Hollister
– At moments throughout the season, including moments from last
Friday’s game against the North Salinas Vikings, the San Benito
Haybalers have looked like the usual Tri-County Athletic League
powerhouse they’ve been in years past.
Hollister – At moments throughout the season, including moments from last Friday’s game against the North Salinas Vikings, the San Benito Haybalers have looked like the usual Tri-County Athletic League powerhouse they’ve been in years past.
At moments, they’ve portrayed a team that will easily walk over any opponent that comes in their way. At moments, they’ve characterized a squad that would not back down to adversity or any seemingly insurmountable task.
While those moments do happen, the ‘Balers are also plagued with, what offensive coordinator Bryan Smith calls, “inconsistencies.”
In Friday’s 24-7 loss to North Salinas, the ‘Balers had their moments. But you take away those inconsistencies, and San Benito likely walked away with a league win Friday.
“Just the recurring theme that’s happened all year is the inconsistencies,” Smith said. “Illegal motion, fumbles … That stuff just kills us.”
The ‘Balers are young. No, it did not take me six games to realize this, but penalties and inconsistency is a hallmark to youth.
For instance, the Vikings were punting the ball at their own 26-yard-line, and a bad snap put the ball on the field where the North Salinas punter had to fall on it.
The ‘Balers were given great field possession – the Vikings 20-yard line to be exact – but a false start penalty and a personal foul on San Benito pushed the ball out of the red zone. Suddenly, it was fourth-and-23 on the North Salinas 32-yard line, and the ‘Balers were punting.
Granted, the personal foul call could be reflective of the officiating crew, who at times would wait until they saw with their own two eyes running back Jordan Klindt’s knee on the ground until they blew the whistle, letting the play run a few seconds longer than it should.
Sidenote: I heard one official say the players know the play is over when the offensive player is down. Psst! No, they don’t! There are linemen on the outside of the running play that will continue to push each other over until they hear a whistle, so I guess a personal foul on San Benito on this drive was only slightly ridiculous.
But inconsistent play, such as the penalties described above, are drive-killers. They turn an easy third-and-one into a scary third-and-six or a terrifying third-and-11. They take “gimmes” and morph them into “oh, no’s.” And if you get enough of them, they make manageable deficits look insurmountable.
From my count, the Vikings had six penalties on Friday to San Benito’s 13.
No matter what the yardage says or on what side of the ball they happen on, 13 penalties can ruin momentum. And in a game you know you can win (“Hands down, we should have beaten these guys,” said senior Ricky Sanchez), penalties make it all the more frustrating.
Of course, penalties usually fade away with time, as teams become more and more experienced on the football field and more familiar with the nuances of the game.
Luckily, it’s still very, very early in the season. San Benito is 1-1 in the TCAL, and sit only one game out from second-place Gilroy, and just one-and-a-half games out from 3-0 Palma, who will be visiting this Friday.
Keeping the penalties low and in check may just propel the ‘Balers to a win on Friday against Palma (Yes, penalties are that important). And a win over Palma Friday would throw San Benito back into the TCAL discussion.
