Sophomore Josh George expected to play a large role in Friday’s winner-take-all Tri-County Athletic League match against Palma – just not on offense.
But in the first quarter, that expectation changed quickly for San Benito and George.
Trailing 6-0 and on San Benito’s second drive, starting quarterback Michael Bocksnick, the Balers most dynamic offensive threat, was carried off the field after suffering a leg injury.
Enter George.
Two plays after the possibly-devastating injury to Bocksnick, George tossed a strike to receiver Robert Soto, who rolled into the end zone. And just seconds after the injury, San Benito was on top 7-6.
Throughout the game, the backup quarterback, who also played safety, didn’t play like a backup for San Benito – leading the Balers to a 13-12 victory over Palma to claim the Balers’ first TCAL championship since 2005.
San Benito, with a TCAL title, expects to play in the Open Division Central Coast Section playoffs, which start next week. San Benito will learn who it plays Sunday.
Regardless, the team has high expectations for the rest of the season.
“I’m now looking past this,” Szyndrowski said. “I’m looking for a CCS championship.”
With Friday’s victory and now possibly led by George, the Balers are one step closer to that opportunity.
George tossed two touchdowns in Friday’s title game while completing 4 of 7 passes for 59 yards. On the ground, he rushed for 36 yards to pace the San Benito offense.
He was admittedly feeling the nerves, but didn’t show it.
“I always come in the game calm – I like to screw around with the guys in the huddle, loosen them up – but inside I was really nervous,” he said. “I was scared at first, but after I threw that ball to Rob (Soto) and he went into the end zone, I got all my confidence and I just rolled from there.”
That settled down the team in the huddle as well.
“Everybody wasn’t saying anything (in the huddle),” said Ryan Di Salvo, who plays both sides of the ball. “Everybody just started saying ‘lets do it for Michael.’ And Josh (George) cracked a little joke to get people to lighten up and we went out there and punched them in the mouth.”
It wasn’t a surprise that the team responded so well to George, head coach Chris Cameron said.
“The kids responded to Josh when he came into the game,” he said. “The guys just stuck with it. He did real well. Guys just kept playing.”
After that quick strike from San Benito, which answered a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Palma’s Jack Powers, both offenses had difficulties finding their footing.
On defense, the Balers front seven caused havoc all game. Led by Di Salvo, Jonathan Huaracha and Damon Perez, the Balers limited Palma to 54 first-half yards and 213 in the game. Di Salvo recorded three sacks – a fourth was taken away with a face-mask penalty – to shut down any Palma threats.
The Balers played the game like it was their last, and for Di Salvo it was his last league game.
“I was just playing hard,” he said. “I was going through every play like it was my last. This is my last game – this is my last game in league.
I have a lot of friends on Palma. I’ve played with a lot of those guys and I didn’t want them to have the last say. I wanted to have the last say.”
In the first half, the San Benito defense allowed one Palma drive into Baler territory and forced one Palma turnover. Overall, the Balers forced three takeaways.
“We’ve been getting better, better and better on defense,” Cameron said. “They played really hard and they executed the scheme. We hold our own out there. This was a tough, tough football team and we shut them down in the first half. That’s pretty good.”
Offensively, the Balers turned the ball over three times in the first half, but only the first came back to haunt San Benito.
In the second half, San Benito was put on its heels after the Chieftains came out in a no-huddle offense. Using a 10-play drive, Palma established its only consistent drive of the game, highlighted by a 16-yard touchdown run from Marcus Washington.
But San Benito responded immediately. Behind nine running plays – four from George – the Balers quickly moved down field and answered back.
On a third down and nine from the Palma 20-yard line, George threw a floating pass to Di Salvo at the 5-yard line. The tight end lost the ball in the lights, but reached over the Palma defender to grab the ball and fall into the end zone.
“I actually lost the ball and then I saw it out of nowhere,” Di Salvo said. “I stuck my hands up there. I thought I was going to drop it, but I got it. It was awesome.”
That touchdown play was the biggest play of the game, Cameron said.
“That was the game,” he said. “That was a huge thing. It showed we could match them. We responded to them. They went down and grabbed the momentum, and we took it right back.”
With a 13-12 lead, the Balers leaned on their defense to end the game.
“They played the best game I’ve ever seen them play,” center Zach Szyndrowski said. “They stopped a powerhouse.”
But it didn’t end easily for San Benito. With less than a minute left in the game, Palma once again threatened to score. With seconds left, Palma gained 26 yards on a quick pass to Cameron Neff. In field-goal position, Neff tried to fight for extra yards and was stripped of the ball.
San Benito recovered, turning the ball over to its offense. Needing a first down to end the game, the Balers couldn’t gain the 10 yards and were forced to punt.
With one last play and one second left, Palma’s quarterback Jack Tardeui tossed the ball into Soto’s hands on the Balers’ side. Soto slid to the ground, and the game was finally over.
“There is no greater feeling,” George said.
