28-21 victory moves Chieftains into first alone
Salinas – They were able to play themselves out of a self-inflicted hole once. But a second comeback proved too much for the ‘Balers as they suffered a 28-21 loss to Palma in a clash of Central Coast Section football titans at the Salinas Sports Complex on Friday.
Done in by a fumble deep in its own territory and two interceptions, San Benito surrendered 14 points to turnovers to fall out of first place in the Tri-County Athletic League.
“Turnovers killed us,” ‘Balers co-captain Tim Lango said. “We lost the turnover battle, so we lost the game.”
Despite seeing its high-powered offense largely bottled up by an aggressive San Benito defense, Palma (6-1, 4-0 TCAL) took a 21-7 lead into halftime thanks to two game-changing special teams plays. First, Chieftains junior Nate Ramirez returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown. And then, after punting with a 14-7 lead and a minute left in the first half, Palma recovered a fumble on the return at the ‘Balers’ 11-yard line and scored another touchdown two plays later.
But San Benito (5-2, 2-1 TCAL) calmly took the field for the third quarter and, on the team’s second play, quarterback Ronnie Fhurong connected with wing back Jordan Klindt on a 64-yard touchdown reception.
Once the ‘Baler defense stuffed Palma on three plays, San Benito got the ball back and marched 47 yards in eight plays to tie the game on Lango’s 8-yard touchdown run with 5:47 left in the quarter.
But Palma answered with the decisive play of the night, as Chieftains linebacker Jeff Davis batted a Fhurong pass in the air and then corralled the ball to return the interception 13 yards for a touchdown with 8:04 left.
