After tough opening loss, team prepares to take on SLV
When the San Benito High School varsity football team butts
helmets in Felton tomorrow afternoon against the San Lorenzo Valley
Cougars both squads will be looking to right the ship quickly after
suffering lopsided losses in the season opener the previous
week.
The Cougars suffered an embarrassing 53-0 blowout at perennial
powerhouse Valley Christian about the same time that the Balers
were dropping their home opener 35-12 to defending Central Coast
Section Large School Division Champion Milpitas.
After tough opening loss, team prepares to take on SLV
When the San Benito High School varsity football team butts helmets in Felton tomorrow afternoon against the San Lorenzo Valley Cougars both squads will be looking to right the ship quickly after suffering lopsided losses in the season opener the previous week.
The Cougars suffered an embarrassing 53-0 blowout at perennial powerhouse Valley Christian about the same time that the Balers were dropping their home opener 35-12 to defending Central Coast Section Large School Division Champion Milpitas.
Tomorrow’s 2 p.m. kickoff in Felton also kicks off a demanding, four-game road trip that keeps the Balers off their home turf until Oct. 12 – the night they face Tri County Athletic League foe North Salinas.
Neither team wants to start its 2007 campaign with a 0-2 record. And the Balers certainly don’t want to start that way knowing that it will be more than a month before they are back at Andy Hardin Stadium.
“We’ve been watching film all week and have looked at what San Lorenzo Valley will give us,” said Baler Offensive Coordinator Bryan Smith. “From what we’ve seen, we should be able to pass effectively on them and move their defensive line around to get a good surge in the running game. We’d like to keep it 50/50 (run and pass plays) and do a lot of things to exploit their defense. Obviously, I don’t want to give away our game plan but I think we can do some things against them”
Despite the loss to the Trojans last week, one thing the Balers did fairly well was move the ball – racking up 335 yards of total offense thanks to solid play by the offensive line that paved way for four Baler runners to gain 50 yards or more on the ground.
While the Balers were able to win the battle in the trenches to establish the ground game and the Baler defense played solid enough football to force four turnovers, it was Milpitas that was able to strike gold with the big play early and often.
“From an offensive standpoint, we did some things really good and some things not so good,” Smith said. “We were able to continuously move the ball all night. We were a more disciplined team but I would say Milpitas had more talented athletes.”
Three of those athletes that Smith was no doubt referencing were Charles Satchell, Steven Fauna and Chris Albright – the first two are highly touted NCAA Division I prospects. All exploited the Balers special team’s play to the tune of a 98-yard punt return by Satchell and a 90-yard kickoff return by Albright. It was those plays coupled with a pair of long touchdown tosses that allowed the Trojans to pull away on the scoreboard.
It was also special team’s play that had been a major focus at the Baler practices during the off season, as head coach Chris Cameron cited on a number of occasions that special teams and giving up the big play cost his squad three games in 2006, including a first round exit in the playoffs.
This week, the Balers hope to put a halt to those recurring problems.
“I’m kind of new to everything,” said Smith, who replaced longtime offensive coordinator Rick Dukes at the position. “We’ve spent a lot of time this week breaking down what we are trying to do so that we can put our players in the best situation possible to be able to make plays. Hopefully, we can do just that this week.”
