There’s an old adage in sports that says any win is a good win. That pretty much summed up the situation for the San Benito High football team in a 45-6 pounding of visiting Monterey on Friday. Against an overmatched Monterey squad, the Haybalers (4-2 overall, 1-1 MBL Gabilan) did what they were supposed to do—win going away.
“My overall impression is I’m happy because it sure beats the last two weeks,” Balers coach Chris Cameron said, referring to consecutive blowout losses to Wilcox and Salinas. “But I know our best game is still out there.”
Indeed, this was San Benito’s least impressive victory of the season coming against a 1-5 Monterey team that will be hard-pressed to earn a single league win. Last night’s victory proved costly, as the Balers lost junior defensive back/punt returner Donny Torres to a severe right leg injury after he was tackled hard during a punt return midway through the first quarter.
A couple of other players got hurt as well, and Cameron said there was going to be “a big personnel issue scramble on Sunday” amongst the coaching staff on how to best fill the spots of the injured players. When Nik Hernandez converted a 28-yard field goal to give the Balers a 3-0 lead with 6 minutes, 20 seconds left in the quarter, it started a scoring blitz.
Four plays later, Torres returned a short Monterey punt 32 yards to the Toreadores’ 3-yard line. On the very next play, Tyler Rodriguez scored the first of his two touchdown runs. On the ensuing kickoff, Monterey’s Carlos Cienfuegos blew past the San Benito special teams unit for an 88-yard TD.
Two plays later, Kyle Cameron took a toss and found a lane on the left side for a 68-yard TD run to give the Balers a 17-6 lead. It was a game of quick-play strikes for San Benito, which received a fine passing performance from R.J. Clark. The senior quarterback had missed ample game time the last couple of weeks due to a lingering hamstring issue, but he carved up the Monterey defense, going 4-of-8 for 103 yards, including TD throws of 44 and 25 yards to Christian Cabada and Daniel Hopkins, respectively.
The Balers racked up 396 yards of total offense, including 293 on the ground. They also limited Monterey’s most dangerous player, tailback Akili Jones, to 60 yards on 15 carries. Cameron had a game-high 85 yards on just six carries, and Hunter Nye added 67 yards on five rushes.
Several San Benito reserve players were inserted in the fourth quarter, and the Balers’ longtime coach said that’s a huge benefit.
“When you get to play in the game (and you usually don’t), you have more piss and vinegar going out to practice the next week,” Cameron said. “I want to say we got better tonight, but I don’t know. I just know we need to use this as a stepping stone to improve.”
