‘Balers Secure CCS Football Title with Last-Minute Touchdown
San Jose – With a packed house at San Jose City College on its feet and time ticking down, the San Benito Haybalers delivered.
Spinning to avoid Oak Grove’s oncoming pass rush, ‘Balers quarterback Karson Klauer connected with tight end Art Esparza on a dramatic, 29-yard touchdown with 17 seconds remaining that propelled San Benito to a 27-21 victory and the CCS Large School Division Championship on Saturday.
“It felt like winning the lottery,” Esparza said of his reception. “I was just thinking, ‘I’d better catch this or I’ll be hearing about this for the rest of my life.’ Do or die and I didn’t want to die.”
The game-winning touchdown capped a thrilling finish to a contest San Benito led by a score of 21-7 at the half. No. 1 Oak Grove rallied to tie the ‘Balers at 21 on a six-yard score by Terezz Canty with 1:10 remaining.
But No. 2 San Benito worked its two-minute offense to perfection. Facing the disheartening reality of a shared title if they couldn’t score, the ‘Balers calmly marched 80 yards on six plays to clinch their first championship since 2000.
After losses in the past two CCS title games, including a 24-20 defeat to Oak Grove last season, San Benito was revelling in its glory.
“It finally felt good to be on the other side of the coin,” ‘Balers head coach Chris Cameron said. “The third time was definitely the charm. It’s super gratifying.”
From the opening kickoff, San Benito came out firing. On the third play from scrimmage, ‘Balers fullback Tim Lango burst through the line and saw an open field in front of him. The junior outran Eagles linebacker Bobby Draminski down the left sideline for a 66-yard touchdown.
Despite a failed point-after attempt, San Benito set the tone for its dynamic first half by taking a 6-0 lead just 55 seconds into the game.
Oak Grove (9-3) intercepted a Klauer pass and then grabbed a 7-6 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Jerid Ferranti, but the ‘Balers quickly responded.
Spurred by a 49-yard run by tailback Jeff Weltz, San Benito answered with Klauer’s 25-yard touchdown strike to wideout Jason Ramirez and a 2-point conversion reception by Esparza.
“I think we overwhelmed them right away,” said Klauer, who completed 9-of-16 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns.
The streaking ‘Balers tacked on another touchdown before the half on a 1-yard plunge by Lango. With a fired-up defense throttling Oak Grove’s normally potent offense, San Benito looked to be in firm control.
“Our whole defense, we swarmed,” ‘Balers defensive lineman Vinnie Sardam said. “We were all flying to (the ball). We brought it to them from the first play on. It was a lot of heart, just chasing them down.”
San Benito (9-4) limited the Eagles to 79 total yards in the first half, while piling up 275 of its own. Central to the defensive surge was executing the gameplan to shut down Ferranti, Oak Grove’s star running back. Ferranti entered the game having rushed for 1641 yards and 16 touchdowns, but was held to just 64 yards over 18 carries on the night.
But the defending champs showed their mettle with a stirring comeback. Forced to go the air, Oak Grove turned to Kevin Vye, its junior quarterback, to solve the ‘Balers defense.
Vye, who completed 20-of-33 passes for 217 yards, recorded both of his touchdowns in the second-half flurry. The Eagles pulled within 21-14 after Vye found wideout Josh Grant in the right corner of the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown with 3:03 left in the third quarter.
Then Oak Grove used a 16-play drive that spanned 6:54 to catch the ‘Balers late in the fourth quarter on Canty’s touchdown.
“(San Benito) came out and did a hell of a job early and we battled back to make a game of it,” Eagles head coach Ed Buller said. “We were thinking our defense is playing so well that we may get the ball back. We’ve been lucky that we’ve come out on the other end of it most of the time.”
But Klauer and the ‘Balers’ offense had more than enough time to reclaim the lead and secure the championship.
Following a touchback, Klauer took over San Benito’s huddle and the game. The TCAL Offensive Player of the Year was a perfect 4-4 for 67 yards on the game-winning drive, while also rushing twice for 8 yards.
Esparza’s touchdown came after Klauer narrowly avoided a sack by Eagles linebacker Ricky Valencia. Scrambling away, Klauer saw his tight end streaking to the end zone and lofted the ball over Oak Grove’s defense.
“I knew he was behind everybody,” Klauer said of Esparza. “As soon as I threw it, I knew we had it right there.”
“That was just a heart-stopper,” Vye, the Eagles’ quarterback, said of the decisive score. “That killed us right there, that one play.”
Oak Grove got the ball back with 17 seconds remaining, but ran out of time. San Benito put the game in the history books when Sardam and fellow defensive lineman Chase Wood sacked Vye as time expired.
“(The Eagles) came storming back in the second half,” said Cameron, who won his second CCS title and San Benito’s fifth overall. “I’m sure there were a lot of folks on the edge of their seats. If I had a seat to sit on, I’d have been on the edge of mine. It was a great classic.”
“Ever since you’re a little kid playing Pop Warner, Oak Grove is the team to beat,” said Sardam, the TCAL’s Most Valuable Defensive Lineman. “Finally, you beat ’em and it’s just awesome. They stole our championship last year, the one we should’ve had so this year we had to come back and take it from them. It was a big revenge factor. It’s just the best feeling.”
