MILPITAS – After flying into the playoffs with two huge wins in
its last two efforts, the Gilroy High football team had its course
to the championship grounded as its season was brought to a halt in
a 58-3 loss to Milpitas in the first round of the Central Coast
Section Division I playoffs Saturday night in Milpitas.
MILPITAS – After flying into the playoffs with two huge wins in its last two efforts, the Gilroy High football team had its course to the championship grounded as its season was brought to a halt in a 58-3 loss to Milpitas in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs Saturday night in Milpitas.
“That was speed,” head coach Greg Garcia said. “They are a very good team. They are a well coached team. That team has a great shot of getting to the championship.”
The No. 3-seeded Trojans controlled the point of attack on both sides of the ball, creating gaping holes to run through while on offense and causing havoc on defense, sacking Mustangs quarterback Nick Marra eight times.
“We couldn’t get a three-step drop,” Garcia said. “We got stuck in the pocket.”
A Ben Vega 32-yard field goal with 14 seconds left gave the fans who made the trek to Milpitas something to cheer about in a game that was well out of reach at halftime.
The Mustangs fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter and 35-0 at the half.
Marra was sacked on the initial offensive play of the game – a play that ended up being indicative of how the Gilroy’s night would be – yet the Mustangs were still able to move the ball out close to midfield after a 14-yard run by senior Tommy Silvas. But another sack of Marra put the Mustangs in an insurmountable third-and-19 play and they were forced to punt after a pass from Marra to senior Jordan Holler left them short of the first down marker.
The one-step-forward, two-steps-back theme continued throughout the contest for the Mustangs, with penalties and miscues hindering any offensive surge they began to mount.
The Trojans immediately showed off their big-play capability on their first possession. A 9-yard burst up the middle by running back Ben Pomele was followed by a 69-yard scamper to the end zone by Jon Fullbright, but the touchdown was negated after the Trojans were flagged for an illegal block in the back. However, the set back didn’t slow down the Trojans any as they scored one play later on a 58-yard bomb from Junior London to Kwanzaa Striplin with nine minutes to play in the first quarter.
The Trojans quick-strike attack and mix of option-read plays and efficient deep passing gave the Mustangs’ defense fits all night. All but two of the Trojans’ eight scoring drives utilized five plays or less.
The Mustangs never found their footing, and in a season that saw the Mustangs rally from the depths of two separate three-game non-winning streaks to a CCS berth, the turbulent ride came to an end. Gilroy finishes the year with a 4-6-1 record, a season which saw them go from a 1-3 team to a playoff participant.
“We fought, but you can’t win everything I guess,” Silvas said, who came into his own in the last three weeks, leading the team in rushing over that span and finished Saturday night with a team-high 74 yards on 12 carries.
Under duress all night Marra completed just nine passes for 69 yards as the Mustangs were plagued with dropped passes throughout the game.
“Honestly, I couldn’t be more proud of our team right now,” Marra said. “We were down by a lot but we played hard and we never gave up. We’ve been down and out this season but we did our best.”
