San Benito High football team ready for 2006 season; talent
&
amp; inexperience to mesh together
Hollister – The new-look ‘Balers are ready to be unveiled, eager to follow in the proud tradition of their gridiron predecessors. For the 2006 San Benito High football team, that pursuit begins Friday when it travels to Aptos for the season opener.
Gone are nearly all of the stars from the Central Coast Championship team of 2005. Replacing those stalwarts are the next generation of ‘Balers, with this year’s team offering a boatload of athleticism, but also some youthful inexperience.
San Benito head coach Chris Cameron said that having won the title last year will probably mean more for the ‘Balers’ opponents than it will for the new core of players. “Yeah, we’re defending champs, but it doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “The guys that earned that respect, they’re gone. There’s a big bulls-eye on our chests and we have to live up to that bulls-eye.”
After enduring weight-lifting workouts since January, spring and summer practices, the dreaded Wing-T camp and the recent two-a-day sessions, the ‘Balers can’t wait to hit the field running. “It sucks out on practice,” senior nose tackle Brett Pirtle said, “but if that’s what it takes, that’s what we’re going to do.”
Running back Tim Lango, a returning Second Team All-TCAL selection, believes the ‘Balers can exploit their opponents because of his team’s tremendous work ethic. “If we do it mentally, we can do it physically,” the senior said. “We always seem to out-work ’em in the fourth quarter.”
After years of opening its season with Valley Christian, the class of the section, San Benito instead begins play with Aptos, an opponent the ‘Balers last saw in a loss in the 2003 CCS championship game. With four teams that qualified for the postseason last year on the horizon, Cameron is hoping a challenging preseason schedule will prepare his team for the rugged Tri-County Athletic League.
“We have a good, tough non-league schedule,” said the San Benito head coach, whose team will face San Lorenzo Valley, Wilcox and Bellarmine in the coming weeks. “There won’t be any pushovers. We’re going to be tested each and every week. … We want to come away playing strong in the preseason, get some Ws under your belt, play tough football and get ready for league.”
Set to face Aptos, an opponent that runs a Fly offense, similar to what TCAL rivals Gilroy and Palma feature, San Benito knows that opening the season with a road win would give the team a huge shot of adrenaline heading into a stretch of four straight home games.
“We’ll start rolling and keep the winning going,” outside linebacker Nate Mendoza said, “a snowball effect.”
While acknowledging the new cast of characters and the need for this group of ‘Balers to create its own identity, Lango said the goal remains the same.
“It’s always a big standard (in Hollister),” Lango said. “Get out to that CCS game and win it.”
