If only high school football had an overtime period, then, and
only then, could we second guess Chris Cameron’s decision last
Friday night.
Trailing 24-17 to rival Palma with 3:03 remaining in the fourth
quarter, the Balers marched 49 yards on nine plays, culminating in
a 13-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Fabing to Bryan Gutierrez with
19 seconds left that brought San Benito to within one point of the
Chieftains.
By now, you know how it all turned out.
If only high school football had an overtime period, then, and only then, could we second guess Chris Cameron’s decision last Friday night.
Trailing 24-17 to rival Palma with 3:03 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Balers marched 49 yards on nine plays, culminating in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Fabing to Bryan Gutierrez with 19 seconds left that brought San Benito to within one point of the Chieftains.
Cameron could either have kicked the extra point, which would have knotted the two teams at 24-all and likely have led to a split league champion, or gone for the two-point conversion, which either would have supplied San Benito with an amazing victory or a disappointing defeat.
By now, you know how it all turned out. The Balers opted for the two-point conversion, they narrowly missed with a lob pass into the corner of the end zone after Palma delivered a well-timed blitz, and everyone in attendance turned into a Saturday Morning Quarterback.
Cameron said he didn’t think twice about his decision to go for two points last Friday. And although it was a gutsy call, it was really the only call to make.
“No way,” the San Benito head coach said. “Not a thought at all.
“I was thinking win it the whole time.”
The failed conversion may represent the only blemish on San Benito’s otherwise perfect 8-1 record, but it was never the team’s intention to settle for a tie with Palma in the first place.
Why suddenly change your intentions then with 19 seconds remaining in the game?
San Benito came into the game looking to win, not to tie, and while it’s easy to second guess the two-point decision now because it failed, it was the right decision to make at the time.
It will go down as a 24-23 Palma victory and one of the better games the rivalry has seen. It also makes the postseason a little more convoluted than it already was.
If San Benito had finished the season undefeated at 10-0, the team would have been TCAL champions and more than likely on its way to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Central Coast Section Open Division Championships, joining usual suspects and “opt up” teams Bellarmine, Valley Christian, Serra, St. Francis, Mitty and Palma, as well as the lone public high school, Pioneer.
Instead, the Balers are currently 8-1, and will need a win over Gilroy Friday night, coupled with some key losses from around the section — namely Palo Alto (7-1-1) — in order to pull out an Open Division bid. Otherwise, they’ll likely be the top seed in Division I, which should include Milpitas and Salinas, and maybe even Piedmont Hills, which upset the Balers in 2006.
San Benito decided not to “opt up” into the Open Division this season, and Cameron felt, considering the Open Division had never filled all eight spots before, that if San Benito deserved to be there, then it’d be there.
Tough to argue with that.
“There are still a lot of games that have to be played this weekend that are of importance in terms of where we’re gonna wind up,” Cameron said. “We’re gonna go wherever we’re gonna go and we’re gonna play whoever we’re gonna play.
“But we really have to think about Gilroy because they have the potential to open a game up.”
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The 53rd Annual Prune Bowl between San Benito and Gilroy will be held Friday night at Andy Hardin Stadium in Hollister. Kick-off is at 7:30 p.m.
