SANTA CLARA – San Benito High and Wilcox High both learned a
lesson about how important special teams are in the game of
football. Each team missed an extra point in the fourth period
Friday night, which would have stood as game-winnners. Instead, the
two teams were left with an unrewarding 20-20 tie in their
intra-league tiff on the Chargers’ turf.
All the Chargers (0-0-1) had to do was to chip in an extra point
try with 47 seconds left in the game after Anthony Reyes had
crashed over the goal line from two yards out. But, the Balers Bret
Brennan burst through the middle of the pack to block Roman
Elizondo’s low effort and the Balers had escaped defeat by the skin
of their collective jowls.
SANTA CLARA – San Benito High and Wilcox High both learned a lesson about how important special teams are in the game of football. Each team missed an extra point in the fourth period Friday night, which would have stood as game-winnners. Instead, the two teams were left with an unrewarding 20-20 tie in their intra-league tiff on the Chargers’ turf.
All the Chargers (0-0-1) had to do was to chip in an extra point try with 47 seconds left in the game after Anthony Reyes had crashed over the goal line from two yards out. But, the Balers Bret Brennan burst through the middle of the pack to block Roman Elizondo’s low effort and the Balers had escaped defeat by the skin of their collective jowls.
To most of the Baler players and coaching staff, the tie was unsatisfying to say the least.
“A tie is like a loss,” said Baler offensive lineman Phil Leonard as he walked off the field dejectedly after the final horn. “We didn’t even start playing until the second quarter.”
“We dominated them offensively the second and third quarters,” said Baler offensive coordinator Rick Dukes. “We felt we should have won.”
Baler head coach Chris Cameron felt his club didn’t drive in the final nail.
“We had no killer instinct,” said Cameron. “We let them off the hook.”
The Balers (0-1-1) had taken a 20-14 lead with 8:01 to play when Nick Bailey took a late pitch from Karson Klauer and skirted 15 yards around the right side for a TD. Then it got really crazy. Baler holder Chris Uribe took off with a bad snap on the PAT try and was dragged down for a loss. However, a Charger was ruled to have pulled on Uribe’s mask, the five-yard variety.
The Baler coaching staff pounced on the notion that the ball would be placed at the one and a half yard line. The offense was sent in to go for two, until it was realized that the penalty, which
was half the distance to the goal, was marched from the spot of the foul, which put the ball at the five. While the PAT unit was being sent back out onto the field, the Baler brass argued vehemently that the ball should be placed where they wanted it to be placed, which was more towards the middle of the field. The officials responded otherwise, leaving the ball on the left hash.
Martin Chapa’s kick was blocked as a Charger came in from the Baler right flank.
“We work for a half hour at the start of every practice on PAT’s,” said Cameron. “We lost a game we felt we should have won because of messing them up.”
A faulty snap had happened in the previous series for the Balers, who had gone 57 yards on nine plays down to the Wilcox six-inch line. The key play was a 17-yard pass completion to Klauer to Uribe on third-and-nine from the Chargers 23.
With third down and just inches from paydirt, Klauer ran the option to his right, hoping to catch the aggressive Chargers napping. But Wilcox defenders swarmed over Klauer for a two-yard loss.
“We had been watching Wilcox for eight or nine plays and they weren’t going with our quarterback,” said Dukes, as to why they ran outside, instead of quarterback sneaking. “We couldn’t tell from where we were in the press box that we were that close to the line.”
“We should have punched it in,” added Cameron.
The snap on the field goal try was a little off. Uribe tried to run out of danger, but he was tackled for minus two yards.
The Balers couldn’t have gotten off to a better start after recovering their opening kickoff at the Wilcox 32 with Jacob Larez doing the honors right in front of the Baler bench. The Chargers, gambling with eight players in the box, stuffed the Balers to three yards in four plays as Klauer’s pass on fourth-and-eight fell incomplete.
The Baler offense couldn’t do much of anything in the first 12 minutes as the Chargers drew first blood on a one-yard sneak by quarterback Thomas Russell late in the first period.
However, on the first play of the second quarter, San Benito running back Manny Hinojos took a counter through the middle of the Chargers pack of blitzers and went untouched 59 yards to tie the score. Hinojos was so alone, he stumbled and nearly fell at about the Chargers’ 30-yard line.
“I felt that adrenaline,” said Hinojos, who had 103 yards on nine carries and two scores. “My line played hard the whole game.”
Hinojos’ 11-yard sweep around left end had given the Balers a 14-7 lead with 6:35 remaining in the first half. Jeff Stream took a tight end reverse with 58 seconds left in the first half and tallied from eight yards out to knot it back up again.
Bailey was the Balers’ next leading rusher with 75 yards on 11 carries.
“It was one of Nick’s best games,” said Dukes. “He really ran hard and blocked well.”
Dukes praised left tackle Leonard and offensive guards Ty Doty and Vince Sardam for having good games, as well. Sardam, along with fellow sophomore Kevin Wilkinson, filled in for the injured Jonathan Lopez.
Wilcox head coach Woody Freitas either team could have won the game.
“Both teams played well,” said Freitas. “Klauer played well for a sophomore. He showed good composure.”
Klauer finished just 1-for-6, but had no interceptions.
The Balers are at Alvarez this Saturday at 2 p.m.
Baler bits: The Baler defense stopped the Chargers on a fourth-and-one play at San Benito’s 18-yard line. Baler linebacker Chris Stephens met Reyes at the line of scrimmage for no gain with help from a host of others. “I stopped him! I stopped him!” bellowed Stephens proudly….Back to special teams: The Balers were burned twice on long kickoff returns by the Chargers. The first was a 34-yard return by Reyes to mid-field in the second quarter. Andre Jackson went all the way to the Baler 37 midway through the fourth quarter…..Reyes is getting attention from some Ivy League schools….The Balers outgained the Chargers 243-187.
JV result: Wilcox 12, San Benito 7. Mark Sullivan snuck over from the one for the Balers’ only score. Nick Bonnaud and Isaiah Zamorez had tremendous games for the Balers (0-2) running the football. Zamorez is just a freshman, one of several on the junior varsity. Kevin Graham recovered a fumble for the Balers.
“We played 30 minutes then let up the other 10,” said JV head coach Frank Perez. “We need to be more consistent.”
Jeffrey Weltz, a talented running back, could possibly be out for the season due to an injury suffered against Valley Christian.
Frosh score: San Benito 48, Wilcox 7. Scoring details n/a.
