It’s been a while since anyone on the Gilroy Mustangs has hit
anyone other than a Mustang.
At least that was the case until Friday.
It’s been a while since anyone on the Gilroy Mustangs has hit anyone other than a Mustang.
At least that was the case until Friday.
Although the pads were strapped and the lights were lit, carrying the feel of your basic game night in the fall, teams from Gilroy, San Benito and North Salinas instead took to the field at Andy Hardin Stadium in Hollister for the annual preseason scrimmage.
Each team certainly felt the highs and lows that are perhaps to be expected in the preseason. For Gilroy, though, which is coming off a trip to the Central Coast Section Open Division championship, and which opens the season against Archbishop Mitty in two weeks, expectations have already been set high.
“We did some things great and then we did some things not very good, but the problem is we’re trying to set the bar higher for our guys this year and be great every time we hit that field,” coach Rich Hammond said. “We’ve got to find a way to find consistency, and we lacked that tonight.”
Each team started from the 40-yard line and was given 10 plays to see what they could do. Gilroy’s attack took the field for the first time against Hollister’s D, and found paydirt on the ninth play on a hurry-up sneak into the end zone.
On the second 10-play series against North Salinas, quarterback Jamie Jensen’s near-perfect pass was tipped away at the last second in the end zone. Gilroy failed to score on its third series against San Benito.
Hammond seemed to open up the passing attack on the fourth and final sequence against North Salinas, as Jensen connected on a 30-yard touchdown pass on just the second play. But a pair of interceptions, one thrown by Jensen and one by backup Nick Marra, finished out the series.
“That’s why you practice,” Hammond said. “We’re trying to build something that builds off of what we did last year. In order to do that, we need to be on where we were last year.”
The Mustangs plan on using the speed of Peter Guenther, who went to the state meet in track as a sprinter last season, and that much was evident Friday night. In one play, Guenther, playing fullback, caught a Jensen pass on the right side three yards behind the line of scrimmage, then used his speed to pick up a 13-yard gain.
“He’s quick. He’s got speed on him,” said Jensen of Guenther. “We did all right, though. We started off kind of cold and then warmed up throughout the rest of the scrimmage.”
The Gilroy defense warmed up as the scrimmage progressed as well. After giving up a touchdown to both North Salinas and San Benito in their first two series, the Mustangs shut down both teams in their last two installments.
In fact, during their final two outings, Gilroy’s D gave up just 13 yards over the course of 20 plays.
“Defensively, I thought we did a good job, all things considered at this point in the year,” Hammond said. “I like that our guys flew around to the ball.”
The Mustangs have just under two weeks until Mitty visits Gilroy, but they won’t see North Salinas and San Benito again until Week 9 and 10, respectively.
“Of course, they’re gonna be better. Hollister is gonna be better by Week 10 and everyone’s gonna be better by the time we play them. But it’s nice to see where we are right now,” Jensen said. “We’re not as good as we can be, but I think we’ll progress. We’ll be ready.”
