As the saying goes, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
Especially in the injury department.
Unfortunately, the Gilroy football team has just been good at
getting injured.
As the saying goes, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Especially in the injury department.
Unfortunately, the Gilroy football team has just been good at getting injured.
Even before the season, the ‘Stangs were hurting. At the start, they were without quarterback contender Matt Hemeon, returning starting linebacker Chris Hernandez and wide receiver Marshad Johnson, to name a few.
Then tailback Justin Sweeney left in the first quarter of last week’s game against Oakland Tech with a pulled quad.
It’s safe to say Gilroy needed a bye week.
“It definitely came at a good time,” said Gilroy head coach Darren Yafai. “It’s kind of a bummer because I’ve never coached a team where we’re halfway through the season and we have so many starters that are out for the year or banged up or we’re unsure of their status.”
On Friday, Sweeney went through a light, non-contact practice without pads, doing agility drills, jogging and stretching. Yafai expects him to be back to practicing in full Monday.
The good news is, Hernandez, Johnson and lineman Brandyn Lemmon have started practicing the past few weeks and will all have enough practice sessions under their belts to suit up at San Benito for the Prune Bowl next Friday.
However, starting noseguard Marcus Munoz and lineman Jonathan Bobadilla are still out and Yafai isn’t sure when – or if – they’ll return.
Then there’s the countless other players that are just plain beat up.
“Half the guys are just very banged up and needed a bye week to heal up,” Yafai said. “Part of football reality is that there are going to be injuries. You just cross your fingers and hope your not going to be bitten by the injury bug.”
