It was a night of role reversals. After coming out flat last
week against Oak Grove and playing themselves out of that game by
halftime, San Benito controlled all facets from the start of
tonight’s home opener against Wilcox in heading to an easy 34-7
victory. The Balers were led by a balanced running attack and a
strong performance by quarterback Tyler Decker.
HOLLISTER
It was a night of role reversals.
After coming out flat against Oak Grove and playing themselves out of that game by halftime, San Benito controlled the tempo on both sides of the ball in Friday’s home opener against Wilcox in heading to an easy 34-7 victory.
Led by a balanced running attack and a strong game from quarterback Tyler Decker, the Balers jumped out to a 20-0 halftime lead, while San Benito’s option game left the Chargers guessing on defense all night.
Overall, there was a much higher sense of urgency, more intensity, than during last week’s 34-13 loss to Oak Grove. Coach Chris Cameron credited the attitude change for San Benito (2-1) to that wake-up call and a subsequently more attentive week of practice. The Balers last week had been coming off a blow-out victory in the first game against Andrew Hill.
Wilcox, perhaps, had been overconfident itself coming to Andy Hardin Field with two victories over weak opponents — a 34-20 win at Menlo-Atherton on Sept. 4 and 27-14 against Terra Nova last weekend.
“You lose a game and you learn a lot,” Cameron said after the win, calling the Balers’ performance Friday “real physical.”
The Balers were particularly gritty on both sides of the line. On offense, blockers consistently opened holes and created space for Decker and company to run inside and outside the tackles. The backs had their fair share of physical moments, too.
San Benito’s second offensive play from scrimmage set the stage for the game. On their own 41, Baler fullback Cody Hendricks broke two tackles up the middle before bowling through a mob of defenders while going down at the end of a 19-yard carry — which included a face-mask penalty that added 15 yards and took the Balers to the Chargers’ 25-yard line.
Hendricks, who led the Balers with 72 yards on 11 carries, also helped to set up their first touchdown of the game on their second drive when he ran for 11 yards to the Chargers’ 4-yard line before Decker finished it with a touchdown run on the next play.
Hendricks said the motivation came not just from the prior week’s performance, but also with Friday being the first home game. He also mentioned the solid week of practice.
“We did a lot better this week, and it showed,” he said.
Decker, meanwhile, ended up having two running touchdowns — both in the first half — and the Balers added on six points with two field goals from Tino Granados, of 31 and 42 yards. Granados, however, did narrowly miss a 29-yarder to the left in the first half as well.
In the third quarter, as the game slowed, running back James Sanchez added a two-yard score. He had 39 yards on 8 carries. And in the fourth, filling in for Decker, sophomore quarterback Michael Bocksnick broke away on a run down the right sideline for a 45-yard touchdown. Bocksnick showed an additional speed element — in a crowded but versatile backfield — which the Balers potentially could employ this season.
From an offensive perspective, this one came down to the fact that one team’s option attack was successful and other’s wasn’t, as Cameron pointed out how San Benito’s counter option in particular worked “really well” on six different occasions. It doesn’t hurt prospects for the option game, though, to have such a multifaceted backfield. And that showed Friday, with 10 backs touching the ball.
The defense complemented those offensive performances well and dominated between the tackles throughout the night, even when put in a couple of tough predicaments by special teams.
Up front for the Balers, defenders continually plugged holes, while opposing a style of offense similar to that of San Benito’s, and they harassed Chargers quarterback Nick Morehead on just about every drop-back as San Benito built its lead.
Linebacker Jon Huaracha was active all game but made his biggest play on a key third down for the Chargers at the Balers’ 20 — San Benito had held a 10-0 lead — when he sacked Morehead for a 12-yard loss and prompted Wilcox to punt.
The Baler defense almost had a shutout, too, before Wilcox runner Michael Roman scored a two-yard touchdown with just under three minutes left.
If there was a weak spot on the night for the Balers, it was those special teams units. The Balers gave up two returns of more than 40 yards in the first half while Wilcox still was within reach. San Benito also showed some sloppiness at times, having trouble holding on to the football and committing a slew of unnecessary penalties.
The Balers made up for it, though, with their physicality and solid execution in blocking schemes, along with Decker’s improvisation while scrambling in and out of the pocket.
Decker finished with 50 yards on 14 carries, while in passing downs he was 4 of 5 for 59 yards. Running back James Flook was his favorite target, catching four balls for 48 yards.
Decker’s counterpart, Morehead, completed just five passes on 18 attempts for 48 yards and an interception. And his numbers weren’t even that good, because almost all of the completions came when the game was out of hand in the second half.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
WILC 0 0 0 7 — 7
SANB 10 10 0 14 — 34
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
KICK (7:24) — SANB, Tino Granados, 42-yard field goal is good; 3-0, SANB.
RUSH (4:10) — SANB, Tyler Decker, 4-yard touchdown, PAT (Tino Granados) is good; 10-0, SANB.
Second Quarter
RUSH (4:06) — SANB, Tyler Decker, 6-yard touchdown, PAT (Tino Granados) is good; 17-0, SANB.
KICK (:08) — SANB, Tino Granados, 31-yard field goal is good; 20-0, SANB.
Fourth Quarter
RUSH (8:16) — SANB, James Sanchez, 2-yard touchdown, PAT (Tino Granados) is good; 27-0, SANB.
RUSH (2:45) — WILC, Michael Roman, 2-yard touchdown, PAT (Tyler Barraclough) is good; 27-7, SANB.
RUSH (2:33) — SANB, Michael Bocksnick, 45-yard touchdown, PAT (Tino Granados) is good; 34-7, SANB.
WILCOX STATISTICS
Passing: Nick Morehead — 5 of 18, 48 yards, 1 interception. Rushing: Nick Morehead — 11 carries, 34 yards; Jordan Gibson — 8 carries, 36 yards; Michael Roman — 9 carries, 19 yards, 1 touchdown; Paul Hernandez — 1 carry, 2 yards; Kris Dipko — 1 carry, 3 yards. Receiving: Conor Dunn — 2 receptions, 22 yards; Tyler Barraclough — 3 receptions, 26 yards.
SAN BENITO STATISTICS
Passing: Tyler Decker — 4 of 5, 59 yards; Michael Bocksnick — 1 of 1, 3 yards. Rushing: Tyler Decker — 14 carries, 50 yards, 2 touchdowns; Michael Bocksnick — 4 carries, 53 yards, 1 touchdown; Cody Hendricks — 11 carries, 72 yards; James Sanchez — 8 carries, 39 yards, 1 touchdown; James Flook — 4 carries, 17 yards; Justin Raine — 1 carry, 3 yards; Anthony Cervantes — 2 carries, 13 yards; Nate Valencia — 1 carry, 5 yards; Ivan Martinez — 1 carry, 0 yards; Jacob De Leon — 1 carry, 3 yards. Receiving: James Flook — 4 receptions, 48 yards; Cody Bentson — 1 reception, 14 yards.
TURNOVERS
Wilcox — 2
San Benito — 0
SACKS
Wilcox — 2 (Jeremy Souza 1, Jose Ruiz 1/2, Kevin Fletcher 1/2) for -8 yards.
San Benito — 2 (Enrique Ramos 1, Jon Huaracha 1) for -21 yards.
TOTAL OFFENSE
Wilcox — 142 yards (48 pass, 94 rush)
San Benito — 317 yards (62 pass, 255 rush)
