Benicia has tougher schedule for league
Five-game slate will include four against Foothill Division opponents
Wednesday was St. Patrick’s Day and the Benicia High School football team is feeling lucky to be finally starting the 2021 season.
The Panthers open the spring campaign Friday against Campolindo at 7:30 p.m. at Drolette Stadium.
Benicia is still in the Diablo Athletic League but moves from the Valley Division to the much more rugged Foothill Division this year. Holden knows he has some talented skill players to match up with the league’s best, but in the trenches, Benicia could be undersized.
“We’re playing Campolindo, Las Lomas and Acalanes, and all of those teams are a who’s who in the North Coast Section,” Benicia head coach Craig Holden said. “Those lines are big and physical and our line is still coming together. We literally started practicing on Feb. 28, and we have some new kids who haven’t played line at the varsity level before.”
The Panthers, league champs a year ago, are junior heavy but those juniors are standout players. That includes tight end/defensive end Miles Bailey, who has verbally committed to Fresno State.
“We want to face teams like that,” Bailey said about the Foothill Division. “It should be a really good league to be in.”
Holden admitted his team was sloppy at times in the scrimmage last week against Northgate but can correct many of those mistakes. Benicia did not start conditioning until February while other schools were conditioning on campus in the summer, fall and winter.
“I wasn’t really that upset that we weren’t all that crisp,” Holden said. “We fumbled on the 1-yard line and had a bunch of penalties. It’s stupid stuff that is definitely correctable. I thought it was a good experience for the kids. I’ll be honest — I don’t really care what the outcome was because the outcome was that we got to play football. There are no league championship or section championship but we’re playing football so these kids can experience it.”
One of those aforementioned juniors is left-handed quarterback Tyson Wallace, who threw for 552 yards and had 10 total touchdowns (seven passing, three rushing) a year ago. He split time with Kameron Lane, who graduated and is at Eastern Washington University.
Wallace should have some solid running backs to hand off to, including Janari Boone, Brode Alava, Julius Carroll and Kha’lani Sandoval.
“We’ll sub in and out,” Holden said. “One guy is tired and another guy will play because Brode will play on defense too. We’ll try to keep them fresh and if one breaks out, we’ll put someone else in so he can get some gas.”
The wide receivers include Melvaun Wallace, Joseph Zimmer and Benjamin Saitz. One of the X-factors should be American Canyon transfer Croix Stewart, who is being recruited by a bevy of Division I schools but is currently nursing some nagging injuries.
At 6-foot-4 Bailey could be a major target too.
“If teams put a small corner on him, we might have to
throw some fades to him,” Holden said. “He’ll play some slot, some fullback, some H-back. We’ll move him around. Sometimes he may be blocking on the edge so we can get to the outside.”
The offensive line is led by returner P.J. Morgan along with Michael Pitta,
Sebastian Maciel, Hunter Coombs and George Marshall.
Defensively, players like Boone and Alava will lead the linebacking corps. Alava also can play safety. Holden is excited about Boone in several respects and he expects colleges to come calling for him too. The Panthers will miss middle linebacker Dominic Spivey, who transferred to Clayton Valley Charter.
Many of the aforementioned
offensive linemen could see time on the Dline along with returners like Jacob Dortch and Leo Mazon.
Since Solano County is under seven cases per 100,000, football teams no longer need to test the day before a game.
Benicia is allowing limited fans for its home opener with two family members per household and two more if the student has a split family. An
athlete’s siblings may also attend if they are under 12.
“(At the scrimmage) the immediate family members were able to see the game, which is what the hope is,” Holden said. “We’re letting a certain amount of people see the game here and then we’re also live-streaming all of our home games. That helps out too.”