Fhurong
&
amp; coaches say little mistakes hurt team
Hollister – Handed the ball deep in Wilcox territory twice in the first quarter Friday, the San Benito offense did what it was supposed to do, putting 10 points up on the scoreboard. But where was the offense the rest of the night?
Yes, the ‘Balers beat Wilcox 10-7, downing a team that advanced to the 2005 CCS Open Division playoffs for the second straight week. And yes, San Benito sits at a perfect 3-0 with its pre-season nearly complete.
But while the team’s defense had another banner day, netting four takeaways and allowing the Chargers only a short-field touchdown, the ‘Balers’ offense was shut out after its two early scores.
“Am I concerned?” asked San Benito head coach Chris Cameron. “Yeah, I’m concerned. We’re not going to hold every opponent to seven points, especially if we give them a short field. (And) not every team is going to give us the ball on the 30.”
So, how was it that San Benito got all the way down to the Chargers’ 1-yard line late in the first half, yet was forced to walk away empty handed? What happened to allow the ‘Balers to record just seven first downs in their eight possessions after taking a 10-0 lead with 1:58 left in the first quarter?
“No. 1, we’ve got to finish drives, learn how to finish drives,” offensive coordinator Rick Dukes said. “We need to stop making the little mistakes that are the difference between a successful play and an unsuccessful play.”
“The thing the offense really needs to work on is some players missing their assignments on some plays, blocking and stuff,” quarterback Ronnie Fhurong said. “Sometimes, I make the wrong read on a pass … or the running back misses a block. Little things like that, it’s easy to improve on. It’s just dumb mistakes.”
Although the ‘Balers took a 10-point lead into the locker room, they could have easily made it 17-0. A 29-yard burst by running back Manny Grimaldo set San Benito up with a first-and-goal at the Chargers’ 3-yard line with just under 3 minutes left in the first half. But after an Abel Jacquez run put the ‘Balers at the 1, an awkward, second-down exchange with Fhurong colliding with fullback Tim Lango resulted in a juggled ball and a 7-yard loss.
“That should’ve been a touchdown right there,” Fhurong said. “There should’ve been seven on the board.”
One play later, Dru Blake missed a 25-yard field goal attempt, and San Benito went from being on the doorstep of a big lead to giving Wilcox new life.
“We stopped ourselves because we muffed that play up so bad,” Cameron said of the botched, second-down play that he also said should have resulted in a touchdown. “That’s Freshman Football 101. We should not be making those kind of simple execution mistakes.”
Said Dukes: “When you’re down there, you’ve got to score. You’ve got to get points because against good football teams, you don’t get many chances.”
While Wilcox came back to score a touchdown on its first possession of the second half, the ‘Balers’ offense continued to sputter. Even after Lango appeared to give his team a spark with a 54-yard run up the middle to the Chargers’ 36-yard line, San Benito failed to capitalize, notching 1 yard on two plays before a vicious Wilcox hit caused a ‘Balers’ fumble.
“We tried to change the pace of the game, and we went out and got nothing out of it,” said Cameron, who hoped his team could use a hurry-up offense to build on its momentum. “We need to be able to get the ball rolling at that point. You get a big play and you want to capitalize on it.”
Assessing the ‘Balers’ offense as a whole, Cameron said “We’ve got to execute a lot better. … We’re not real big. We’re not going to be knocking people into the next millennium (on the line), so we have to execute well.”
Nevertheless, after San Benito’s six-fumble, four-turnover showing against San Lorenzo Valley the week before, Dukes was pleased the ‘Balers took huge strides to at least hold onto the ball and emerge with a hard-earned victory.
“We didn’t have any turnovers that cost us the game, and (the Chargers) did,” the offensive coordinator said. “We scored less points than we have all year, but … we were a couple of mistakes away from scoring anywhere from 17 to 24 points. And against a quality team, that’s not bad.”
PLAY OF THE GAME
With San Benito hanging on to a slim, three-point lead late in the fourth quarter, the ‘Balers’ offense stalled, forcing the hosts to give Wilcox one last chance by punting the ball away. But once Chargers punt returner Justice Patterson fumbled the kick at the Wilcox 10-yard line, ‘Balers long snapper Tim Lango swooped in to recover the loose ball with 1:43 left, a turnover that allowed San Benito to run out the clock and cement its 10-7 win. “The punt …” said ‘Balers defensive coordinator Tod Thatcher, his voice trailing off, “it was huge. Bottom line is that was an extreme hustle play.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Not only did senior Tim Lango score the ‘Balers’ only touchdown of the day, but he also recovered Wilcox’s late fumble to preserve San Benito’s win. The fullback rushed 11 times for 70 yards, and gave San Benito the early lead with his 7-yard scoring run midway through the first quarter. But Lango’s biggest contribution came once he fell on the loose ball deep in Wilcox territory, denying the Chargers any hope of a last-minute comeback. “He finished it off for them,” San Benito head coach Chris Cameron said.
DEFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME
Even though the ‘Balers came up with four takeaways (three fumbles recovered and an interception), it was two defensive stands in the second half that keyed San Benito’s win. After Wilcox narrowed the gap to 10-7 early in the third quarter, the ‘Balers’ offense fumbled the ball away, and then drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, handing the Chargers the ball near midfield with momentum. But San Benito’s defense forced a quick three-and-out to turn Wilcox away. And then, after the Chargers blocked Dru Blake’s field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter and took over possession on the San Benito 41-yard line, the hosts’ defense again shut down any rally. Even with the Chargers attempting a fourth-down conversion, the ‘Balers’ stingy defense limited Wilcox to just 6 yards. “I felt like our ‘D’ had to protect (the lead),” outside linebacker Nate Mendoza said. “It was like, we’ve got to stop ’em here, can’t let ’em score again.”
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“Do or die. Get it and we win,” senior Tim Lango said of his reaction upon seeing Wilcox’s fourth-quarter fumble. “And we won.”
