The San Benito football team’s postseason fate will now rely on something other than themselves – perhaps even by the luck of a coin toss – as the Balers couldn’t keep pace with Monterey Bay League champion Palma on Friday night in Hollister, losing 31-14.
Thanks to turnovers, the Balers allowed the Chieftains to rack up 24 first-half points in the defeat.
With an overall mark of 5-5 and 3-3 in the new MBL, the loss hands San Benito its worst regular season since 2008. The Balers will enter Sunday’s Central Coast Section seeding meeting with a berth as a question mark. A win Friday would have assured one.
With inclement weather causing havoc on the field at Andy Hardin Stadium, Palma took advantage of the mud and the cold, scoring 14 points off three Baler turnovers to build an early cushion – something San Benito could never quite overcome.
The scoring started quickly for the Chieftains, as Palma drove 54 yards to get on the board first.
At first, though, SBHS stalled Palma, forcing a fourth down conversion on the Baler 31-yard line. On the fourth down play, though, the Baler linebackers over pursued and slipped in the wet conditions to allow Palma junior Brandon Olivares to find a seam up the middle for a 31-yard touchdown.
Olivarez, a Hollister resident, controlled the game for Palma, accounting for 122 of the Chieftains 239 yards.
On the Balers ensuing drive, San Benito gave the ball right back to the Chieftains for their first of three turnovers. On only San Benito’s third play, quarterback David Stanton mishandled the snap, and Palma recovered the ball on the Balers’ 39-yard line.
“It was tough at first because I couldn’t get my footing,” Stanton said. “We were trying to do to much and we adjusted. But First possession we fumbled. And that definitely changed momentum. It’s hard to keep momentum when we turn the ball over like that.”
Palma made the turnover cost San Benito. Olivarez struck again on the next play, running up the middle untouched for a 39-yard touchdown. Only six minutes into the game, San Benito trailed 14-0.
“Turnovers are always important,” San Benito head coach Chris Cameron said. “We had a turnover right from the get-go. Right after they scored we had the bad snap exchange. It led to a touchdown. They converted on two turnovers for touchdowns. That’s gigantic. That’s something we have being doing a pretty good job on.”
The Palma momentum didn’t end there, though. After a quick three-play series from San Benito, the Chieftains, again, drove quickly down the field behind Olivarez. But it was Joel Ordaz that provided the big play. On a wide receiver sweep, Ordaz beat the Baler corners around the left side and sprinted down the sideline for a 46-yard score.
“We couldn’t stop the kerchunking,” Cameron said. “It was just one kerchunk and another.”
Other than the three big offensive plays, the Palma offense remained dormant for most of the game, gaining only seven first downs and 239 yards. After the first quarter, Palma had only one play larger than 10 yards. But the Balers could never force a turnover.
The defense, led by the return of All-League tackle Jorge Perez from injury, slowed down the Palma attack in the second half.
“It showed that our team had no quit in us,” Perez said. “They came out and scored on us instantly but we came out and played hard. Nobody stopped. There were no quitters on our team.”
Despite the Balers limiting the Chieftain attack, San Benito’s offense couldn’t do much better. To open the third quarter, the turnover bug struck again for the Balers.
After gaining on a fourth down play, Stanton was stripped by Hildelv Manzur, who returned the ball 46 yards for a touchdown. The score gave Palma a 31-0 lead only a minute into the second half.
From there, San Benito controlled the game.
Stanton, who ran for a team-high 58 yards, scored twice in the fourth quarter – on runs of one and nine yards – to bring San Benito within 17 points. But after an onside kick recovery, the Balers couldn’t chip anymore into the Chieftain lead.
The late-game run, though, only gave the Balers confidence, senior captain Noah Brann said.
“It shows that we can score on these big teams,” said Brann, a lineman. “We showed through the hard times that we are able to pull through and score some points. I think that would make us a great and tough team in the playoffs because that’s what wins games.”
As San Benito turned to the passing game to come back from the early deficit, Stanton, a junior, played well for the Balers. He finished 9-for-20 for 82 yards and an interception. Rob Soto finished with eight catches for 80 yards.
On the ground, Stanton became the Balers most consistent weapon in the second half, running for 58 yards. Damien Botelho carried the load for the Balers for most of the night, rushing for 50 yards on a team-high 15 carries.
Regardless of the final score, the game showed that the Balers are getting better heading into a possible CCS playoff game, Cameron said.
“I thought our kids played real hard,” he said. “It was a better game for us. It was way better than the way we played against Monterey. We are looking forward to going out in the playoffs.”
SBHS will discover its CCS fate Sunday. Look for an update soon.
