Nose tackles do dirty work, but are relatively unnoticed
BY Marc David Sports Editor
Hollister – It was Gilroy’s opening game and Burlingame was advancing downfield for a go-ahead fourth-quarter score. Jacob Cantu’s interception ended the threat.
Cantu’s pick was obvious to those watching the game. What wasn’t obvious was that Andres Barragan had pressured Panthers’ quarterback Drew Campbell into throwing the pick.
There is probably no more under-appreciated position in football than the nose tackle. He doesn’t get many sacks, interception or fumbles. Sometimes he doesn’t even get many tackles.
But any coach will tell you how much he appreciates the nose tackle. In fact, the Mustangs have two — Barragan and Jeremy Sabla — that coach Rich Hammond thinks so highly of that he is working on ways to get them on the field at the same time.
Barragan and Sabla will again be key factors tonight when Gilroy (1-1) continues its season at Oak Grove (0-0-1). The Eagles opened two weeks ago with a 14-14 tie with St. Francis.
Don’t expect the Mustangs to have any trouble getting pumped up for Oak Grove. After all, they have been hearing how good quarterback Kevin Vye is. Vye is a Gilroy resident who played with many of the current GHS players at South Valley Junior High.
“You can say there is bad blood,” Barragan said of playing against Vye, a three-year starter. “He thought he was too good for the Gilroy guys. I’ll have no trouble putting a helmet to him.”
Vye, who threw for 1,344 yards and 13 touchdowns last year, has a go-to receiver in Larry Lacotti, an Evergreen Valley transfer who caught 10 passes for 144 yards in the opener. Nevin Gardner gives the Eagles a breakaway threat in the backfield.
Hammond has praise for his nose tackles, who have alternated during the first two game and yet who have been there for each other. While the two are close friends on and off the field, they are very different players. Barragan is more laid back while Sabla is the individual “whose motor never stops.” Both are standout wrestlers for the Mustangs.
“It’s amazing how well he uses his hands,” Hammond said of Barragan, a 5-10, 210-pound senior. “He’s talented at pushing people off of him and getting rid of them. He didn’t even play the last two years (when Barragan concentrated on wrestling) but he is doing a great job.
“Jeremy has been able to trap very well. He demands a double team so it leaves one of our other (defensive players) free. He doesn’t know anything but (playing) hard.”
As befits nose tackles, Barragan and Sabla have no fear on the field and are not awed at playing a top-notch opponent like Oak Grove. And while each pines for different ways to get on the field, they pull hard for each other even when on the sideline.
“We’ve been together competing since I was in seventh grade and he was in eighth,” said Sabla, a 5-8, 195-pound junior. “Ever since I’ve been little, he has always been there for me. We can rely on each other.”
“I always want to be out there, but when Jeremy replaces me I know he will get the job done,” Barragan said.
Barragan and Sabla want that type of confidence to rub off on their teammates.
“Shrek (Barragan’s nickname) and I are trying to make everyone believe,” Sabla said. “We believe we can go to the CCS playoffs.”
“If we can win with the type of schedule we have, we can go far in the playoffs,” added Barragan. “It’s a matter of eliminating the little mistakes and making the big plays.”
Each realizes that they may not receive the credit that others receive, but that’s OK with them.
As long as I know I am doing my job, that’s all that matters,” Barragan said. “It doesn’t matter who gets credit as long as we get the win.”
It’s the type of attitude Hammond loves. He knows his nose tackles may be the unsung heroes of the defense. And yet the coaches know what they can do.
“They can get blocked by three different guys at one time,” Hammond said. “They can be double teamed, they can get blocked from any direction. Both have excelled at defeating the center and getting into the backfield.”
In the cases of Barragan and Sabla, it gets done without fanfare.
When you’re a noseguard, you have to believe. Because in their cases, seeing is not necessarily believing.
