Things sure looked good for the Balers during the first few
minutes of the their game against the Salinas High Cowboys at Andy
Hardin Stadium – but that quickly changed. The Cowboys found the
holes in the run game, racking up more than 200 yards on the
ground, in a 20-7 romp over the Balers.
HOLLISTER
Things sure looked good for the Balers during the first few minutes of the their game against the Salinas High Cowboys at Andy Hardin Stadium – but that quickly changed.
San Benito’s first drive, an 80-yard methodical push to the Cowboys’ 17-yard line that ended in a missed field goal, ended up being the exception and not how the rest of the game played out.
Instead, it was the now 2-3-1 Cowboys who found the holes in the run game, racking up more than 200 yards on the ground, in a 20-7 romp over the Balers. Three costly turnovers by the Balers gave the Cowboys good field position throughout the night.
“The bottom line is they just kicked our butt at the line of the scrimmage today,” Baler head coach Chris Cameron said. “They kicked our butt on both sides of the ball.”
Salinas High controlled the ball for most of game, nearly doubling San Benito’s number of plays from scrimmage – 56 to 31. The Cowboys had a moderate 240 yards of total offense, but the Balers (3-3, 1-1 TCAL) could muster just 122.
“I think we ran four plays in the third quarter?” Cameron said.
Cameron attributed the lack of running lanes to miscues and missed blocking assignments.
“Part of the thing, when we were trying to get to the perimeter, we weren’t blocking the perimeter real well,” he said. “Part of that is mental. They weren’t really stoning us offensively, but we were hurting ourselves a lot.”
The Cowboys defense was looking for turnovers, Salinas High head coach Steve Goodbody said.
“We have been talking about turnovers – we are playing good defense but we weren’t getting turnovers,” he said.
Still, Salinas started the game on its heels.
The Balers’ first drive of the game started on their own 22-yard line but quickly got big chunks of yards from the option, sweeping the ball to James Sanchez.
The big play on the drive, though, belonged to Cody Hendricks who ran the ball for 5 yards up the middle but was tackled by a facemask.
With 15 yards added on to the run – the Balers were inside the 15-yard line. It was there where the drive and offense stalled.
“Our offense did good in the first drive and a couple drives, but mistakes that don’t need to be made (hurt us),” Hendricks said.
After the missed field goal and a brief drive by the Cowboys, the Balers took the ball on their 26-yard line. Two plays later, though, quarterback Tyler Decker mishandled a handoff and the Balers lost the ball.
The rejuvenated Cowboys ran wild from there – letting their plethora of running backs find holes. Running back Josh Estassi was the workhorse for the Cowboys, carrying the ball 23 times while running for 101 yards and a second-quarter touchdown.
“That’s one of our strengths,” Goodbody said. “We don’t have a big guy but we have a bunch of guys we can put in there.”
Estassi’s touchdown came nine plays after the turnover, putting the Haybalers in an early hole that they were never able to climb out of.
“They are a better team than we are and they physically took it to us,” Cameron said.
The Cowboys forced three turnovers, including two fumbles that accounted for 10 points. The third came late in the second half, when the Balers were trying to make a comeback and Decker threw an interception with little more than a minute left in the game.
Decker, who only had two passes in the first half, threw for 60 yards in the second half, including a 36-yard touchdown to James Flook.
Flook’s touchdown came when the Balers, trailing 20-0, were forced to throw the ball with less than five minutes in the game. As Decker scrambled to the right, Flook shifted to the left and became wide open.
A quick pass by Decker allowed Flook to run downfield and have to avoid just one tackle to get into the end zone. The Balers recovered the ensuing onside kick, but three plays later, Decker threw an interception after he was sacked twice.
For the Balers, it was simple – they were beaten at their own game, thanks to miscues.
“That will be a couple of film sessions right there … we need to go back and keep on working,” Cameron said. “Hats off to them. They came here and took it to us. They are the better football team.”
Look back for the full box score.
