Mustangs fourth-quarter rally comes up short against San
Benito
Gilroy – San Benito had all the answers in the first half of Friday night’s Prune Bowl.
Gilroy found the answers midway through the third period. What the Mustangs discovered is something they have known all season – you can’t win without playing four quarters against a team the quality of the Haybalers.
Playoff-bound San Benito held off a late charge by Gilroy to win the Tri-County Athletic League finale 29-21 before a boisterous crowd at Garcia-Elder Complex. It was the ‘Balers fifth straight win in the series.
“It’s hard to come back from (a 22-0 deficit),” GHS coach Rich Hammond said. “I’m proud how hard the kids played. They didn’t give up, which is the way it has been since the second half of the Alisal game. But you’ve got to play all four quarters against a team like San Benito.”
The ‘Balers (8-2 overall, 4-1 TCAL) were in complete control in the first half. They scored on their first possession when Tim Lango (20 rushes, 115 yards) took a simple screen pass from Ronnie Fhurong and turned it into a 61-yard touchdown.
“They showed us a lot of different sets they hadn’t used before,” Hammond said. “They threw a screen over a blitz. If the screen goes to the other side, we have a spy ready to handle it.”
But the backbreaker for the Mustangs (4-6, 3-3) came in the second quarter. Gilroy trailed 10-0 after a 40-yard Dru Blake field goal when Zach Canez returned an interception 34 yards to the GHS 12. Lango hit the left side for a 5-yard touchdown, and it was 16-0 at halftime.
San Benito had a 196-28 advantage in total yard at halftime, and its defense had held Gilroy to one first down. When the ‘Balers took the second-half kickoff and marched 68 yards with Lango covering the final 42, it appeared a blowout was imminent.
And then Marc Vegas, who had fired blanks during the first half when he had 0 yards of total offense, suddenly found himself. It started on a fourth down when he completed a 20-yard pass to Marshad Johnson on a fake punt.
The Mustangs didn’t score in the third quarter, but the passing game was working. Vegas completed 15 of 20 in the fourth quarter, tossing touchdown passes of 9 yards to Paul Gonzales and 16 yards to Johnson. The senior quarterback also scored on a 7-yard run.
In between, Fhurong added the final dagger with a 50-yard TD run on a bootleg.
Thus, San Benito retained the Prune Bowl trophy, a fact not lost on elated ‘Balers’ coach Chris Cameron, who is now 11-2 against GHS.
“It’s getting used to being here,” Cameron said. “It probably doesn’t know what it’s like to be at Gilroy any more. If it didn’t come here on the bus, it probably wouldn’t know how to get here.”
