The San Benito High football team is making it look easy.
The Haybalers rolled to their second straight shutout win on Friday, throttling Palo Alto 33-0 in their home opener. Last week, San Benito (2-0) whipped Hilmar 42-0 in a dominating performance. It was more of the same in Week 2 as the Balers avenged a 28-7 defeat to the Vikings a year ago.
“Things are working out,” Balers coach Chris Cameron said. “I can’t remember if we’ve ever had back-to-back shutouts. The great thing about our play is there’s not one guy being a hero—it’s a lot of guys doing the right things.”
Indeed, San Benito’s offensive and defensive linemen are exploding off the ball and playing physical, which is allowing everyone else to make plays. No where was that more apparent than on the game’s final score, when Isaac Regalado returned an interception 82 yards for a touchdown to account for the final score with 10 seconds remaining.
“We had all the pass rush lanes covered and got pressure on the quarterback,” Cameron said.
Regalado also ripped the ball away from a Palo Alto player on the kickoff following the team’s second score, when R.J. Clark connected with Nick Trimble for a 34-yard TD to make it 14-0 with 11:13 left in the second quarter.
It was a game of big plays for the Balers, who had a decisive advantage in total offense, outgaining the Vikings 443-211. San Benito gashed Palo Alto for 367 yards on the ground, 132 coming from Chris Blake, who displayed a tremendous burst of speed to get to the outside on toss plays.
Blake had TD runs of 44 and 31 yards, and Kyle Cameron, the coach’s youngest son, also showed plenty of explosiveness with 70 yards on seven carries. Clark continued to show why he’s a star in the making, going 4-for-7 for 76 yards while making strong reads on the option.
Clark delivered pinpoint throws, none better than his 20-yard TD pass to Andres Soto down the right sideline that made it 26-0 early in the fourth quarter. San Benito’s defense was downright stifling, as it stuffed a Palo Alto running attack that went for over 200 yards in a 30-28 win over Sequoia-Redwood City last week.
Safety Austin Cascio said the team’s defensive line of J.J. Melo, John Sanchez, Jose Perez and Richard Justo set the tone early.
Even in the grand scheme of things it wouldn’t have mattered if Palo Alto scored, the Balers desperately wanted to post another shutout.
“It was huge that we got it,” Cascio said. “All of the coaches talk about finishing, and that’s what we did.”
