Balers battle Milpitas Saturday night for the Division I
championship
HOLLISTER
It hasn’t always been pretty, but style points aren’t needed in the Division I playoffs.
A 13-9 victory over No. 8 Independence and a 14-13 come-from-behind win against No. 4 Salinas will do just fine.
But however improbable San Benito’s run this season has been, from its emotional high of winning eight straight games to its crashing end when it lost consecutive contests against Palma and Gilroy, the Balers have found ways in the postseason to pull out the edge-of-your-seat victory, and it suddenly has them on the doorstep of a Central Coast Section title.
Style points need not apply.
Squaring off against No. 3 Milpitas (10-2) on Saturday night at San Jose City College, top-seeded San Benito (10-2) will play in its sixth CCS championship game this decade and seek its third title.
But despite their impressive postseason past, no one currently on the varsity squad has experienced a championship final. The last time the Balers played in a title game was 2005 when it topped Oak Grove 27-21, the same year San Benito’s current crop of seniors was graduating middle school.
Don’t expect that to change anything, though.
“We’re just gonna prepare for this like another game,” San Benito head coach Chris Cameron said. “It’s just the last game, but they know that. We’ve got to prepare for this like any other game, and just approach it the same way.”
What San Benito is preparing for Saturday night isn’t something it has necessarily seen this season, however. The Trojans boast plenty of weapons on its high-scoring spread offense — even two quarterbacks — that has averaged more than 35 points per game this year.
Coming off a come-from-behind 15-14 victory against No. 2 Piedmont Hills last week, Milpitas crushed Gilroy 58-3 in the Division I first round, one week after the Mustangs stole a 35-30 win over San Benito in the Prune Bowl.
But with the Balers boasting a defense that has allowed just 10.5 points per game this season, San Benito is preparing for Milpitas’ “big, fast and athletic” attack, especially its two-quarterback system.
“They alternate quarterbacks,” Cameron said. “They’ve got [Cameron Hernandez], who is more of a pure quarterback, and they’ve got [Junior London], who also throws a real nice ball, but is dangerous on the run, deadly on the run.
“The other kid can run, too. But [London] is a whole other deal running the ball.”
London could also line up at receiver as well as at safety on defense. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior did not play last week against Piedmont Hills, however.
“But he brings another dimension to the field,” said Cameron, adding that the two quarterbacks alternated as much as every series during a recent game against Los Gatos on Nov. 13.
Milpitas will run out of the shotgun the majority of the time, Cameron said, with receivers Kwanzaa Striplin, Jordan Lockett and Antonio Douglas getting most of the looks. Running backs Jon Fullbright and Ben Pomele are also dangerous out of the backfield.
“[Pomele] is more of an all-around back,” Cameron said. “He can block, he can run and he can catch … [Fullbright] might get his name in the paper a little bit more.
“But they’re loaded. They’ve got a lot of weapons.”
As of Tuesday night, San Benito’s weapons were still up in the air. Although tight end Jake Hunter (sidelined the majority of the season due to injury) caught a few balls during practice Tuesday night and quarterback Trevor Fabing (shoulder) threw a few passes as well, their status for Saturday night was still unknown.
When asked Tuesday who was starting behind center, either Fabing or backup quarterback Tyler Decker, offensive coordinator Bryan Smith said, “We don’t know yet.”
“Trevor got some really good work in [on Tuesday], but there’s a couple of things he can’t do yet,” Smith added. “He was cleared to play (last Saturday against Salinas), but looking at him warm up and doing what he did on the sideline, it was really iffy, in terms of throwing the ball and pitching the ball …”
“But it’s getting better.”
The Balers have used Decker behind center the previous two games, and the junior signal-caller is gaining confidence with each series; he threw a pair of touchdown passes to James Flook and Andre Cornell to lead San Benito past Salinas last week.
“Against Salinas, I did a little bit better — throwing the ball, especially,” Decker said. “I still need to get better on my reads and stuff. But I’m getting better, with the more reps I’m taking.”
Regarding Milpitas’ defense, though, Smith said the Trojans are big and try to penetrate the line of scrimmage, which could work in favor of San Benito’s triple-option offense.
“They’re coming upfield and they’re aggressive in their game-planning,” Smith said. “They’re trying to get upfield and cause havoc right away.
“But if they don’t have the discipline to account for the fullback, for the quarterback and for the pitchback, it’s gonna hurt them and help us.”
Whether it be the backup quarterback throwing a pair of touchdown passes in tight coverage or a defense stopping a 1,400-yard rusher on fourth-and-two, San Benito’s means haven’t necessarily allowed for laid-back games in the postseason, but few are complaining.
The Division I title is up for grabs, and in the playoffs, it’s whatever works.
“It gives us an opportunity,” Cameron said, “and that’s got us to where we are right now.”
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No. 1 San Benito will play No. 3 Milpitas for the Central Coast Section Division I championship on Saturday night at San Jose City College. Kick-off is 7 p.m.
