The North Salinas Vikings came and crashed the party. Viking
Devon Camel provided the bang and the blast, scoring a rushing
touchdown and a special teams touchdown, and helped lead North
Salinas to a 24-7 victory over the San Benito Haybalers Friday
night at Andy Hardin Stadium.
Hollister – The North Salinas Vikings came and crashed the party.
Viking Devon Camel provided the bang and the blast, scoring a rushing touchdown and a special teams touchdown, and helped lead North Salinas to a 24-7 victory over the San Benito Haybalers Friday night at Andy Hardin Stadium.
It was San Benito’s Homecoming night, as well as their first home game since their season-opener on Aug. 31, but the fireworks and fanfare did not provide the spark or the splendor the ‘Balers were looking for.
“I thought we did a pretty good job playing defense out there,” San Benito coach Chris Cameron said. “They had real good backs and good skill players, but we didn’t score on offense and the defense was on the field too much.”
The ‘Balers were coming off their bye week and a 29-13 win over Everett Alvarez two weeks ago, while North Salinas was coming off a forfeit from last week’s game against Alisal.
Both teams entered seeking to make a statement, but the loss for the ‘Balers was not what they had planned in their return home.
“I think it was a big distraction to a lot of the younger guys,” said senior defensive back Ricky Sanchez of the Homecoming festivities. Sanchez returned to the lineup Friday after suffering an injury to his right knee earlier in the season. “Hands down, we should have beaten these guys. We just came out flat, just flat the whole game. We didn’t want it.”
It began as a defensive battle for both teams early in the game, but it was the North Salinas defense that provided the first score.
On a third-and-one play for the ‘Balers, three Vikings broke through the line and forced a fumble on the hand-off that fell to the feet of Adrian Salinas. Salinas scooped, and 37 yards later, scored the first touchdown for the Vikings.
North Salinas’ Devon Camel, who had only 12 rushes for 56 yards on the night, made his presence felt in the second quarter by finding the end zone from nine yards out. North Salinas failed on the two-point conversion, but held a 12-0 lead heading into the half.
After a prolonged Homecoming halftime, both teams came out rusty, but San Benito provided a pop when Jeff Bernaldez blocked a Viking punt and fell on the loose football in the end zone.
Placekicker Gus Silva punched the extra point through and the ‘Balers found themselves trailing just 12-7.
But just 12 seconds later, Camel put the Vikings on his back, and ran the kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown and an 18-7 lead.
“We make a big play on special teams, and then we turn around and give up the kickoff,” Cameron said. “It took a little wind out of the sails.
“We had momentum on that and they come right back and took all the momentum we had. It was a good week of practices, a good bye week, but we didn’t do a lot better tonight.”
The Vikings would add another touchdown late in the fourth when quarterback Mike Ramos found Victor Sapp for a 15-yard touchdown to make things 24-7.
“Every win is big in the TCAL,” North Salinas coach Steve Zenk said.
The ‘Balers offense was held to just 104 total yards in the first half, 49 of which came from a rush by Mitchell Cook.
Quarterback Trevor Fabing, who was getting his second start under center, completed four passes in the game and threw for 71 yards, while the ‘Balers had 153 total yards in the second half.
Offensive coordinator Bryan Smith said there were some plays that were used in the second half that the squad hadn’t run in the first two quarters. But the recurring theme, Smith said, has been the inconsistencies.
“We made some strides, but the inconsistencies are what’s showing,” Smith said. “We do three things good and one bad, and it seems to hamper us.”
The ‘Balers (1-1, 2-4) will host Palma next Friday. North Salinas (1-2, 5-2) will play Everett Alvarez at the Salinas Sports Complex on Friday.
JV Note: The San Benito Haybalers junior varsity team found the end zone twice and provided stout defense in a 16-6 win over North Salinas Friday.
In the first quarter, Niko Hebert ran in from 10 yards out, while Jordan Ashford provided the two-point conversion to put San Benito ahead 8-0.
Later in the second quarter, ‘Balers quarterback Kyle Vallejo found Hebert for a 50-yard touchdown pass. Hebert would run in for the two-point conversion as well, and push San Benito ahead.
“Defensively we did awesome,” coach Luis Espinoza said. “It was a great job from a defensive standpoint.”
