It’s another cakewalk for the 4-0 Mustangs
Just winning isn’t good enough for the Gilroy High football team anymore.
The Mustangs apparently want to win by halftime.
For the third straight game, Gilroy put away its opponent after just two quarters – San Lorenzo Valley fell victim this time.
On Friday at Mustang Stadium, GHS exploded for a 42-14 halftime lead and coasted to a 49-14 victory over the Cougars.
“We’re just steamrolling along,” Gilroy tailback Justin Sweeney said.
And he should know.
On just 14 carries, the area’s leading rusher chugged his way to another 183 yards. Sweeney, who played only one series in the second half, also chalked up four more touchdowns, running his season total to 10.
“That guy is a stud,” Mustangs’ quarterback Peter Mickartz said. “He’s just an awesome back.”
In addition to his dominating offensive line, though, Sweeney was eager to praise the play of Mickartz, who finished 9-of-10 passing for 189 yards and a touchdown.
“We mixed it up well,” Sweeney said. “Our passing game is what killed them.
“That takes pressure off both of us.”
Quite simply, the first-half play of the offense lately has taken pressure off the entire team.
The Mustang starters were in for seven series against the Cougars. In those seven possessions, Gilroy scored seven touchdowns.
“We’re very happy with the play tonight,” GHS offensive coordinator Tim Pierleoni said. “It’s an explosive group right now.”
On the night’s first drive, Sweeney got the offense rolling with a 37-yard run on his first carry. After four more runs and a pair of Mickartz completions, Sweeney gave Gilroy a 7-0 lead with a 1-yard touchdown.
After kicker Neil Martin made a touchdown-saving tackle during the SLV return, the Gilroy defense stopped the Cougars on fourth-down at the GHS 18.
The Mustang offense didn’t have it long.
On the second play, Mickartz threw a short pass to the sidelines that Jorden Newton caught and carried 81 yards to the end zone.
On the night, the senior receiver caught four passes for a season-high 130 yards.
“The gameplan was to get Jorden the ball because we knew their defensive backs were playing back,” Pierleoni said. “Leaving him isolated was to our advantage.”
Mickartz wasn’t complaining.
“I can throw anything up to him and he’ll catch it, though,” he said of Newton. “He’s not afraid to go up.”
After the Cougars used their own solid passing game to cut the lead to 14-7, the Mustangs came right back with a little razzle-dazzle.
In what was maybe the team’s play of the year to this point, senior Z-back Louie Gutierrez scored a 48-yard touchdown during a run in which he cut back at the 15 and pulled off a juke move that left an SLV defensive back staring at grass.
Two plays later, junior free safety Sean Velasques snared an interception for the third straight game. And one play later, Sweeney dashed 56 yards for a 28-7 lead.
By the end of the half, fullback Tim DeLeon and Sweeney both added one-yard touchdowns, the second of which was set up by senior linebacker Jared Gamm’s 35-yard touchdown to the 1.
In the first-teamers’ only series after halftime, a 31-yard completion to Newton set up touchdown No. 4 for Sweeney, a 39-yard run that cemented the game’s final score.
“We’ve got a really good mix of line and skill players.” said GHS head coach Darren Yafai, whose team has a bye week before a Oct. 9 trip to North Monterey County. “Right now I think we have a great offense.
“But like the rest of the team, the proof is in how we finish the season.”
For the moment, though, the undefeated Mustangs are off to quite a start.
“I’ve never been on a team that can come out and just dominated like this during the first half of every game,” Mickartz said.
“We’re out to here to win – and if it’s in a fashion like this … then all the better.”
