It’s only three games, but the San Benito High football team has made it clear the 2015 season could be a special one. After opening up the year with impressive wins over Hilmar and Palo Alto, the Haybalers recorded their biggest regular-season victory in recent memory in a 21-14 decision over visiting Los Gatos on Friday.
“It means a lot to beat a team like Los Gatos,” said Balers quarterback R.J. Clark, who rushed for 94 yards on 12 carries, including a 29-yard touchdown run. “Coach (Chris Cameron) was talking the whole week how we hadn’t beat them in a long time. You can tell we played our hearts out.”
Los Gatos (0-2) has had its way with San Benito (3-0) in recent years, whipping the Balers 35-14 last season and 28-14 in 2013. However, San Benito showed it was the superior unit this time, especially in the second half. After being held scoreless and gaining just 71 yards of total offense through the first two quarters, the Balers took control in the second half.
They outgained the Wildcats 206-57 in the third and fourth quarters, with their offensive and defensive linemen controlling the line of scrimmage. The San Benito offensive line started to create numerous running lanes in the second half, helping to spring Hunter Nye for another huge game.
The junior fullback rushed for a game-high 110 yards on 15 carries, including a 50-yard TD run that accounted for the game-winning score with 4 minutes, 45 seconds remaining. Once Nye got past the line of scrimmage, he shed two would-be Los Gatos tacklers at the Wildcats 25-yard line en route to the end zone.
Nye refused to go down, epitomizing the team’s will to compete. In another highlight-reel play, Clark somehow slipped out of the grasp of a couple of Los Gatos defenders—also at the Wildcats 25-yard line—on his way to a 29-yard TD run that provided the equalizer after Los Gatos struck first late in the second quarter. Clark credited the offensive line for being more physical than its Los Gatos counterparts.
“Our line stepped up, and they’re a great set of people,” he said. “They’re real fast off the ball and I wouldn’t trade them for anybody.”
San Benito’s defense got stronger as the game went along, too. A week after getting torched by Palo Alto’s passing game, the Balers rebounded with a dominating performance, highlighted by Ely Sernas returning a fumble 25 yards for a score to give the Balers a 14-7 lead with a minute left in the third quarter.
Colby Noble forced the fumble, and Sernas was there to scoop it up near the right sideline before breaking a tackle on his way to the end zone.
“I saw the ball pop up and usually my first reaction is to dive on it, but something went through my head to pick it up off the ground and run with it,” Sernas said. “After what happed against Palo Alto, we worked on a lot of things in practice. You know coach Cam—once we mess up, he’s on our butts the whole time. We watched a lot of film, saw the plays they ran and were prepared to stop them.”
The Balers are off to their best start since 2009, when they won their first eight games en route to a 10-3 record. Clark and Sernas know they can ill afford to get over confident.
“We can’t get cocky with three wins,” Clark said. “We know we still have a lot of work to do.”
Said Sernas: “I’ll enjoy this win tonight, but tomorrow I’ll let it go. It’s a good win, but we have to keep pushing.”
Game Box
Los Gatos 0 7 0 7—14
San Benito 0 0 14 7—21
Scoring summary
LG—Wilcox 37 pass from Beach (Craythorne kick)
SB—Clark 29 run (Miranda kick)
SB—Sernas 25 fumble return (Miranda kick)
LG—Howell 20 run (Craythorne kick)
SB—Nye 50 run (Miranda kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING (carries-yards): LOS GATOS—Howell 14-84, Doughty 3-15, Geredes 2-4, Holton 1-1, Gault 1-6, Bigge 6-(-7). Totals 27-103. SAN BENITO—Nye 15-110, Clark 12-94, Cameron 11-31, Starke 1-1, Rodriguez 1-0, Gonzalez 9-32. Totals 48-268. PASSING (comp-att-yds-td-int): LOS GATOS—Bigge 6-16-70-0-1. SAN BENITO—Clark 1-4-9-0-0. RECEIVING (catches-yards): LOS GATOS—Wilcox 1-37, Gault 2-12, Beach 2-53, Hibberd 1-4, Geredes 1-1. Totals 7-107. SAN BENITO—Rodriguez 1-9. TOTAL OFFENSE (rush-pass-total): LOS GATOS—103-107-210. SAN BENITO—268-9-277.
