Gilroy coaching staff has players ready to take Wildcatz
serious
Gilroy – The numbers aren’t in favor of the Watsonville football team.
The Wildcatz, whom the Mustangs host tonight at 7:30 at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex, went 0-10 last season and lost their season opener 38-6 to Salinas last week.
Meanwhile, Gilroy (2-0) is on a roll, having defeated two Central Coast Section defending champions in a row.
But the Gilroy coaching staff doesn’t want to hear about the numbers.
“Salinas is a very good football team,” said head coach Darren Yafai, in response to the insinuation that Watsonville, whom the Mustangs beat last year 35-14, might be an easy opponent.
When the ‘Stangs and the Wildcatz do battle tonight, Yafai expects swarming defense from Watsonville which might cause Gilroy some trouble.
“To me, what’s impressive with Watsonville is that traditionally, they’ve always had physical, swarming defense,” Yafai said. “You knew players were going to hit you and swarm to the football.”
The fact that starting offensive linemen Jonathan Bobadilla and 6-foot-4, 340-pound Matt Hunkin will be sidelined by injury also could make things a little tougher on Gilroy’s offense, which relies on the o-line for its bread-and-butter running game. Yafai expects Hunkin to return for next Saturday’s game at San Lorenzo Valley. In the meantime, David Barmore will fill in for Hunkin, while Andrew Ojeda will suit up in place of Bobadilla.
“We’re doing some shuffling and maneuvering of pieces, some puzzlework, but I think it will work out,” Yafai said.
Senior quarterback Nick Tovar, who was 4-for-9 passing for 59 yards against Woodside, will be taking the snaps for the third week in a row. Yafai was pleased with Tovar’s performance in the 35-8 win.
“I felt that he had pretty good game last week,” Yafai said. “He had three balls dropped, so if he was 4-of-9, he should have been 7-of-9.”
The key offensive player for Watsonville in its wing-t offense is 5-foot-7, 180 pound full back Frankie Serrano. Despite his smaller size, Serrano is one of Watsonville’s more dynamic players, Yafai said.
“He’s a playmaker and he’s a fast guy,” Yaffai commented.
