Despite a 53-0 shellacking at the hands of a formidable Valley
Christian squad, the offense for the San Lorenzo Valley Cougars
(0-1) is expected to open their bag of tricks today when they host
the San Benito Haybalers (0-1).
Hollister – Despite a 53-0 shellacking at the hands of a formidable Valley Christian squad, the offense for the San Lorenzo Valley Cougars (0-1) is expected to open their bag of tricks today when they host the San Benito Haybalers (0-1).
Playing for the first time on their brand new field, the Cougars have been known to open up their offense with a plethora of plays that aren’t always found in your typical high school playbook.
Figuring last Friday, the Milpitas Trojans burned the ‘Balers with a 63-yard half-back pass that resulted in a touchdown, so San Benito will have their sights set on the trick play, especially the half-back pass.
“They are the king of the trick plays,” Head Coach Chris Cameron said. “We got beat by a half-back pass last week. Do you think the half-back pass is coming (this week)?”
While the ‘Balers may be winners of the last three contests against SLV, two years ago, Cameron said, the Cougars opened the game with a half-back pass.
This week in practice, the ‘Balers have been working on defending the trick play, and even devoted the last segment of Wednesday’s practice to that aspect specifically.
Cameron said in the Milpitas game, the ‘Balers didn’t cover their responsibilities. On the half-back pass, one man should have supported the outside run, while another should have rotated over the top to break up the pass.
“We had no one rotate over the top,” Cameron said. “It’s a matter of discipline. Work within the framework of the defense. Everybody’s got a responsibility on a given play … So, we got burned, which resulted in a gigantic play.
“If we had covered our responsibilities, that guy would have thrown the ball into coverage.”
Watching film from last week’s game against Valley Christian, as well as the past two years San Benito has played SLV, Cameron said the offense is essentially the same.
Aside from the half-back pass, Cameron expects multiple formations, including trip, double tight end and pro, to name a few. “They haven’t changed much, and neither have we,” Cameron said. “We’re gonna see a barrage of stuff.”
Said defensive coordinator Tod Thatcher, “We’re gonna get their very best … They’re going to run their base offense, and they need to bounce back like we do.”
Last year, the ‘Balers won “ugly” with a 30-10 triumph over SLV, a game in which San Benito fumbled on their first four possessions, losing three of them. SLV has won three Central Coast Section titles since 1999, took the Santa Cruz Athletic League last season, but have lost three contests in three years to San Benito.
SLV junior quarterback Ian McGinnis threw 10 of 17 passing for 62 yards and two interceptions last week against Valley Christian. Cougar Philip Salibi was on the receiving end for four of those passes, amassing 20 yards in the process, while running back Michael Eisner rushed six times for 26 yards.
On defense, Robert McKissock and Jackson Kunz led the Cougars with 11 and nine tackles, respectively.
For the ‘Balers, coaches are looking to capitalize in the red zone. Against Milpitas, San Benito had their troubles inside the 20-yard line, including a missed field goal, an interception and a turnover on downs.
“We’re going to try to exploit what they’ve shown us in the past,” said offensive coordinator Bryan Smith. “We were extremely inconsistent against Milpitas … and we’ve been trying to address those things over the course of the week.”
Smith commented on not carrying out the fakes in the offensive backfield, an area of concern heading to this week. Added Cameron, “We ran the ball well, and we blocked decently at times, but we didn’t carry out the fakes real well, and that’s a big thing we do.”
The ‘Balers – from the offense to the defense to the special teams, especially – will look to continue the winning trend they’ve had on SLV at Felton today at 2pm. But as the coaches will attest, a win over SLV will not be easy.
“They’re extremely hungry. They got 53 points put up on them last week,” Smith said of SLV. “One of these teams will be 0-2, and it better not be us.”
