At about the same time as Robert
”
the Ghost
”
Guerrero was delivering a knockout of his opponent in Lemoore,
his old alma mater was doing the same back at home as the Gilroy
Mustangs made quick work of the WatsonvilleWildcatz cruising to an
easy 37-14 victory in front of a capacity home crowd.
Gilroy – At about the same time as Robert “the Ghost” Guerrero was delivering a knockout of his opponent in Lemoore, his old alma mater was doing the same back at home as the Gilroy Mustangs made quick work of the WatsonvilleWildcatz cruising to an easy 37-14 victory in front of a capacity home crowd.
The Mustangs scored on their first six offensive possessions, including the first drive in which their star running back, Justin Sweeney, sat out.
“This was a total team effort tonight,”” said the senior, beaming ear-to-ear. “We played just about everybody and that was great to see. The second and third string guys played almost the whole second half.”
Proving that it wasn’t just the right thing to say but heartfelt enthusiasm, Sweeney, who ended the night with 215 yards of total offense which included two trips to the end zone, grabbed his friend Steven Quistan at thestart of the third quarter and applied a friendly punch to Quistan’s chest.
“That was phat man. That was the way to take care of business out there,” Sweeney said in reference to his teammates two touchdown catches.
In fact it was Quistan that found the end zone first. Nick Tovar connected with him on the Mustangs first drive to give Gilroy the early 7-0 lead. Two touchdowns by Sweeney over the next eight minutes gave Gilroy a 21-0 lead and then Neil Martin added his first field goal of the season, a 25-yard kick that split the uprights for the 24-0 lead.
Tovar then connected with Quistan again before Vince Giacalone found the end zone for the Mustangs last score of the game.
Gilroy head coach Darren Yafai wasn’t counting any chickens before they hatched in the week leading up to the contest but by the half he was all smiles and quite relaxed as his squad walked off the field for the break.
“The biggest reason I was all smiles was that I knew that we were going to get a chance to play a lot of the kids that don’t get that much playing time,” he admitted. “We knew we had the better team but you never know what can happen. I’m glad that we played hard and never got complacent or sluggish. The kids kept the intensity throughout and never gave the Watsonville squad a breath of life. That’s so important when you’re playing an underdog.
The Mustangs will waste no time getting ready fdor next week’s opponent.
“San Lorenzo Valley has a storied program and they will be hungry for some Gilroy revenge,” Yafai said.
By John Coscia Sports editor
GILROY 37
WATSONVILLE 14
nBOX SCORE
1 2 3 4 TOTAL
WAT. 0 0 0 14 14
GHS 14 17 6 0 37
GILROY TEAM STATS
Total Offense: 381
Rushing Offense: 289
Passing Offense: 92
WATS. TEAM STATS
Total Offense: 165
Rushing Offense: 172
Passing Offense: -7
nGILROY INDIVIDUAL STATS
Passing
ATT CMP YDS TD
Nick Tovar 10 6 92 2
Rushing
CAR YDS TD
Justin Sweeney 15 164 2
Vince Giacalone 8 29 1
Paul Gonzalez 4 14 0
S. McCrimon 4 25 0
Receiving
CAT YDS TD
Steven Quistian 4 49 2
Justin Sweeney 2 43 0
Kicking
FGA FG XPA XP
Neil Martin 1 1 5 4
(25-yard FG)
Gilroy Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
GIL – 7:38, Tovar 7-yard pass to Quistian (Martin kick), GIL 7-0
GIL – 2:34, Sweeney 5-yard run (Martin kick), GIL 14-0
2nd Quarter
GIL – 10:30, Sweeney 43-yard run (Martin kick), GIL 21-0
GIL – 3:18, Martin FG, 25 yards, GIL 24-0
GIL – 0:17, Tovar 4-yard pass to Quistian (Martin kick), GIL 31-0
3rd Quarter
GIL – 5:15, Giacalone 6-yard run (kick missed), GIL 37-0
