Well-prepared Warriors score early to beat Haybalers once again
to start the season
The Valley Christian Warriors came to Hollister on Friday night a well-prepared team that features a wealth of talent on both sides of the ball. They left Hollister some four hours later with the 27-6 victory and their streak of opening-day victories over the Haybalers still intact and now extended to four straight.
But make no mistake about it, the ‘Balers didn’t get blown off the field, nor did they seem completely overwhelmed by the Warriors’ offensive onslaught, an uncharacteristic phenomenon that has reared its ugly head in past losses to the Valley Christian team.
“You know, our kids played hard and I’m happy,” said San Benito head coach Chris Cameron. “We definitely played better in the second half though. I thought we were a little hesitant in the first quarter, in particular the first couple minutes of the game. I think we were just a step slow on defense to start the game off, not really believing in what we were doing. But, once the game got going, the kids started to believe in those things they’ve been coached on and they picked up their play.”
It didn’t take long for the Warrior offense to get on the scoreboard Friday.
Over the course of the game’s first three plays, the Haybaler defense got a healthy dose of the Valley Christian running game as Dominique Hunsucker and Michael Ginther combined for 51 yards in a matter of seconds, setting the team up with a first down on Hollister’s seven-yard line. Ginther would take it the rest of the way on first down to put the Warriors up 7-0.
Valley Christian got another score in the first quarter thanks to great recognition of what the ‘Baler defense was planning and a nice pass from quarterback Dante Perez.
On a second-down play, Hollister set up a corner blitz to come right to the quarterback’s blind side. But the Warrior offense picked up on the Hollister scheme and Perez was able to dump off a screen pass to tight end Mark Piethe, who took it 65-yards all the way to the endzone.
“They did a good job coaching their kids up,” said Cameron of Valley Christian’s preparation. “And that tight-end screen was a direct result of that. They spotted our corner blitz and they made the play.”
But, the ‘Balers never quit. And, despite the score, the team managed to make some great plays against the immensely-talented Warriors squad.
Early in the third quarter, with their team trailing 20-0, Hollister’s Chase Graves and Mark Sullivan chased Perez down and got the sack for a loss of yardage. That brought up fourth down and the ‘Balers came through by blocking the field-goal attempt.
A couple possessions down the road, Hollister finally managed to get a score on the board. Tight end Art Esparza got things going with a nice catch followed by a powerful run to set up a six-yard dash to the endzone by quarterback Karson Klauer, who also had a nice run earlier in the same offensive series to pick up a big first down.
