When Tyler Rodriguez started practicing at fullback last week, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior never thought he would hear his number get called. In San Benito High’s 45-6 shellacking of visiting Monterey on Oct. 9, Rodriguez received two carries—and he made the most of them.
Rodriguez had touchdown runs of 3 and 21 yards, and he also had a 15-yard reception in a breakout performance. Rodriguez had been playing tight end for most of the season, but he welcomed the position change.
“I definitely enjoyed playing fullback,” said Rodriguez, who played guard on the offensive line a year ago. “The coaches started moving players around to be successful running the ball, and I guess they made an improvement. I was definitely hoping to get some carries, and was prepping for it and ready for it. But I didn’t think I would be getting any carries.”
Rodriguez’s second TD run was a thing of beauty, as he went over left guard before making a nice change of direction in the open field to juke a Monterey defender en route to the end zone.
“That was probably one of my all-time favorite runs (Rodriguez played running back as a youth),” he said. “I did a little cut, and I didn’t have to think about it—I just reacted to the situation.”
Cameron felt Rodriguez could add something at fullback, both as a blocker and runner.
“Tyler is a kid we’ve been talking about moving around for a while,” Cameron said. “I thought Tyler could bring something to the table, and he did that. He gives us some depth and it helps us in the backfield.”
“I think I might be staying at fullback, and I’d definitely enjoy it,” Rodriguez said. “It brings me back to my old Pop Warner days when I played running back.”
Rodriguez must have been feeling great because it looked like he never lost a step, as he ran with authority on both of his carries. As expected, the Balers had another big day rushing the ball against Monterey, which provided little resistance. San Benito totaled 293 of its 396 yards of offense on the ground.
The win over Monterey didn’t come without a cost, as the Balers (4-2 overall, 1-1 league) lost junior defensive back/punt returner Donny Torres to a severe right leg injury after he was tackled hard on a 32-yard punt return midway through the first quarter. A couple of other players got banged up as well.
“We need guys to rise up and fill some spots for guys that got hurt,” Cameron said.
Against an overmatched Monterey squad, the Balers 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,” 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 victory. It wasn’t an artistic masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but in sports, the adage goes that any win is a good win.
Kyle Cameron had another productive outing, rushing for a game-high 85 yards on just six carries, including an electrifying 68-yard TD run. Hunter Nye had 67 yards on five carries, and R.J. Clark completed 4-of-8 passes for 103 yards, including TD throws of 44 and 25 yards.
The Balers host Alvarez on Friday, a must-win game if they plan on competing for a league championship.
Game Box
Monterey 6 0 0 0—6
San Benito 17 21 7 0—45
Scoring summary
S—Hernandez 28 FG
S—Rodriguez 3 run (Miranda kick)
M—Ward 88 kickoff return (kick blocked)
S—Cameron 68 run (Miranda kick)
S—Cabada 49 pass from Clark (Miranda kick)
S—Nye 5 run (Miranda kick)
S—Hopkins 25 pass from Clark (Miranda kick)
S—Rodriguez 21 run (Miranda kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING (carries-yards): MONTEREY—Lawson 11-25, Jones 15-60, Wills 8-35, #22 3-(-7), Cortez 1-(-2). Totals 38-111. SAN BENITO—Cameron 6-85, Nye 5-67, Clark 4-21, Starke 1-3, Guevara 3-10, Godoy 4-13, Mendoza 5-61, Raquet 4-6, Green 2-3, Rodriguez 2-24. Totals 37-293. PASSING (comp-att-yds-td-int): MONTEREY—Wills 4-7-18-0-1. SAN BENITO—4-8-103-2-0. RECEIVING (catches-yards): MONTEREY—Jones 3-18, Gwin 1-0. SAN BENITO—Cabada 1-44, Rodriguez 1-15, Tomasini 1-11, Hopkins 1-25. Totals 4-103. TOTAL OFFENSE: MONTEREY—129-24-129. SAN BENITO—293-103-396.
