The San Benito High football team is coming off of one of the
most exciting games in recent history.
The San Benito High football team is coming off of one of the most exciting games in recent history.
Although Salinas is having a down year this year, the game was anything but a cakewalk for San Benito.
It was only with a last second touchdown drive with under a minute to go did San Benito come away with a 27-21 victory.
“We knew they were going to be a real physical team,” said coach Chris Cameron. “Records are deceiving. We showed a lot of heart and hung in there. They (the Cowboys) were doing good things, but we came up with some big stops.”
“I knew it would be close, but it was a little closer than I thought it would be,” said defensive lineman Vinny Sardam. “We got pumped up. We are starting to perform as a family.”
Karson Klauer (6-1-1, 3-0 TCAL) completed a 39-yard pass to Alex Gonzalez to set up the go-ahead score.
“It was probably the catch I needed to make the most,” Gonzales said. “It was a do-or die play, and I didn’t want to die. I adjusted to the ball and timed the jump. But I lost track of where I was on the field.”
“It was like a movie,” Gonzalez said. “It was like our own version of Friday Night Lights.”
San Benito was ready to try a field goal, but after Salinas called a timeout with two seconds to go, the Haybalers brought back the offensive unit. Klauer followed center Nick Kosielney for the touchdown.
“We were talking to the coaches in the booths,” Cameron said. “They were telling us to go for it. Karson wanted to go for it. We were thinking about all the bad things that could happen by kicking a field goal. When they called the timeout that gave us the chance to get our offensive unit back on the field.”
That mistake gave San Benito the win and kept the Balers in the driver’s seat in the league with two games to go.
A loss to Palma or Live Oak could possibly mean a three-way tie for the league championship just like in 1999, when San Benito tied with Palma and North County.
“Now we just have to get ready for Live Oak,” said one of the Balers two tight ends Omar de la Cruz. “The coaches have told us that the league title goes through us.”
One low point in the game was that linebacker Alex Diaz was ejected from the game and as a result must miss next week’s game against Live Oak also.
Cameron is appealing the play and expects to know today if Diaz can play.
“I just gave him a little shove at the end of a play,” Diaz said. “And they said I punched him.”
“It was just two guys being aggressive. It wasn’t a punch,” Cameron said.
