A light rain was falling at the beginning of the game, but by
the time it ended it was hailing. Red was everywhere.
Salinas – A light rain was falling at the beginning of the game, but by the time it ended it was hailing. Red was everywhere.
San Benito pounded North Salinas 41-0 Saturday at the Salinas Sports Complex, handing the Vikings their worst lost in more than five years. The Haybalers (5-1-1, 2-0 TCAL) remained tied for first place in the Tri-County Athletic League.
But surprisingly enough, they are not sharing the lead with Palma but rather Live Oak, who remained undefeated after defeating Salinas 14-10. Gilroy stunned Palma 29-22 the night before on the same field.
San Benito built up a 21-0 lead at the half and then kept the pressure on in the second half. North Salinas (1-6, 0-2 TCAL) had negative two yards in the first half and had just 47 yards on offense during the game.
“We just came out and tried to execute,” said coach Chris Cameron. “We knew that we could get to them after they were sacked eight times last week. Our goal was to shut them out.”
San Benito scored on its first two possessions, marching down the field without much resistance.
A 5-yard run by quarterback Karson Klauer put the Balers on the board, and Klauer connected with Jeff Weltz for a 15-yard reception for the second touchdown. Weltz had a big day for the Balers with 30 yards in receiving and 33 yards rushing including two more touchdowns.
“Our linemen blocked great,” Weltz said. “We did a good job picking up the blitz, and no one was covering the receivers.”
In the second quarter, linebacker Anthony Vasquez stepped up and picked off a pass and returned it 20 yards to the 18-yard line. But the Balers eventually had to settle for a field goal attempt that was no good.
“I was reading the tight end and rolled around and the ball was right there,” Vasquez said. ”
After Vasquez recovered a fumble, Chuck Thompson scored from five yards out in the second quarter. Gabe Gaitan crossed the goal line in the third quarter after a 40-yard run.
In the third quarter, Alex Gonzalez had a nice punt return for about 30 yards. He put his hands down to catch his balance then ran down the right sideline to the 12-yard line.
“It’s no good if I don’t score,” Gonzalez said. “I didn’t follow my blocks.”
From there Jeff Hawks, who came in as quarterback, had a pitch back to Weltz for a touchdown.
Both North Salinas and San Benito coaches agreed to stop the game with 3:55 remaining after a North Salinas player took a hard hit and landed flat on his back. Mike Harbell was there initially before a group of Balers came in to finish it.
With three games to go, all the Balers have to do is win, and the title is theirs.
But that will be a big task considering the final three games are against Salinas, who always plays the Balers tough, Palma, who was the only local team to elect to play in the new Open Division for the Central Coast Section playoffs, and Live Oak, who continues to surprise some good teams.
“We’re the team to beat,” Vasquez said. “Every week, we just keep getting better and better.”
Hit of the game
Mike Decker and John Sanchez combined for a sack in the second quarter to force a loss of seven yards in the second quarter. North Salinas ran off the clock before halftime ended to make sure San Benito didn’t have a chance to return the punt.
Drive of the game
San Benito came out strong and set the pace right away. The Haybalers scored right away on an eight-play drive. The highlights were a 30-yard completion to Alex Gonzalez then a five-yard run by Karson Klauer.
Player of the game
Anthony Vasquez
Senior San Benito High linebacker
Anthony Vasquez had big day for the Haybalers in the 41-0 victory He recovered a fumble, had an interception and just missed another interception. Since returning from an injury early in the season, Vasquez has been solid defensively.
JV results
The San Benito JV team (2-5, 0-2 TCAL) lost 24-3 to North Salina Saturday.
Chad Kakebeen kicked a field goal from about 30 yards out before halftime. Holder Joey Covey was able to get the ball down despite a bad snap.
Frosh results
The San Benito High freshman team (3-3-1, 0-1-1 TCAL) battled to a 0-0 tie Saturday.
The Haybalers had to make a goal line stance from about eight yards out to preserve the tie.
San Benito had a fake punt in the fourth, but three illegal procedures moved the ball way back. Neither team had any turnovers.
