San Benito will retain the prestigious Prune Bowl trophy for
another year. The engraving on the trophy will forever read
37-7.
The Haybalers found numerous ways to score against the visiting
Mustangs on Friday night including a 99-yard plus drive after a
goal-line stand.
Coming into the game, San Benito knew it had to contain Gilroy’s
speed.
San Benito will retain the prestigious Prune Bowl trophy for another year. The engraving on the trophy will forever read 37-7.
The Haybalers found numerous ways to score against the visiting Mustangs on Friday night including a 99-yard plus drive after a goal-line stand.
Coming into the game, San Benito knew it had to contain Gilroy’s speed.
“Defensively, we had 11 guys all over the place,” said Baler coach Chris Cameron. “We played real good assignment football, and we played extremely aggressive. We got off the blocks quickly. We did the fundamental things that fit in the scheme.”
Last year Gilroy prevented a shut out in the Prune Bowl with a last-second touchdown. This year the Mustangs got the touchdown out of the way early and then were shutout the rest of the way.
“We started falling into that trap of making mistakes,” said Gilroy coach Darren Yafai. “We had some mental breakdowns on offense and defense, and that is going to kill you. We get two touchdowns taken away, and we fumbled the ball away three times.”
Although Hollister pretty much had its way in the second quarter, it was actually Gilroy that scored first.
Quarterback Ben Hemeon, who was 3 for 12 for 83 yards with an interception, found Louie Gutierrez on the opening drive. Gutierrez weaved his way through the Hollister defense for the 81-yard touchdown 38 seconds into the game.
“They ran a trip formation,” Cameron said. “They hit the middle receiver straight up the pump, and we were just lined up wrong. We were buried into the short side of the field. We tried to run to him, and it was too late. But we fixed it after that.”
After getting down in the red zone to the Mustang 13 and the Mustang 3-yard line, the Balers tied the score on a 28-yard pass from Karson Klauer to Nick Bailey with 1:44 left in the first quarter.
“We had a lot of opportunities, but we didn’t cash in on some of the early ones, and that bothered me,” Cameron said. “We came around and got our act together.”
The Balers took the lead with 8:10 left in the second quarter. Klauer almost found Ken Romero in the end zone for a touchdown. But Gilroy’s Robert Daluz came up with a big play to get a hand in and knock it out of Romero’s grasp.
San Benito had to settle for a field goal. The attempt was blocked, but Martin Chapa got another chance after the Mustangs were called for roughing the kicker. His 23-yard second attempt was good, and the Balers had a 10-7 lead.
On the following drive, the Mustangs moved the ball down the field with nice runs by Melvin Bryant and Marty Sustaita, but the drive ended on the 1-yard line when the Baler defense not only stopped Bryant from crossing the plane of the end zone but also forced a fumble.
San Benito received a half-the-distance penalty, moving the ball to about the one-foot mark. The Balers got some breathing room with a carry by Francisco Aviles then a couple carries by Klauer. Hinojos picked up a 28-yard gain and was hit late to take the ball all the way to the Mustang 45.
Hinojos was playing in the game despite his father having a massive heart attack the day before.
“He wanted me to be out here and play,” Hinojos said. “It was for him.”
Chris Uribe finished off the drive with about a minute to go before the half with a 24-yard reverse for a touchdown.
Defensively, Uribe had to move from corner to strong safety when Jake Buzzetta was knocked out with a concussion. After the game, Buzzetta had trouble remembering the first quarter.
But it was Gilroy fans and players who wanted to forget the game.
“Hollister is a real good football team,” Yafai said. “If you make mistakes like we did against a great football team like Hollister, you’re never going to win. We would have had to have played mistake-free football, and we didn’t.”
The Balers kept the pressure on in the second half. Jeff Hawks picked off a double pass by Bryant in the end zone.
“Coach was telling us to watch the trip,” Hawks said. “I was working hard to stay with him. I stepped under, and the ball was there.”
The pick set the pace for a 60-yard reception by Romero with 5:51 left in the third quarter that gave the Balers a 24-7 lead.
Bailey just crossed the end zone at the start of the fourth quarter. He was knocked out after a 24-yard reception, but not before he was ruled to have crossed inside the pylon.
Senior running back Mike Savin capped off the scoring with 7:39 left on a two-yard run. Baler linebacker Anthony Vasquez picked up an interception in the fourth quarter.
“We played very well on defense tonight,” Cameron said. “If you play good defense, it is tough to lose.”
Next up, the Balers will go against North Salinas in their Halloween homecoming game on Friday.
