Another game. Another step on the mountain.
Another game. Another step on the mountain.
As the 7-1 Gilroy football team prepared for Salinas this week, the coaching staff seemed to make that the overriding theme at practice.
“We started in December and I think we’ve climbed most of the way up the mountain,” head coach Darren Yafai said. “All the workouts, all the 6am practices in the summer.
“Now we’re at the end of the season, and thus far we’ve done pretty decent. But we’re not there yet. We never said we’d be happy with 7-3.”
In order to prevent that kind of last-season slide, Gilroy must take care of business against a dangerous Cowboys team during tonight’s 7:30 Homecoming game at Mustang Stadium.
At 2-1 in league play, the ‘Stangs sit just one game back of Hollister, which closes its season with Live Oak and Palma.
While Salinas is just 2-6 (0-3 TCAL), its record is unquestionably deceiving.
“The record doesn’t matter,” GHS cornerback Shea Lemos said. “That’s a good team.”
Yafai said it’s the best 2-6 team he’s “ever seen in high school football.”
And on this occasion, at least, it’s not just coach-speak.
The Cowboys’ non-league losses came to Archbishop Mitty, St. Francis and Valley Christian. And if that wasn’t brutal enough, they’ve also dropped close league games to Palma, Live Oak and San Benito.
In last week’s 27-21 setback at Hollister, the Cowboys lost on the last play of the game. That came a week after losing in the last-minute to the Acorns.
“If they played our schedule, they’d be 6-2,” Yafai said. “They’ve had some bad luck and some injuries. Plus, they feel like two wins have slipped away from them the last two weeks.
“They’ll be hungry. Believe me, we’re concerned about them.”
The Cowboys’ triple-option offense is tricky, but Gilroy’s primary concern involves the Salinas defense, which is led by defensive back Travis Dozier and linebackers Isiah Nau and D.J. Atkins.
Even with such an unrelenting schedule, the unit hasn’t given up more than 28 points all year.
“We know their record is 2-6,” GHS cornerback Jay Raven said, “but all of us who were on JV last year know they’re pretty strong and fast and can hit hard.
“But we can handle them I think,” he added with a smile. “They don’t have a chance of winning here on Homecoming.”
Senior guard John Torres was a little more cautious.
“All I know is we can’t underestimate any team,” he said. “We’re taking it one step at a time … one game at a time. We can’t look forward and we can’t look back.”
And they can’t lose, Lemos said.
Not with a league title still in the balance. Not after they’ve come this far.
“We started this is December,” he said. “There’s no point in backing down now. We’ve put in too much effort to give up now.
“This is just step nine out of a lot more.”
