Gilroy – Theoretically, the 2005 high school football season has
already started.
After a winter offseason filled with weight lifting sessions,
speed and agility drills and, for some players, other sports, the
GHS varsity football team kicked off its spring practice week
Monday afternoon.
Gilroy – Theoretically, the 2005 high school football season has already started.
After a winter offseason filled with weight lifting sessions, speed and agility drills and, for some players, other sports, the GHS varsity football team kicked off its spring practice week Monday afternoon.
As varsity head coach Darren Yafai put it, “Now it’s time to get back to the football stuff.”
Spring practice allows this year’s varsity hopefuls to get rid of off-season rust, review some basics and build off of last season’s success of reaching the CCS semifinals.
“We told them, ‘Hey, you’re going to make a lot of mistakes right now. It’s going to take time,'” said Yafai. “But we demand tempo and hustle at all times. We’ll work hard and fast.”
Though they’ve been brewing in the offseason, position competitions get new fuel in spring practice with the team finally on the field together.
“It all starts now,” Yafai said. “They’re competing every day.”
The graduation of Peter Mickartz has left the quarterback position up for grabs. Assistant coach and special teams coordinator Craig Martin said Nick Tovar and Chris Velasco, who will be seniors in the fall, Matt Hemeon, who will be a junior, and David Alejo, the starting quarterback on the freshman team last year will all be competing for the starting job.
“It’s a four-person race for that position,” Martin said.
Despite the quarterback question mark, Martin believes the ‘Stangs have a lot to build around for the upcoming season.
“Our core is real strong,” Martin said. “You win or lose by your seniors, but you also have to have a good core of juniors filling in holes. We have guys coming up and filling those holes.”
The Mustangs return CCS Junior of the Year running back Justin Sweeney and lineman Bobby Best, middle linebacker Taylor Micali and kicker Neil Martin – all of whom will be seniors who have had starting roles since their sophomore years.
Martin said the program needs to be able to “re-load” every year to compete with schools like Hollister and Palma, which are perennially strong.
“This is the second year in a row we’ve been able to do that,” Martin said.
Spring practice is just a start to the gearing up the ‘Stangs will do before official practices begin in August. This summer, Yafai said in addition to their regular four-a-week weightlifting sessions and speed and agility training, the Mustangs will attend several team camps to gear up for the season.
