Mustangs look to end four-game skid; Acorns hope for first win
os season
GILROY – The Gilroy and Live Oak High football teams are both hungry for a win – but only one is guaranteed to be the victor when the neighboring rivals square off in Friday Night’s regular-season finale in Morgan Hill.
The Acorns have not tasted victory all season long – coming in with a 0-8-1 overall record – while the Mustangs are hoping to recapture their early-season glory after suffering four straight losses and a tie before that.
“We know that Live Oak is hungry for a win and they probably circled Gilroy on their schedule and said, ‘Gilroy hasn’t been playing very good football the past few weeks.’ This is where we can get our win,'” Mustang head coach Darren Yafai said. “I think that we’re a real hungry team, too. I think you’re going to see a close game. You are going to see some big plays. It will be exciting.”
The two teams sit at the bottom of the Tri-County Athletic League with neither notching a win in four games. Gilroy has won the last three meetings in the rivalry game, but Live Oak dominated the series in the 1990s – losing only once in 1991 and tying in 1996.
“This game is a game about pride. Live Oak and Gilroy have always been rivals going back to their days in the Santa Teresa League,” Yafai said. “It just so happens throughout the 1990s Live Oak dominated this rivalry. Since then, we’ve beat Live Oak three straight times. All of them went down to the final minute or two… They’ve all been close, hard-fought games.”
Live Oak has been in some close games this season – falling 14-12 to North Monterey County in week-four and then tying Alisal 20-20 the next week after having the lead in the final quarter.
“They had chances this year. They should have beat Alisal. They had Alisal down and had a good chance to beat them,” said Yafai of Live Oak. “They’ve been in a couple of other close games, so we know this is going to be a close game and we’re going to have to put it all together.”
The Mustangs (3-5-1) have not been able to put a winning effort together since a 35-0 victory over Monte Vista Christian in the fourth week of the season. Gilroy won its first four games – but a 30-6 victory over San Lorenzo Valley had to be forfeited due to an ineligible player. The Mustangs tied Alvarez to end their non-league schedule and have since dropped lopsided affairs against Salinas, Hollister, Palma, and North Salinas.
“We look at this as our playoff game because we’re not going to make it into the CCS Playoffs,” Yafai said. “If CCS would have not forced us to forfeit over that situation, we’d be in a situation where we could be 5-4-1 and possibly be going in.”
Instead, Gilroy comes into Friday night hoping to end their up-and-down season on a winning note to build for next season. Of the Mustangs’ 61-player roster, there are 26 seniors playing in their last game but 28 juniors and seven sophomores who will return.
“We look at it as we beat some decent teams early on and then we started facing the great teams and we didn’t get it done. We started making mistakes. We got into some pressure-packed situations and didn’t rise to the occasion,” Yafai said. “This week we think that we’re the better football team and if we play up to our capabilities, we’ll get a win.”
The Gilroy defense is coming off its worst outing of the season – allowing 42 points to North Salinas – and will have its hands full trying to stop Live Oak seniors Steve Connor, at quarterback, and Daniel Salinas, at tailback.
“(Connor) was a first-team All-League wide receiver last year when he was a junior and he was one of their best players,” Yafai said. “This year they do everything with him. He’s their starting quarterback and he’s a good thrower. He’s super athletic. He got some experience at quarterback last year.
Salinas scored a touchdown on a screen play in last season’s 28-18 loss to Gilroy and will be another concern for the Mustang defense.
“Those two kids are their two big-play guys. They have a lot of weapons on offense,” Yafai said. “Defensively, they’ve let teams move the ball on them throughout the year. But offensively, they can be scary at times because they have a lot of weapons. They love the trick play even more so than maybe the Mustangs do and they run trick plays effectively.”
The Mustang offense moved the ball last week – showing potential to break out of its scoring slump – but it has also been plagued by turnovers.
“Offensively, it’s consistency. Last week, we moved the ball down the field against North Salinas and then we throw interception. It’s consistency and finish. We need to finish off some drives this week,” Yafai said. “I think the team that doesn’t turn it over is probably going to win this game.”
Kick-off is at 7:30 p.m. at Live Oak High School.
