San Benito defense produces five takeaways and delivers in
clutch to ensure 6-3 win over Salinas
Salinas – If there’s one thing San Benito learned in its final regular season home football game Friday, it’s that it has a defense that’s worthy of being considered a title contender.
Despite offensive struggles, the ‘Balers survived a scare against Salinas and earned a 6-3 victory at Andy Hardin Stadium.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the way our defense played,” San Benito coach Chris Cameron said. “Those guys were awesome. They executed our game plan.”
The ‘Balers (7-2, 4-1 Tri-County Athletic League) forced five turnovers – three coming inside the 20-yard line – and stifled the Cowboys running game to the tune of 94 yards on 36 carries.
But despite the defense’s spectacular play, the game was still in the balance late when Salinas (4-5, 2-3) had the ball fourth-and-2 at the San Benito 24 with less than two minutes remaining.
Cowboys running back Micah Wilson plunged up the middle and the ball was knocked free. ‘Balers senior linebacker Nate Mendoza picked it up at the 19 and returned it 32 yards and San Benito ran out the clock to secure the win.
“We felt it was up to us on defense,” Mendoza said. “I just felt relieved.”
For a defensive unit that spent the majority of the game on the field, it was a satisfying win.
“Considering we were on the field for more than three-quarters of the game it felt like, it was just the greatest feeling in the world knowing that our hard work and our conditioning paid off,” said senior linebacker Johnny Sanchez, who made one of the biggest plays of the night when he recovered a Salinas fumble when they have moved the ball to the San Benito 2.
It was a frustrating night for the offense, which was forced to punt on three of its first four possessions and had two interceptions thrown.
But the ‘Balers finally got on the board late in the second quarter. An 11-play, 51-yard drive was finished up when senior fullback Tim Lango barreled his way in from two yards out. The extra point failed so San Benito took a 6-0 lead.
The ‘Balers tried to add three more to the board when a Ricky Sanchez interception set them up at the Cowboys’ 30. San Benito reached as far as the 10-yard line, but Dru Blake’s 27-yard field goal attempt missed wide right and the scored remained 6-0 heading into halftime.
An interception set up Salinas’ lone score, as R.J. Pua picked off a Ronnie Fhurong pass and took it to the San Benito 15 and Chris Pinto eventually converted a 30-yard field goal attempt to trim it to 6-3.
Neither team could find the scoreboard again and Mendoza’s fumble recovery finally was enough to seal up the 100th win in Cameron’s coaching career.
Lango led the offense’s output with 123 yards on 20 carries, but he was disappointed with the unit’s performance.
“(The win) shows that our defense is really good,” Lango said. “Our offense should’ve scored a lot more.”
