PHOTOS: No late game magic in Palma’s loss to San Benito

HOLLISTER — Late game dramatics and emotional outcomes have dominated this rivalry for nearly five decades.

All signs in Friday’s fourth quarter pointed toward Palma and San Benito – two longtime nemesis – heading down that road again.

The adrenaline rush was there for a frantic finish. The heroics fizzled.

Instead, the ‘Balers used a pick-six from Jayden Freidt and a botched kickoff that pinned Palma inside its 10-yard line, producing 14 points in the final minutes to secure a 34-19 win.

“It was an emotional game,” Palma football coach Jeff Carnazzo said. “It always is. We made mistakes in critical moments. We have got to clean that up. We lost our composure at times and the momentum.”

For the first time since 2000 and 2001, the ‘Balers have beaten Palma in consecutive years, having rallied in last year’s game for a 34-30 win.

The Chieftains didn’t lose another game after falling to San Benito in those two seasons — Carnazzo’s first two as the head coach — going on to win back-to-back Central Coast Section Division I titles over San Jose’s Oak Grove and Mitty.

“We have to focus on improvement, not the playoffs,” Carnazzo said. “How do we get a little momentum going? And we have to heal up. We’ve taken a big hit with injuries.”

The Chieftains were without five starters, having been hit hard with a handful of season-ending injuries.

“I don’t know if it has anything to do with playing in the spring, then jumping to summer workouts,” Carnazzo said. “Is it a coincidence? I have thought about it. Injuries, though, are a part of football.”

Over the past 20 years, 12 games between the ‘Balers and Palma have been decided by four points or less — four by a single point.

When San Benito quarterback Tyler Pacheco punched it in from 2 yards out in the fourth quarter for his second touchdown of the game, San Benito had a 20-19 lead.

More bothersome to Carnazzo was the Chieftains losing their composure in the fourth quarter on what amounted to San Benito’s game-winning drive, as two 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalties provided 30 yards on the drive.

“We had some of our younger kids lose their cool,” Carnazzo said. “We can not have that happen.”

Gone was the momentum created by the Chieftains scoring 13 straight points in the second half on touchdown runs from JoJo Cardinale and Luke Rossi to take a 19-14 lead.

Palma was unable to get that fire back as Freidt stepped in front of a pass and returned it for a touchdown to give San Benito a 27-19 lead with 2:18 left in the game.

“It was still a one-possession game at that point,” Carnazzo said.

If there was going to be a miraculous comeback, it was going to have to be from 95 yards as a mishandled kickoff landed the Chieftains inside their own 10-yard line.

Four plays — including another penalty — netted nine yards as the drive stalled at the 15-yard line, where the ‘Balers produced another touchdown to close it out with 23 seconds left.

“The focus goes to our next game,” said Carnazzo, whose Chieftains visit Seaside. “We have to get this right. We have to improve in a lot of different areas.”

While the Chieftains are a lock for a Central Coast Section record 38th consecutive postseason appearance, the loss ends virtually any hopes of chasing a Gabilan Division title, as they slipped two games behind undefeated Salinas with three remaining.

Palma, which came in averaging over 40 points a game, jumped to a 6-0 lead on Rossi’s 60-yard touchdown run, his third touchdown run of 40 yards or longer this year.

“I actually thought we were flat in the first half,” Carnazzo said. “We let San Benito dictate the tempo from the start. We were better in the second half. We just made too many mental mistakes.”