GIULIANO ORSI, MITTY
Prep2Prep Student Contributor

September 9, 2016

LOS GATOS, CA - Hunter Nye's 74-yard jaunt diagonally across the field with minutes to go in the first half broke a tie, and provided the momentum for San Benito, who would dominate the second half en route to a 35-14 win over Los Gatos.

.Nye was sensational tonight, rushing for 230 yards on 23 carries, with three touchdowns. In addition to his long second-quarter run, he added another 48-yard score in the fourth quarter. As a team, the Balers ran for 296 yards.

“Our linemen have been working hard all year,” Nye said. “They’re getting quicker and faster with our powers and traps. They’re just solid linemen.”

Senior Albert Lopez helped alongside Nye on the ground, putting up 64 yards on 15 carries, including two scores of his own. Senior quarterback Hunter Raquet also had an efficient performance, completing six of his nine attempts for 128 yards.

Much of San Benito’s success also came on the defensive side of the ball, where they held Los Gatos (1-2) to minus-35 yards rushing, sacking Wildcat quarterback Kyle Reid 5 times.

However, when he wasn’t getting chased by Haybaler linemen, Reid was able to put up an impressive 257 yards in the air on 17 of 24 passing, along with two first half touchdown throws. His play kept Los Gatos in much of the first three quarters, but San Benito’s offensive surge on the ground and late defensive stops kept the Wildcats from getting close near the end.

“We had a lot of confidence coming into the game,” Reid said. “We were doing everything well, but in the second half I guess we dipped down a little bit and adversity came to us. That’s one thing we’re going to have to work on- when adversity hits, it’s about working and rising above that.” Those key defensive stops include two fourth quarter interceptions off by Haybaler Isaac Regalado, which both shut down any comeback that was in the mindset of Los Gatos. The senior cornerback handled late-game one-on-one coverage twice against Reid’s favorite target on the night, wideout Ben Grasty, who had himself 93 yards on seven catches and one score.

San Benito (3-0) opened up the game’s scoring on the first drive of the night, on a goal-line push that resulted in a Lopez touchdown for the Haybalers. Los Gatos would answer right back, putting up consecutive scores, which happened to be their 14-point total on the night.

The first score came on a 65-yard seam pass from Reid to Ryan Wilcox that came immediately after Lopez’s touchdown, which was then followed by a 23-yard corner of the endzone lob from Reid to Grasty at the start of the second quarter.

After Nye’s 74-yarder right before the half to give San Benito the lead, it also gave the Haybalers the push they needed to take care of the rest of the game.

Los Gatos will travel to Menlo-Atherton to face the Bears (1-2) for their first road game on September 16th, in hopes to end their two-game skid.

“We have a lot of work to do, both sides of the ball,” said Wildcat coach Mark Krail. “We have to clean some things up, or this [trouble] will continue.”

Coach Bryan Smith of San Benito was proud of his team’s performance, saying, “I liked our physicality, that’s who we are. We set the tone in the second half and got after [Reid]. Any young man taking that amount of hits is going to get frustrated.”

San Benito’s early win streak will be on the line at home against Wilcox (1-2), who they fell to last year by the same score as tonight. The Haybalers were obviously on the right side of the final score this time, and they’ll make the short road-trip back to Hollister in preparation for their statement game, which will be played on the 16th as well.