The San Benito High football team had a lot to cheer about
Friday night following the 17-7 win over Bellarmine Prep.
Hollister – The San Benito High football team had a lot to cheer about Friday night following the 17-7 win over Bellarmine Prep.
As the Haybalers gathered together for the post game congratulations, coaches stressed the dominant history of Bellarmine, who lost in the Central Coast Section championship game last year to Palma.
But Friday night, San Benito (2-1-1) was the dominant one. Bellarmine’s only bright spot came when the game was already out of reach.
San Benito is getting healthier each week after missing eight players in the first game. Center Nick Kostielney and receiver/defensive back Breyon Canez were this week’s newest players to be reinstated.
“It was good to finally be out there again, especially in a game like that” said Canez, who had one catch and almost had an interception. “There is only so much cheering on the sideline you can do.”
“It feels great,” Kostielney said. “Being out for a couple months, you always lose something. It just takes a little time to get back to where you were.”
The Haybalers’ offense again took awhile to warm up as it did the week before. San Benito scored a field goal off the foot of sophomore Dru Blake. For Blake, who also made both his point-after attempts, the field goal was extra special after narrowly missing one the previous week.
“I knew I could come back after last week,” Blake said. “I just tried to forget about it. I was a little worried before the game because I was missing even the PATs. But when the coach told me to go out to kick the field goal, I was ready. I didn’t hesitate. I made sure I kicked through it.”
In the second half, the team found new life.
Though not as dramatic as the game against Wilcox Sept. 17 that they lost, the Balers found a rhythm that led to two scores and the victory.
With four minutes left to play in the third quarter, senior quarterback Kason Klauer ran for 42 yards setting up a Gabe Gaitan 3-yard scoring run.
Klauer took the initiative again at the beginning of the fourth quarter when he ran for 46 yards to the 4-yard line. Two plays later, sophomore running back Tim Lango punched the ball in from two yards out to put the Balers up 17-0.
And again, the defense came through.
Bells quarter back Matt Zuniga found himself on his back several times during the night and was constantly under pressure.
San Benito had four sacks, and Bellarmine gained just 114 yards total. Penalties didn’t help the matter either.
The Bells found themselves backed up, facing a fourth-and-20 thanks to two costly penalties. Both took away first down plays and kept them from passing in the midfield.
Bellarmine struggled to find any kind of groove, and the San Benito defensive pressure ended any threats early.
But the Balers were not infallible.
Most notably was on the same fourth-and-20 that forced Bellarmine to punt. San Benito’s defense forgot about the punter, who ran the ball for the 20 yards and the first down.
Bellarmine got one more break with less than five minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
Zuniga connected a pass with junior Joe Borromeo for a 66-yard touchdown.
With 4:34 left to play, the Bells tried an onside kick, and Hollister caught a break.
As the return unit lined up, they set up for a regular kick. It took a lot of yelling from the side line to get them into the proper position, but it wouldn’t matter.
The kick bounced out of bounds, giving Hollister the ball.
The Balers ran more than three minutes off the clock before being forced to punt. But by then, the Bells could not come back.
San Benito coach Chris Cameron said he wanted to play a top caliber team like Bellarmine to prepare to make ar run at a league title.
“We have been positioning ourselves for week 10 for the league championship against Palma,” Cameron said Friday. “We do not fear that team in Salinas.”
Klauer agreed with his coach’s assessment, saying the tough preseason schedule will help them in the long run.
“(The schedule) helps to prepare us for what we will see during the regular season,” Klauer said.
By CHEETO BARRERA
