With less than a week of practices under their belt – including two double day practices – the San Benito football team is slowly building to the team that it hopes can defend its Tri-County Athletic League title in the new Monterey Bay League this fall.
They still have a long way to go.
Through four practices Saturday, head coach Chris Cameron described his team as young and rusty in the early going. But that’s to be expected from a team that lost its starting quarterback, the TCAL’s offensive lineman of the year and the TCAL defensive player of the year over the summer. More than their skill, though, the team lost a lot of experience.
“That’s huge,” Cameron said of their loss. “We are losing something that’s really important. There are some good parts here. We have to learn on the job.”
For now, the youth and varsity inexperience is showing as the team slowly learns its concepts and fundamentals, Cameron said. During the first week of practice, the team is busy installing the Balers’ offense and defense.
“Right now, we are adding, putting stuff in and front-loading them a bunch right now with information and plays and scheme,” Cameron said. “The guys are learning new concepts. And it doesn’t always lend itself to a lot of success because they are thinking instead of doing it. It’s a little slow. They have to learn the pace of it coming at them from the other side.”
That’s too be expected in early-season practice, Cameron said. The weekend heat also played a role in the sluggish start for the Balers.
“We are a little slow and fatigued,” he said. “When you get tired physically because you’re not quite in shape yet your brain doesn’t work quite as well, so you don’t perform.”
Early on, he just wants his team to give a consistent effort.
“Effort and workmanship,” he said. “Without a doubt, effort. We are trying to get better every single day. They are coachable. And they take things and they work on it. That’s when we see guys turn the corner.”
He continued: “The guys need to get some self confidence. Right now, there is too much coming at them. We trying to front-load them and bombard them with stuff. We trying to fit every thing in and taper it off. In a couple of days we won’t put too much more in and we will just get better.”
To help the team improve, Cameron will turn to players that were on last year’s team. With returnees Zack Hicks, Robert Soto, Josh George and Cody Cameron – all major contributors to last year’s TCAL championships – Cameron is looking for someone to take the leadership role.
“We are looking for some guys to step up,” he said. “Hopefully, we are going to find some guys that are going to grow into that leadership role and that needs to happen each year.”
With three weeks until the season starts, they still have plenty of time to work out the early-season kinks.
