‘Balers smother North Salinas 30-13, but team needed to overcome
unfocused start
Salinas – Despite a shaky start, the San Benito football team recovered to score 30 straight points to beat North Salinas 30-13 at the Salinas Sports Complex Friday night.
With their long-awaited grudge match against Palma a week away, the ‘Balers (5-1, 2-0 TCAL) came out flat and quickly found that playing North Salinas wouldn’t qualify as another bye week. The host Vikings (1-6, 0-3 TCAL) tore through San Benito’s defense on the game-opening drive, taking a 7-0 lead that served as the first indication that the ‘Balers were off their game.
Although the ‘Balers needed just five plays to post a score of their own on a 7-yard Ronnie Fhurong-to-Daniel Murphy touchdown pass, they flubbed the PAT snap, and ended up trailing North Salinas 7-6 well into the second quarter. A fumble and an interception ended two of San Benito’s next three drives prematurely, and it took a 50-yard interception return by cornerback Ricky Sanchez to the Vikings’ 6 to finally wake the ‘Balers up.
Three plays later, fullback Tim Lango burst through the line for a 1-yard touchdown. Fhurong’s two-point conversion pass to Carlos Ramos put San Benito in front 14-7 with 5:52 left in the half.
“We came out loose and not ready to play,” Sanchez said. “It took them scoring on us to get fired up.”
Just before the half, the ‘Balers finally got the game-changing special teams play they have lacked all season. Abel Jacquez pulled in a Vikings’ punt and broke through a group of defenders on the left sideline, cutting back across the field to race 68 yards for a touchdown and a 20-7 lead.
“I saw the guy coming, so I lowered my shoulder and I just bounced off of him,” said Jacquez, who later added a 1-yard rushing touchdown.
The ‘Balers received another sparkling special teams play midway through the fourth quarter, with senior Dru Blake drilling a 51-yard field goal, a kick the San Benito coaching staff believed broke the school record.
Nevertheless, Blake was quick to say that his team will need a much more focused effort in order to have a chance against arch rival Palma (5-1, 3-0 TCAL) next week. “If we come out and play like that, we’ll lose,” Blake said.
Thanks to a pair of late pass completions, including quarterback Michael Ramos’ 90-yard touchdown strike to Victor Sapp that completed the scoring, North Salinas actually managed to out-gain the ‘Balers, 269 total offensive yards to San Benito’s 227.
For the first time all season, the ‘Balers found running room hard to come by, with the team combining for 123 yards. Lango and Jacquez combined for just 51 yards on their 19 rushes.
San Benito head coach Chris Cameron seemed mostly pleased that his team posted a resounding win despite lacking its traditional focus.
“Yeah, we won the game,” he said. “It wasn’t our best game by far. It gets us into next week. (Now) we have to focus on the biggest game of the year.”
