The seasons for the San Benito and Aptos football teams all
comes down to one game. The two teams will meet tonight at 7 p.m.
at San Jose City College.
The No. 2 seed Aptos brings an 11-1 record into the the game
against No. 4 San Benito, who is 9-2-1. Although the Mariners have
a better record coming in, the Balers may be favored. The one
weakness the Balers have is coming in overconfident.
The seasons for the San Benito and Aptos football teams all comes down to one game. The two teams will meet tonight at 7 p.m. at San Jose City College.
The No. 2 seed Aptos brings an 11-1 record into the the game against No. 4 San Benito, who is 9-2-1. Although the Mariners have a better record coming in, the Balers may be favored. The one weakness the Balers have is coming in overconfident.
“You don’t win 11 games if you stink,” said Baler coach Chris Cameron. “They have some fine players. They don’t give up many points, and they have won four games in the last couple minutes.”
Last week was no exception. Aptos was down 21-0 in the first quarter against North Salinas before coming back to win 38-35.
“They never panicked,” Cameron said. “They got accustomed to the speed of North Salinas. They capitalized on some mistakes by North Salinas.”
Aptos is famous for its offensive dual of twins Bryan and Jeff Van Meter. Bryan has been solid all year at quarterback, while Jeff has had a good year as a receiver. Fullback David Farmer is also capable of posting some big numbers.
Aptos is having its best ever season this year and is looking for its first Central Coast title. The Balers come in with more playoff experience.
Before the two wins this season, Aptos had only won once in its previous nine playoff appearances. That win came in 1991 in a 14-12 victory over Pacific Grove in the Division II playoffs.
“We have a great group of returning juniors with a good amount of experience,” said Aptos coach Bill Garrison, whose team finished 8-2 last year. “We have some good assistant coaches. The players believe in themselves and want to make plays in pressure situations.”
Garrison knows how tough the Balers can be after watching the film on the 40-21 win over Los Gatos last week.
“They are very proficient at running and throw the play-action pass as well as anyone,” Garrison said. “If you overcommit players to stopping the run, they have multiple attacks they can hurt you with.”
The Mariners’ only loss this season came against Castro Valley in a 42-28 contest.
“They are never out of the game until it is over,” Cameron said. “They have the never-say-die attitude. They have a lot of heart. They have no doubts about what they are able to do because they have proven it many times this season. To me, they are very dangerous.”
The Balers have to come out and play hard throughout.
“We have to be at their level as far as playing four quarters,” Cameron said. “There is no letdowns, and we have to come out with a sense of urgency. We got to play like we have been playing for a while this season. We came in to the last game charged up, and that is the way we to play in this game.”
