, you can’t stop us.”
And the San Benito offense didn’t stop as it methodically built a 22-0 lead.
After a Frank Subia interception of a Fhurong pass at the Mustangs’ 15 stopped one ‘Baler drive, San Benito quickly got the ball back and drove to set up a 40-yard field goal by Dru Blake.
Sophomore defensive tackle Sam Doty recovered a Gilroy fumble on the next possession, but Blake’s 46-yard field goal attempt was deflected at the line of scrimmage.
An interception by junior Zach Canez set up another San Benito score as senior fullback Tim Lango ran it in from five yards out for the 16-0 lead the ‘Balers took into halftime.
The offense kept rolling to start the second half. On its first drive, it held the ball for nearly six minutes before Lango exploded for a 43-yard scoring run.
The game began to get interesting early in the fourth quarter. Subia recorded his second interception of the game and five plays later Paul Gonzales was in the end zone on a 9-yard pass from Marc Vegas to make it 22-7
After San Benito punted on its next possession, Vegas went to the air to dissect the ‘Balers defense. There were nine passing plays in a 12-play drive that was culminated with a 7-yard Vegas touchdown run. But when the two-point conversion failed, Gilroy still faced a two-score deficit with 2:17 left.
San Benito’s Kevin Burley dashed the Mustangs’ hopes of a comeback when he recovered the ensuing onside kick and a 50-yard touchdown run by Fhurong on the second play of the drive put the ‘Balers up 29-13.
Gilroy had one final drive in it when it marched 51 yards in eight plays and scored with 22.8 left, but the Mustangs onside kick rifled out of bounds and San Benito ran out the clock.
Lango had a terrific day in his final Prune Bowl, gaining 115 yards on 20 carries to go along with his 61-yard reception. Fhurong finished 7 of 14 passing for 128 yards.
Gonzales, who entered the week leading the TCAL in rushing, was limited to 20 yards rushing on eight carries but did pick up 59 yards receiving on nine catches.
The loss for Gilroy also knocks the Mustangs out of playoff contention, a topic that wasn’t lost on the ‘Balers.
“This is one of those win or lose situations (for Gilroy),” Fhurong said. “They win, they’re in the playoffs. We win, they’re out.”
The win ensures that a second-straight senior class leaves Hollister without ever having to hand the VFW Memorial Trophy over to the Mustangs.
“I’ve been playing against Gilroy since I was six,” senior linebacker Johnny Sanchez said, referring to his Pop Warner days. “It’s always a bigger deal to beat them.”
Sub-varsity: The San Benito junior varsity finished the season 4-6 after falling to Gilroy 40-0. The ‘Balers freshman squad wrapped up a solid 7-2-1 campaign by beating the Mustangs 23-21 on a 30-yard field goal in the last 20 seconds.
