In October as the Balers walked off the field in Monterey in a daze, a Central Coast Section championship wasn’t even in the minds of San Benito players and coaches. Instead the Balers simply needed to win a game. Seven weeks later, the same goal is still present for the Balers but under slightly grander circumstances.
After that 28-7 beat down at the hands of the Toreadores, San Benito has lost only once – a 31-14 loss to Palma – and won five times. And with back-to-back wins over Alisal and Salinas, the Balers return to a familiar position – the CCS championship game. For the eighth time since 1999, the Balers will play in final Division I game of the year.
For the second time since 2009, the Balers (7-5) will play Milpitas (9-3) in the season finale at 7 p.m. Saturday at Independence High in San Jose. The Balers will go for their third championship in that time – winning in 2000 and 2005 – and the sixth in the school’s history.
San Benito will have a tough task against the Trojans on Saturday. In the past 13 season, the Balers have met Milpitas three previous times in the postseason, beating them twice.
This year, the Balers are confident but they know they will have their hands full, SBHS head coach Chris Cameron said.
“They (Milpitas) have the ability to be a real big play team,” Cameron said. “They have a lot of starlets that are all over the field. They are big up front on offense. A lot to stop there. I like the way the kids are playing right now. I think we are going to give them all they can handle.”
He continued: “Turnovers are important. We need to be able to win the turnover battle and not give them any short fields and do a good job in the kicking game.”
And San Benito will do that with a lot of youth and players that haven’t experienced the sectional title stage before. Something that Cameron has plenty knowledge of.
“The best preparation is playing in it,” Cameron said. “In the end it’s still a normal game. The minutes are still running on the clock. We still go down for down. But everything means more because it’s the last game. It’s everyone’s last game. We are one of the final 10 teams playing so we are very fortunate. I’ve been stressing that to them.”
And it was thanks to Milpitas that the Balers even had a chance to play in the postseason. When the Trojans lost to Saratoga in the season’s second to last week, San Benito’s postseason chances were boosted. Eventually, the Balers snuck into the playoffs by a half point.
“We got in because Saratoga knocked off Milpitas,” he said. “I’ve been stressing that on them. We are fortunate so lets go out there and play well.”
And the Balers have answered that call, beating Alisal and Salinas by a combined score of 58-13.
To win Saturday, the Balers will need to use their defense to slow down a three-man rushing attack. With three runners over 500 yards, the Trojans can use the size of Vita Vea (6-foot-5 and 280 pounds) and the speed of CJ Reyes and Squally Canada (112 carries for 945 yards).
On offense, the Balers need another standout game from quarterback David Stanton, who has scored seven touchdowns in the last two weeks.
“That kid has come miles even since I want to say the Palma game,” Cameron said. “He was making strides since the course of that game. He is a kid that has the ability to learn real well and that’s a great asset. That’s a feather in his cap.”
With such a young core that’s peaking at the right time, Cameron expects the best Saturday.
“We got a little help and we’ve taken full advantage right now,” Cameron said. “I hope to keep the kids playing at a high level. I’ve been telling the kids to go out there and play real hard. Keep battering away. The young guys, I don’t know how you necessarily prepare them. We prepare like it’s another game – it’s just the last game of the year with a championship on the line.”
