Offensively-speaking, the first two opponents for Gilroy High
have been all but polar opposites.
Offensively-speaking, the first two opponents for Gilroy High have been all but polar opposites.
For the first game, the Mustang defense prepared for a Burlingame team with a highly touted quarterback and a much-used passing attack.
Last week, the unit prepared for a Gunn team with a de-emphasized passing game and a much-used option attack.
And this week?
Well, the preparation for Watsonville seems to be somewhere in between.
“Watsonville is really a combination of the first two teams we played … kind of a hybrid team,” said GHS head coach Darren Yafai, who scouted the Wildcatz game against Salinas last Friday.
“They run some of the same sets and combinations and base-option attack as Gunn. But they can also throw the ball around like Burlingame.”
Don’t be fooled, though.
The offense hasn’t exactly been blistering early on. In Watsonville’s first two games, the unit has averaged 132 yards and scored just one touchdown.
Sure, the opponents have been tough – powerful Clovis East one week, Salinas the next.
In the 42-0 loss at Clovis, though, the two Wildcatz’ quarterbacks were a combined 2-of-20 passing. And in the 19-13 loss to Salinas, the Catz’ running game netted just 15 yards on 31 carries.
Against the Cowboys, Watsonville also turned it over four times.
“We’re going to be looking for a lot more strips this week,” senior safety Jared Kaczorowski said. “We’re going to try to put our helmet on the ball on every tackle.”
Nevertheless, while acknowledging the Wildcatz’ slow start, he also said nobody on the Mustang defense is overlooking them.
“They held up with Salinas, so we’re expecting a battle,” Kaczorowski said. “They’re a tough team … they fight hard and don’t quit.
“But we think we can wear on them.”
It seems everyone involved with the defense shares Kaczorowski’s confidence.
“I think there’s a lot more confidence now,” junior safety Ryan Dickerson said. “Everything is starting to click.
“It was kind of sketchy before. We would mess up on some of our calls and stuff.”
Now, Kaczorowski chimed in, the Gilroy D is “like bread and butter.”
“We’re holding strong,” he added. “We’re good at defending the run and the pass.”
Maybe it’s because the unit has prepared well for both.
After focusing almost entirely on the team’s pass defense while getting ready for Burlingame quarterback Drew Shiller, the Mustangs found themselves caught off-guard when the Panthers ran it and ran it well in the first half.
So the focus shifted almost exclusively to the team’s rush defense last week.
“There were a lot of mistakes and we had to make a number of adjustments,” Yafai said. “I think we did that really well. We swarmed to the ball a lot better against Gunn and it seemed like the kids wanted to play more physical.
“We’re hoping that continues.”
