After suffering their worst loss in recent histroy against
Valley Christian last week, the San Benito High football team will
be looking to get back on track against visiting San Lorenzo Valley
tonight.
Hollister – After suffering their worst loss in recent histroy against Valley Christian last week, the San Benito High football team will be looking to get back on track against visiting San Lorenzo Valley tonight.
The Balers have given up 41 points or more in the last ten years, but you have to go back a long ways before you can find a team that so completely dominintated possession against the Haybalers.
Mistakes by a makeshift lineup filling in for injured starters took its toll. Valley Christian, which has won Central Coast Section championships the last two years, had better than a 4 to 1 ration of total offense last week.
The Baler defense received a big boost this week when First-Team linebacker Anthony Vasquez and defensive lineman Vinny Sardam were cleared after injuries to help solidify the team against the running attack.
The Balers were expecting to have offensive lineman Kevin Wilkinson back this week, but he was reinjured and now is not expected to be back until October.
Offensively, wing back Chuck Thompson, a tranfer from the Eastern United States, is back after an injury.
San Lorenzo Valley will be playing its first game this year. Last year was a down year for the Cougars, who failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
Coming in, they had won the league championship seven times and had won section titles in three of four years.
“Last year was certainly an off year for us,” said SLV coach Doug Morris. “But in perspective, it was a positive year for us because we won four of the last five games and the kids kind of pulled together.”
San Lorenzo Valley has a young team this year with just three returning starters – running back/defensive back Dustin Allen (5-11, 225 pounds), offensive tackle Jim McIntosh (6-5, 250 pounds) and defensive back/wide receiver Will Ikeokwu (6-1, 205 pounds).
“We’re going to need a lot of players to step up in their first varsity football game,” Morris said. “I think it is going to be a real learning experience for us.”
Neither Chris Cameron in his 11 years nor Morris in his 17 years said they could recall the teams ever meeting before.
But the teams have seen each other the last three years at the Competive Edge Football Camp at San Jose City College.
“They’ve always been coached real well, and have had good size,” Cameron said. “We expect a good hard-nosed football team coming in here.”
The Balers came out invergated in practice this week and showed good enery, Cameron said. But even so, he said he knows it has to tranfer to the game.
“Last week is part of the past once you get that first practice under your belt,” Cameron said. “It’s been a pretty good week.”
“I know they will be more focused against us,” Morris said. “That is one heck of a team Hollister played. They always try to get the toughest preseason posible like we do.”
