The Balers enter league play Friday against Alisal with a
slightly disappointing 1-2-1 record thanks to an at-times
struggling offensxe.
The Balers enter league play Friday against Alisal with a slightly disappointing 1-2-1 record thanks to an at-times struggling offensxe.
But against the Trojans, the Balers will have to dip into its backfield depth without fullback Damien Botelho and possibly quarterback Michael Bocksnick, who were both injured last week.
The quarterback, who is responsible for more than 800 of the Balers 1300 yards this year, is nursing an ankle injury that he aggravated against Willow Glen. Throughout the week’s practices, the Balers planned on going without Bocksnick in the league opener Friday, giving the helm to sophomore Josh George – who also plays safety on defense.
“We are going into the game with that mindset,” head coach Chris Cameron said. “I don’t know yet but we have to go into the game expecting that he won’t play.”
Without their quarterback, the team will implement its strong backfield depth.
“That’s football,” Cameron said. “Next man up.”
In the game, the Balers will put an emphasis on finishing drives in the second half – something they’ve struggled with throughout the non-league season. In four games the Balers have scored a total of 87 points, but only 26 of those points coming in the second half.
“The big key this week for me is to play a full four quarters of football,” Cameron said. “To have the team, in all three phases – offensively, defensively and special teams – play a full four quarters. I think we are playing better defensively but offensively we are not. We are not playing a good second half. I have two out of the last three games to prove that.”
To do that, Cameron will try to create a mindset of coming out in the second half as strong – or stronger – as the first half.
“We are emphasizing that it is the second half,” he said.
Luckily, though, Cameron believes the team won’t see teams better than what they’ve already experienced in Willow Glen, Oak Grove and Palo Alto.
“We’ve seen a lot of good stuff,” he said. “We aren’t going to be surprised. I think we’ve seen just about as good as it gets.”
Week Five SBHS vs Alisal
Records:
SBHS: 1-2-1
AHS: 2-2
7:30 p.m. kickoff
Location: Andy Hardin Field
After the game go online to
freelancenews.com for a recap
