Gilroy High falls behind early against Woodside and is unable to
recover
By Marc David Sports Editor
Woodside – Big plays hurt Gilroy. Red-zone struggles doomed the Mustangs.
The Wildcats used two long Matt Pelasasa-to-Anthony Mendoza passes to kickstart their offense and then held their collective breath Friday as Gilroy managed just three points on two ventures into the red zone as host Woodside won its opener 14-10.
“We had our opportunities to put the game away,” GHS coach Rich Hammond said. “We just didn’t do it. I’m proud of the heart of the kids. We were definitely the team in better shape. But we’ve got to get better.”
It appeared Gilroy (1-1) would be good enough to win another close game, much like its 28-27 opening-game win over Burlingame. GHS put together an impressive 92-yard fourth-quarter drive. Starting at their own 6, Paul Gonzales immediately got the Mustangs out of bad field position with a 32-yard gallop. The other big play in the drive was a 31-yard Marc Vegas keeper, and GHS had a first-and-goal at the 5 with four minutes left. Two rushes gained three yards and Vegas’ fumble was recovered by Selope Kaufusi at the Woodside 7 with 3:37 left in the game.
The Wildcats went three-and-out and a short punt gave the Mustangs a first down at the Woodside 38 with 2:21 left. But a holding call and Jordan Carr sack put GHS in a fourth-and-38 situation. A 25-yard Vegas to Marshad Johnson completion left GHS well short of the first down, and the Wildcats were able to run out the clock.
“They capitalized on big plays; we didn’t,” linebacker Jacob Cantu said. “We came out flat and they caught us off guard with a couple of long balls. We adjusted and fought back. But we couldn’t get the plays when we needed them.”
Gilroy had trouble out of the gate, getting a holding call and having to punt from its own 15 on its opening possession.
Pelasasa and Mendoza clicked on Woodside’s first play from scrimmage on a 30-yard touchdown play. It could have gotten ugly shortly thereafter when Vegas’ fumble was recovered by Mendoza at the GHS 15, but the Mustangs defense stiffened and a 24-yard Wildcats field-goal attempt failed.
Gilroy was unable to muster any first-quarter offense, and Woodside took a 14-0 lead on its first possession of the second quarter when Pelasasa and Mendoza teamed on a 41-yard pass play that set up a Lopeti Taufaoo 5-yard touchdown run.
Ryan Costa’s 55-yard kickoff return set up an eight-play, 40-yard GHS drive that was capped by Travis Reyes’ TD run from the 3.
The Mustangs got a break early in the third quarter when the Woodside punter’s knee touched the ground on a low snap, giving GHS a first down at the Wildcats’ 27. Gilroy advanced to a first-and-goal at the 1, but a holding penalty pushed the Mustangs back and they had to settle for a 25-yard Luis Perez-Padilla field goal.
Gilroy got another strong rushing effort out of Paul Gonzales. The senior tailback had 119 yards on 17 carries.
The Mustangs defense dominated the second half, allowing Woodside just 59 yards of total offense, 30 of which came on a Pelasasa-to-Zach Test completion. But the offense was unable to capitalize on good field position.
“We have to make plays,” Hammond said. “We need more repetitions and better plays.
“There was improvement on the defensive side with the exception of three, four plays. We have to play good defense. That’s the only way we will be successful. I just hope we learn from this that we’re going to be in games that are dogfights. We just have to learn how to finish on the winning side, and that will take better execution.”
Frosh: The Gilroy sub-varsity squads had a big night. The freshmen breezed to a 38-0 win in the opener.
JV: The Junior Mustangs (2-0) followed suit, racing to a 26-0 halftime lead en route to a 32-6 triumph. Quarterback Steven Martinez ran for one touchdown from the 10, and passed for two others, clicking with Tyler Hill from 25 yards and Juan Delgado from 30 yards to pace the victory. Sean Hale scored on a 6-yard run and Richie Sotelo added a 35-yard TD run to complete the scoring.
