Sports

It’s gut-check time for the Anzar and San Benito football teams.

Both squads lost for the second consecutive week, and neither game was particularly close. The Haybalers (1-2) lost to Los Gatos, 28-14, while Anzar (0-2) got hammered by Woodside Priory-Portola Valley, 42-12.

“I think this week will define our season,” said San Benito quarterback David Stanton, who completed 4-of-7 passes for 71 yards, throwing a 31-yard touchdown pass and rushing for a 19-yard TD. “We have to win our next game, because we can’t have three straight losses. We don’t want another close call (in qualifying for the Central Coast Section playoffs) like we did last year.”

The Balers host Oak Grove-San Jose (1-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, while Anzar hosts North Valley Baptist-Santa Clara (0-2) at 5 p.m. Friday. After Friday’s defeat, the San Benito coaching staff sent a stern message to the players, basically challenging their character.

“We almost looked complacent out there, like it was OK to screw things up,” Balers coach Chris Cameron said.

The Balers had all sorts of fundamental issues — two snaps sailed over the head of punter John Canes — to go along with several false-start penalties and botched pitches. Defensively, San Benito allowed big plays through the ground and air, many at key moments. 

The Balers received another strong performance from running back Zak Hicks, who finished with a team-high 73 yards on 12 carries. Hicks spent most of the game lowering his shoulder and bowling over Los Gatos defenders.

“Zak was fired up to play and delivered,” Cameron said. “It would sure be nice (if some of his teammates had the same intensity and effort).”

Cameron expects a supreme effort from the entire team against Oak Grove, which is coming off a 27-14 win over Lincoln-San Jose. Cameron spent nine years as an assistant coach at Oak Grove, and when he arrived at San Benito, he modeled his program off of the one developed by former Eagles coach Ed Buller.

Sentimentality aside, Cameron simply wants to see improvement from his team in every facet of the game. Despite the plethora of mistakes against Los Gatos, San Benito made tremendous strides in one phase. The Balers resuscitated their passing game, as Stanton rebounded from a 1-for-12 effort in a Week 2 loss to Palo Alto.

Against Los Gatos, Stanton made some beautiful throws, and his receivers ran solid routes. However, Stanton shouldered the responsibility for the offense’s slow start.

“I’ve got to be able to get in a rhythm earlier and start playing better football in the first half,” Stanton said. “We have to get off to a better start.”

The Balers have trailed at halftime in all three games, which doesn’t bode well for a run-oriented team. Meanwhile, Anzar faces a must-win situation against North Valley Baptist, which is in its first year of fielding a football program.

“We pretty much have to win out (to have any chance of competing for a Mission Trail 8-Man League championship),” Hawks coach Luis Espinosa said. “If we can get a win on Friday, then we’ll bring back our team at full strength for the following week.”

Espinosa was referring to the team’s Oct. 5 game against Stuart Hall-San Francisco, in which five players — all projected starters — should be eligible to play after they didn’t make grades in the previous grading period.

“Having those players back changes a lot in what we can do offensively,” Espinosa said. “We’ll be able to open up our offense a lot.”

Despite the blowout loss to Woodside Priory, Espinosa said the team made progress in a couple of key areas, especially the offensive line.

“We asked our offensive line to give our quarterback some time to throw and our running backs some room to run, and they were able to meet those goals,” Espinosa said.

The improved play of the offensive line resulted in Anzar scoring two touchdowns after being shut out in Week 1. Quarterback Sam Jimenez completed 6-of-10 passes for 129 yards, while tailbacks Marcos Galvan and Andrew Huaracha combined to rush for 65 yards.

Huaracha also filled in nicely at linebacker for Pedro Montejano, who is out for the season after suffering a broken collarbone in the season opener.

In addition to the players coming off the ineligibility list, Espinosa said there’s a chance Joseph Banuelos could return for the game against Stuart Hall. Banuelos, a linebacker-tight end, is one of the team’s best playmakers on both sides of the ball.