Mustangs defeat North Salinas 54-28 in league opener
The defense held its first opponent under 30 points, quarterback Niko Fortino led an overpowering aerial assault, completing 25-of-36 passes for 436 yards and six touchdowns, and the Gilroy High football team opened Tri-County Athletic League play with an emphatic 54-28 victory over North Salinas on Saturday night in Gilroy.
“It was good to get the kids back to the winning ways. We needed that for confidence, big time,” GHS head coach Steven Lo said. “I think the kids responded well. Seeing the kids play with a little more aggression today was nice.”
After allowing its three non-league opponents to score 30-plus points – 64 to Leland – a new-look GHS defense kept the big plays to a minimum and forced its first three interceptions of the season courtesy of Jourdan Soares, defensive lineman Izack Lugo and Ian Carabarin.
“We hadn’t done that much. Those were all good plays,” linebacker Ricardo Alvarado said of the turnovers. “We changed the defense completely. We went simple and easy. We practiced our tackling and running to the ball. It worked. We just kept rallying to the ball.”
Fortino threw four touchdowns in the first half, including scores of 28, 10 and 48 yards to Soares, and a 70-yard bomb to Christian Goldstein.
Running back Brandon Boyd scampered for 69 yards on 10 carries and added a 3-yard touchdown to help the Mustangs (2-2 overall, 1-0 TCAL) to a 33-14 halftime advantage. Boyd, though, left the game late in the second quarter after suffering a compound fracture to his left ring finger. Back up running back Stefan Mercer also missed the second half, leaving Justin Nelson to hold down the fort in the Mustangs’ backfield.
“Justin hasn’t been a running back for very long, but he does a good job,” Lo said. “He still keeps people honest.”
Nelson had 11 touches for 43 yards and one touchdown, which pushed Gilroy’s lead to 40-14, less than three minutes into the third quarter.
Fortino and Goldstein (seven catches, 133 yards) hooked up for the second time for a 10-yard score on a slant pattern with 1:48 to play in the third.
“I just had to get where I needed to be,” Goldstein said. “If I don’t take care of that assignment the whole play falls off.”
On Gilroy’s ensuing possession Fortino hit a wide-open Branden Holler on a seam route for 43 yards and a 54-14 lead. Holler finished with his most productive outing, hauling in six balls for 96 yards.
The Vikings (1-4 overall, 0-1 TCAL) tacked on a pair of late touchdowns on the Mustangs’ second-team defense. Justyn Gutierrez, who spelled starting quarterback Nick Alves midway through the third, completed a 39-yard scoring strike to David Maye. It was Maye’s (four catches, 100 yards) second touchdown on the night.
Cody Rocamora galloped 31 yards for the final touchdown sequence of the game with 4:47 to play.
“We worked hard and the defense stepped up in the game,” Holler said.
The Mustangs shot out of the gates 14-0, capitalizing on prime field position and Alves’ first pick of the night. Fortino and Soares (seven catches, 176 yards) were simpatico on an out route for 7-0 at the 9:24 mark of the opening quarter. A Soares interception led to Boyd’s 3-yard plunge two minutes later.
The Vikings struck right back. Don Carter (14 catches, 140 yards) ripped off a 57-yard touchdown run up the right sideline. A penalty on the point after negated the try and it stood 14-6 Gilroy.
Soares corralled a 10-yard score to make it 21-6 before Alves led Maye into the end zone on a 21-yard play, leaving the Vikings within reach 21-14. However, the Mustangs and their big-play offense widened the gap via scores of 48 and 70 to Soares and Goldstein, respectively.
“We just wanted to play our game, get open and get our assignments right,” Holler said.
Gilroy piled up 567 yards of offense to North Salinas’ 400.
The Mustangs had three plays of 20-plus yards overturned because of penalty, one of which was a Holler 95-yard kick return.
“We still have a lot of things to work on,” Lo said. “We can’t get away (with the penalties) down the road. We let a team that we were beating pretty good get back in the game because of those things. We need to be more disciplined.”
The Mustangs host Alvarez for homecoming next Friday.
— The Junior Varsity Mustangs held a 7-6 lead at the half, but a steady ball-control offense by North Salinas helped the visitors take the lead in an eventual 12-7 Vikings victory.
Jordan Goldstein rushed for 150 yards, and Emilio Chambers had 200 yards passing, including a 50-yard passing touchdown to Jose Salazar. Bubba Lara, Goldstein, John Jimenez, Matthew Castillo and Julian Carabajal led the defense with several key stops.
Co-head coach Bobby Griffith said the Mustangs had a few injuries on the offensive line, but also had players – Ryan Frascone, Rosendo Canseco, Carlos Ferreyra and Marc Torres – step in to fill the voids.
GHS plays Alvarez next week.
View more photos of Gilroy vs North Salinas at our
