After suffering a heartbreaking loss a week ago at Seaside, Gilroy needed to make a statement against Watsonville to stay relevant in the Pacific Division picture.
And a statement the Mustangs made.
“It’s always good to bounce back from a loss and it’s always good to go out there and just have fun,” said quarterback Jon Jon Castro. “The score was on our side most of the night, but we went out there and played well.”
Gilroy (4-3, 2-1) scored touchdowns in all three phases of the game as it rolled past the Wildcatz (3-4, 2-1) 48-13 Friday night.
“It was huge. We wanted to come out fast, and we did,” said coach Jubenal Rodriguez. “That first quarter was huge. The kids executed. That was awesome to watch.”
Rodriguez said the difference between the Seaside and Watsonville games came down to the boys attitudes during the week, getting after it in practice and putting together a complete game.
“The boys know the tempo we need to be at. What we need to look like and where we need to be at mentally in practice,” Rodriguez said. “It was an awesome to
For as well as the Mustangs were playing in all three aspects of the game—offense, defense and special teams—the night swung on who could hang on to the ball in the wet conditions.
Center Victor Sanchez said the conditions weren’t any worse than normal, it just came down to keeping with the fundamentals.
“I just had to make sure I had a good grip on the ball, that was about it, and let Jon Jon throw the ball,” Sanchez said.
Gilroy had little trouble despite three turnovers for the night. Watsonville, however, fumbled eight times in the first half alone leading to one turnover.
The Wildcatz put the ball on the deck 11 times in all leading to three of their four turnovers.
Rodriguez said it was a combination of the play of the guys up front as well as the wet weather.
“Our guys were getting off the ball and the weather helped us a little bit,” Rodriguez said.
Gilroy’s offense turned the ball over three times, but it didn’t prove as costly as Watsonville’s.
The Mustangs went up 14-0 in the first 4 minutes of the game thanks to a fumble recovered by Cisco Locsin on Watsonville’s first drive.
Gilroy opened the game with a third down 35-yard pass from Castro to Richard Perez that set up the game’s first score three plays later.
Perez took the ball the final eight yards for an 8-0 lead.
Watsonville’s fumble put Gilroy on the Wildcatz’ 19 and four plays later, had a 5-yard touchdown run from Joseph Barnes for a 14-0 lead.
Gilroy’s defense stepped up in a big way after Rodriguez was critical of how it played the previous week.
The Mustangs’ defense gave up 147 total yards of offense, much of that coming in the second half when Gilroy started subbing out players.
“I was disappointed in how we played last week,” Rodriguez said. “But the boys didn’t get down on themselves and just got better. We used the film to get better. It was awesome to watch.”
In the first half, Watsonville was held to 44 yards of total offense, including four players rushing for negative yards by halftime.
“The defense, oh man, everyone stepped. Everyone stepped up big. Middle linebackers, D-line, everyone. Everyone contributed,” Castro said.
Gilroy didn’t knock it out of the park in terms of total yardage either, recording 274 yards of total offense, 109 of which cam from Castro’s 4 of 10 passing.
“It’s awesome to be a little more balanced now so teams can’t load up the box the whole time. If they do, great, we have something for that,” Rodriguez said.
The vaunted run game didn’t have a rusher above 50 yards for the night, but it didn’t matter for the Mustangs whose average starting position was right around midfield.
Watsonville didn’t score on offense until the 9:27 mark of the fourth quarter when a 22-yard run from Johnny Bravo made the game 48-13.
The other score came in the third quarter on a kick off return that Daniel Olivarez took 89 yards for the first Watsonville TD of the game.
However, the first half was all Gilroy.
Castro threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Eddie Vargas for a 22-0 lead in the first quarter.
“The play is designed on the outside for the corner to bite on the hitch, so I saw Eddie wide open in the open field and he made an awesome catch. Shout out to that guy,” Castro said.
Gilroy got on the board again late in the second quarter after the defense held on fourth down deep in its own territory.
The Mustangs drove 80 yards with Antonio Andrade going the final yard for a 28-0 lead that carried into halftime.
Coming out of the half, Watsonville stalled at midfield and was forced to punt from its own 48.
After a bad snap, Christian Rodriguez got his hands on the kick and sent the ball backward toward the Watsonville 20.
He scooped up the bouncing orb and beat the punter to the endzone for a 35-0 lead.
After Watsonville scored, Gilroy’s next drive stalled deep in Wildcatz territory.
But after failing to convert on fourth down, Andrew Castro recovered a fumble on the 7 yard line, setting up Castro going the distance on one play for a 42-7 third quarter lead.
Gilroy got its final score two plays from scrimmage later as Barnes stripped the ball from Bravo just before he went out of bounds and took the fumble 33 yards for a score.
Gilroy now will gear up to play Pajaro Valley in Watsonville next week.
With a win under their belts, Gilroy hopes to keep things rolling into next week.
“It’s going to be the same just like every other day. We’re just going to have to push it even more for every other team,” Sanchez said.
