San Benito's Felipe Davila runs through several tackles for a nice gain Friday night against Salinas. The Balers won the contest 29-10 to improve to 8-0 on the season.
There is a simple way to gauge just how far the San Benito Haybalers have come the last two years, even measure whether their season has been a success so far.
After suffering through an injury-riddled 3-7 season last year, as well as compile a disappointing 4-6 mark two seasons ago, the Balers have been noticeably absent from the Tri-County Athletic League spotlight since the 2006 season.
But rifling off eight straight victories has a way of creating a bit of buzz. And with San Benito's annual test in rivalry-dom coming Friday night at the Salinas Sports Complex, where the undefeated Balers (8-0, 4-0 TCAL) will battle the undefeated Palma Chieftains (6-1-1, 4-0 TCAL) for league supremacy, it's difficult not to notice the appropriate hype the game is generating - something that had gone missing the previous two seasons.
As San Benito head coach Chris Cameron points out, San Benito-Palma means something once again.
"For many years, this game meant a bunch," Cameron said. "It basically had league-championship ramifications.
"Well, for the last two years, it hasn't meant anything. Now it means something again and it's good to have this game mean something again."
While the Balers and Chieftains have found themselves on opposite ends of the TCAL standings the last two seasons, the two rivals are positioned at the top this year, but only one can be champion. Friday night's contest will decide as much.
Kick-off is 7:30 p.m.
"The league title is on the line," Cameron said. "It won't be decided next week. It's gonna be decided this week."
San Benito's recent contests against North Salinas and Salinas, both close games, to say the least, should only prepare the Balers for the adversity they'll likely experience against a stout Palma squad Friday night.
Against North Salinas three weeks ago, the Vikings pulled away all of San Benito's momentum and even pulled within seven points before the Balers responded with a 15-play, 62-yard drive that ate up nearly seven minutes of clock in the fourth quarter; while last week in Salinas, the host Cowboys took a 10-9 lead - just the second time San Benito has trailed all season - before the Balers deposited 20 unanswered points on the Cowboys en route to a 29-10 victory and an 8-0 record.
For a team that has trailed an opponent for all of four minutes and 23 seconds this season - out of a possible 384 minutes of football - San Benito's been tested recently, but has answered the call rather emphatically each time.
Against a run-first football team like Palma, which has plenty of options in the air as well, the Balers will be up against a formidable opponent, one that hasn't lost since Week 1 - a 10-9 defeat to Nevada's Spanish Springs.
"They're a good football team," Cameron said. "They're really good."
A pro-style offense, Cameron said, Palma's running game is built around an inside zone/outside zone-blocking scheme that relies on combination blocks and the quick, line-of-scrimmage cuts by junior running back Jack Baird.
Baird has compiled 904 yards on 153 carries this year, and is currently third in the TCAL behind Salinas' Alvin Jelks and North High's Michael Benabides. Baird has 12 touchdowns on the season.
"They're running game is limited in terms of that they don't have a lot of plays, but the ball could hit anywhere," Cameron said. "When they run the football, the hand-off might be to the right, but the back could be running to the left. It's based on where holes open up."
Able to run the same play out of multiple formations, the head coach added, the Chieftains line up similarly from tackle to tackle, then block accordingly depending upon the defensive front.
Palma doesn't focus entirely on its ground game, though. With quarterback Austen Fales (74 of 121, 1,176 yards, 9 TD, 3 INT) lining up behind center, the Chieftains can take to the air, and wide receiver Bruce Taylor is a legitimate game-breaker, Cameron said.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound senior already has racked up 666 yards receiving and hauled in seven touchdowns. Tight end Garrett Taylor (13 receptions for 229 yards) also is a threat.
"They've got a good running game, a kid who can throw the ball a little bit and some go-to guys," Cameron said. "They're pretty good.
But the fact that this game ... it's meant something really big, and it means something really big again. And that's a good thing."
Andrew Matheson Andrew Matheson is a sports writer for South Valley Newspapers. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 334 or at amatheson@svnewspapers.com.
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