A good week of practice can go a long way, although so can a
swift kick in the pants. The San Benito Haybalers (2-1) had a bit
of both prior to last Friday’s home opener against visiting
Wilcox
— a sound, convincing 34-7 victory in which the Balers racked up
a season-high 317 yards of offense, 255 of which came on the
ground.
HOLLISTER
A good week of practice can go a long way, although so can a swift kick in the pants.
The San Benito Haybalers (2-1) had a bit of both prior to last Friday’s home opener against visiting Wilcox — a sound, convincing 34-7 victory in which the Balers racked up a season-high 317 yards of offense, 255 of which came on the ground.
San Benito’s walk-through on Thursday came at the tail end of a solid week of practice, head coach Chris Cameron said, as well as a disappointing 34-13 defeat at Oak Grove.
“All of our weaknesses came to the forefront the previous week, and we just came out and played real physical and real hard,” said Cameron, whose defense held Wilcox to 142 yards of total offense last Friday, and kept running back Michael Roman, who ran for 185 yards against Menlo-Atherton in Week 0, to just 19 yards on nine attempts.
“We just got after it,” Cameron said.
“We shocked them a little bit.”
During last Thursday’s walk-through, Cameron said there was a feeling of urgency among his players that was non-existent the previous week when San Benito was preparing to play Oak Grove — an easy 55-0 win over Hill in Week 0 can do that to a team.
Cameron said the team was serious and “gearing up to play,” and although he had a good feeling following the walk-through, he was a little surprised by how well the Balers shut down Wilcox.
“I didn’t think we’d put it to them quite like that. I thought it’d be a close, tight game that would be decided in the fourth quarter,” he said.
“But we were in control the entire game, nailing them on defense and moving the ball on offense … We weren’t perfect, but we got a lot better.”
Any and all improvements will be much needed when Palo Alto comes to Hollister on Friday night, however. The Vikings (2-0) are ranked No. 5, according to CalPreps.com, the highest rated public school in the Central Coast Section.
Moreover, the team is coming off a convincing 20-7 win over private powerhouse and seventh-ranked Mitty, one week after topping 19th-ranked Burlingame 21-9 in Week 1.
With last week’s performance and another strong practice earlier this week, though, Cameron feels the Balers will be prepared for Palo Alto, which will boast a noticeable size difference at almost every position.
“That’s something we’ll have to deal with, but I know the kids will come out excited for this one and will be up to play really, really hard,” he said. “And that’s what we need to do.”
Senior defensive end/tackle Kevin Anderson will be difficult to miss. The 6-foot-4, 245-pound lineman has already committed to Stanford.
Meanwhile, 6-foot-2 senior captain Christoph Bono (23 of 36, 305 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT), son of former San Francisco 49ers signal-caller Steve Bono, quarterbacks a Palo Alto offense that has posted 519 yards and 41 points against a pair of ranked opponents, according to MaxPreps.
Six-foot-two receiver Davante Adams has proven to be his favorite target having caught 10 balls for 149 yards, while 6-foot-5 wideout T.J. Braff is the top returning threat, and Dre Hill is said to boast serious speed out of the backfield having run for 174 yards and four touchdowns on 23 carries.
From the opponents San Benito has faced, Palo Alto is expected to be the best of them all, and perhaps runs the most balanced attack on offense.
“But with the kids that they have, they’re gonna want to throw the ball,” Cameron added.
“The stars will be out that night on their side of the football. We need to go out and play our style of football, our football game.”
San Benito and Palo Alto will square off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night in Hollister. For updated stats, log on to www.freelancenews.com
TCAL Leaders
Passing
Name, School Com Att Yd Int TD
Fortino, Gilroy 54 91 629 2 4
Turner, Alvarez 14 35 333 1 4
Barron, Alisal 23 45 235 6 2
Ceralde, N. Salinas 25 52 221 4 0
Morrison, Palma 7 11 56 0 0
Leighton, Salinas 7 23 45 5 0
Decker, Hollister 9 19 97 1 1
Rushing
Name, School Att Yd Avg
Estassi, Salinas 60 303 5.0
Hendricks, Hollister 36 279 7.7
Baird, Palma 54 241 4.4
J. Morales, Alisal 35 204 5.8
Cerda, Salinas 34 146 4.2
Melano, Alvarez 14 133 9.5
Sanchez, Hollister 15 131 8.7
Coleman, Salinas 28 122 4.3
Salazar, Gilroy 35 117 3.3
Garcia, Alvarez 15 109 7.2
Camel, Alvarez 20 105 5.2
Morrison, Palma 22 100 4.5
Mendoza, N. Salinas 22 99 4.5
Pearson, Alisal 20 89 4.4
Zarate, N. Salinas 22 85 3.8
Decker, Hollister 31 84 2.7
A. Reyes, Alvarez 9 82 9.1
Bocksnick, Hollister 10 80 8.0
J. Travis, Gilroy 2 79 39.5
Sheppard, Alvarez 3 77 25.6
Turner, Alvarez 10 68 6.8
Rushing touchdown leaders: Camel (Alvarez) 4, Salazar (Gilroy) 3, 6 players with 2.
Receiving
Name, School Rec Yds Avg
J. Travis, Gilroy 17 262 15.5
Estrada, N. Salinas 8 59 7.3
Alba, Gilroy 9 95 10.5
Sheppard, Alvarez 6 195 32.5
Estrada, Alvarez 5 84 16.8
Flook, Hollister 5 61 12.2
Harrington, Gilroy 9 102 11.3
Gonzales, N. Salinas 4 46 11.5
Newton, Gilroy 6 81 13.5
Neff, Palma 3 22 7.3
Coleman, Salinas 4 16 4.0
Rosales, Alisal 6 54 9.0
Receiving touchdown leaders: Sheppard (Alvarez) 3, Rosales (Alisal) 2, J. Travis (Gilroy) 2,
