Mistake-prone San Benito falls to Monterey

The same mistakes that have plagued the San Benito High football team this season — turnovers and yielding big plays — came back to haunt the Haybalers once again in a 35-21 loss to Monterey on Friday.
Host San Benito dropped to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division, following a similar pattern in three of its previous losses. Monterey (4-2, 2-1) converted two of San Benito’s three turnovers into 14 points, and won going away.
“We shot ourselves in the foot,” San Benito coach Chris Cameron said. “We just can’t keep on doing it to ourselves and expect to see a different result. I’m proud of the guys and the effort they put up, but the turnovers are momentum killers.”
Nowhere was that more apparent than early in the fourth quarter. The Balers had just scored 14 unanswered points spanning the third and fourth quarters — on a pair of short touchdown runs from Justice Felice — to level things at 21-21 with 9:55 remaining.
However, on the second play of Monterey’s ensuing offensive possession, Jason Berring ripped off a 63-yard touchdown run down the right sideline for the go-ahead score.
Up until that point, the San Benito defense had done a solid job of not allowing the potent Toreadores’ running game to bust loose. But as has been the case all season, the Balers seemingly give up a big play at critical moments.
“It’s frustrating,” said linebacker-slot back Cody Freitas, whose interception midway through the third quarter set up the first of Felice’s two TD runs. “We put our heart in every play, in every situation, and they got the best of us. It sucks to see that.”
Monterey quarterback Carter Aldrete was 6-of-10 passing for 191 yards, averaging a whopping 31.4 yards per completion. In fact, the super sophomore had four completions of 39 yards or more.
The Balers never led, and for the fifth time in six games failed to score an offensive touchdown in the first quarter. Despite totaling 239 yards on the ground, San Benito was outgained, 374-271.
Zak Hicks had another outstanding performance for the Balers, finishing with a team-high 112 yards on 13 carries. Running with power and conviction, Hicks continually churned out yardage, often dragging defenders in the process.
Freitas had a standout game, and for the second straight game, he had a big gain on a reverse. A week after gaining 37 yards on his only carry of the game in a loss to Salinas, Freitas made his only rushing attempt against Monterey count again, this time going for 59 yards to set up Felice’s 4-yard TD run that made it 21-21 with 9:55 to go.
Unfortunately for the Balers, things fell apart from that point on.
They allowed Berring’s long TD run, then committed a turnover on the ensuing possession on a botched exchange under center. The Toreadores capitalized five plays later, sealing the Balers’ fate.
“We came back fighting, and that’s something to take note of,” Cameron said. “All we can do now is keep on going at it, and make sure we build some character in the process.”