Salinas-San Benito football

An argument can be made that the first meeting between these two teams on Oct. 3 changed Salinas' season.
 Sitting at 1-3, with two of the Cowboys' losses coming in the final seconds, and playing their fourth consecutive road game, another loss might have put them on life-support.
 Instead, Salinas went out and got a signature win with late-game dramatics, using a field goal from Ryan Farias to pull out a 17-14 win.
 Confidence soared.
 Salinas turned the page in its season, jump-starting it with that win, catapulting them to a Gabilan Division co-championship and a spot in Friday's Division I finals.
 Both these teams have persevered through tough stretches. San Benito dropped three straight games -- one in overtime and one in the final eight seconds.
 San Benito has not lost since, avenging one of those losses with a semifinal win over Alvarez to get to its third straight Division I final.
 Now the redemption tour comes to Rabobank Stadium on Friday, a site the Balers have never won at.
 Ironically, the last time Salinas and San Benito met in the playoffs in 2012, the Balers beat them en route to winning a CCS title. Salinas won the regular season game that year.