Some weeks, one game looms above all others. On Friday, the Palma-San Benito game fits the bill. The winner clinches the outright Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division championship, and bragging rights for supremacy of the Tri-County area.
“Like I’ve been telling our young men, we wanted the Week 10 game against Palma to mean something,” Haybalers coach Bryan Smith said. “The guys know what’s at stake.”
The implications are enormous. A victory would give the Balers (9-0 overall, 5-0 league) their first league championship since 2011, when they beat the Chieftains (7-2, 5-0) to record a perfect 6-0 league mark. That was the last time San Benito was truly a heavyweight in league play, as it has gone a rather pedestrian 3-3 in the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Friday’s contest has all the makings for a truly epic outcome. Both teams enter the game with 5-0 records in league, having not been challenged for a full game. San Benito has won each of its division games by double digits. But Palma has been even more dominant, as it has literally run roughshod over the MBL this season.
The Chieftains’ closest game wasn’t remotely competitive, a 41-19 decision over Alvarez. Since finishing second to San Benito in 2011, Palma has either won or shard the league title. The Chieftains are the gold standard of the MBL; however, no squad in the area plays Palma tougher than the Balers, who are looking to once again become the dominant force of the league.
Years ago, the Prune Bowl between San Benito and Gilroy was often the game of the season. However, once Christopher opened up—splitting the enrollment of the two schools—the Mustangs could no longer field a team that could be competitive with San Benito. Palma has always been a rival for the Balers, but it has become the game in which everyone circles on the calendar—check that, inputs in their smart phones—before the start of every season.
In the last 10 years, Palma holds a somewhat commanding 7-3 advantage. However, most of the games have been close, with the Balers matching up well with Palma. The Chieftains edged the Balers a season ago, 33-32, a year after San Benito prevailed 13-12. Friday’s game promises to live up to the hype, as San Benito comes in with one of the more powerful running attacks in the Bay Area.
In a 44-28 win over North Salinas last week, the Balers received big-time performances from their offensive line and running backs Carson Schmuckle and Hunter Nye. Schmuckle went off for a career-high 210 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries, and Nye finished with 175 yards on 20 rushes. Schmuckle had perhaps the key play of the game, a 79-yard TD run that came immediately after North Salinas had rallied to within 31-28 early in the fourth quarter.
Schmuckle later added a 6-yard TD run to account for the final margin of victory.
“Carson is a great complement to Hunter Nye because teams can’t just focus on Hunter anymore,” Smith said.
The Balers finished with a season-high 537 yards of offense, with 453 coming on the ground. But things won’t come as easy against Palma’s stout defense, which is as good as advertised.
“When you watch the Palma defense on film, you see why they’ve given up so few points in league,” Smith said. “They’re stout up front, they’ve got fast linebackers and aggressive defensive backs who can make plays. It’s going to be a heck of a challenge.”
Like the Balers, the Chieftains are a ground and pound team, with two-way lineman Drew Dalman, a Stanford commit, paving the way for tailback Emilio Martinez, who has rushed for 1,301 yards and is averaging 7.9 yards per carry. However, the Chieftains have shown the ability to throw the ball with Zach Flores under center.
No doubt the Palma coaches took notice of last week’s San Benito-North Salinas result, with Vikings quarterback Tim Burkhardt completing 28 of 57 passes for 412 yards and four TDs with three interceptions.
“Give North Salinas credit—they did a good job of exploiting some of our weaknesses,” said Smith, referring to the defensive players not getting to their coverage areas effectively. “We didn’t get off blocks very well, and our linebackers didn’t fill in the gaps very well. The offense struggled at times, too, so we just have to be better against Palma.”
What makes the San Benito-Palma game such a great rivalry—beyond the competition, of course—is the fact that there are always a couple of Hollister residents who play for the private school in Salinas. Great games, public vs. private, league supremacy on the line. It’s a recipe for a blockbuster game.
“It’s going to be the game of the century,” Raquet said. “The league title on the line at our house on Senior Night. For better or worse, we’re going to remember this game for the rest of our lives.”
