Following its 44-0 win over visiting Alisal last Friday, the San
Benito Haybalers stand at 5-0 and, considering they haven’t lost a
game this season, are the team to beat in the Tri-County Athletic
League.
HOLLISTER
Believe it or not, being a 5-0 football team has its disadvantages. The drawbacks are minor, of course, drawbacks that most teams wouldn’t mind having. But an undefeated record brings with it a target – one that only gets larger with each passing week.
Following its 44-0 win over visiting Alisal last Friday, the San Benito Haybalers stand at 5-0 and, considering they haven’t lost a game this season, are the team to beat in the Tri-County Athletic League.
“The fact that we haven’t been beaten yet gives [opponents] even more incentive to play harder,” San Benito head coach Chris Cameron said. “Our guys have to realize that, week in and week out now.
“That target, that bullseye on our back, our chest, on both sides of our helmet … it’s getting bigger all the time and people can see it a lot more. We’re gonna start getting people’s best efforts because you always want to knock off an undefeated team.”
San Benito will visit Salinas Friday night for a match-up with Everett Alvarez (0-1 TCAL, 1-4), which will be looking to upset the undefeated Balers under the lights.
Although they have just two victories in their last 35 games, the Eagles have exhibited a strong pressure defense in recent weeks, holding a high-scoring North Monterey County team to just 14 points on Sept. 26, while keeping Gilroy scoreless until the third quarter during last week’s TCAL opener.
“They like to blitz and put pressure on the quarterback,” San Benito offensive coordinator Bryan Smith said. “They like to cause you to turn over the ball and get you in some situations you don’t like to be in. We just need to stay away from long yardage on third down, second down.”
Smith said Alvarez changed its coverage for Gilroy, which opts to pass the ball the majority of the time. With the Balers preferring to run on more than 80 percent of their plays, the Eagles could change its coverage once again, or they could just blitz more up the middle.
“Watching film, they’re gonna blitz,” Smith said. “I think they’ll go back to their base Cover 2 coverage against us, but I think that allows them to blitz more internally, and off the edge, too.”
San Benito will start Trevor Fabing at quarterback on Friday night. The senior signal-caller left last week’s game with a knee injury after a running play late in the second quarter. Although he said it was painful the moment it happened, Fabing said the knee felt fine after the game on Friday night.
On Tuesday, the quarterback said there was no swelling after the game as well.
“He got checked out [on Monday], and he’s good to go,” Smith said. “He worked out well [on Tuesday]. We gave him some limited action, but he looks good. Great surprise.”
Alvarez’ offense, meanwhile, is led by running back Antonio Rosa, whose 647 yards on 84 carries is second in the TCAL. With a backfield that sometimes features three backs, the Eagles will also call upon the services of Brandon Rogers (59 attempts for 327 yards) and Diego Garcia (26 attempts for 127 yards) – Rogers is the eighth-ranked running back in the league this season and the Eagles’ go-to receiver with seven catches for 92 yards.
Not to be overlooked, though, quarterback Miles Cuhna is third in the TCAL with 322 yards on 24 of 57 passing. He has yet to have thrown a touchdown, however.
“They were pounding Gilroy, though,” Cameron said. “They were moving the ball up and down the field, had the ball inside the 10 a couple of times and got goosed – came away with nothing.
“I think they’re gonna come out and play hard. The task for us is to come out and play like we did last week – really get after it and set the tempo early and often.”
The Balers posted 30 points by halftime against Alisal last week, scoring five times on their first seven offensive possessions. The defense, meanwhile, hasn’t allowed a point in six quarters of football, and just 20 total this season.
But with or without a target placed firmly on its back, the Balers are sure to see a spirited Alvarez squad Friday night, which will play its first home game under the lights.
Kick-off is 7:30 p.m.
“It’s a night game for them,” Cameron said. “That’s gonna give them a little bit of an edge.
“But there’s a lot more pressure on us to play well, and I try to put the pressure back on our guys every single day. We’ve got to keep maturing because the big guns are out there.”
