GILROY – Offense may no longer be king for the Mustangs.
With a superb effort from the defense and special teams, Gilroy
High football topped Palo Alto 31-10 Friday night at Garcia-Elder
Sports Complex.
photo gallery.
GILROY – Offense may no longer be king for the Mustangs.
With a superb effort from the defense and special teams, Gilroy High football topped Palo Alto 31-10 Friday night at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
The Mustangs’ offense sputtered much of the contest, but senior safety Richie Sotelo helped Gilroy break open the game by returning a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown to push the Mustangs’ lead to 21-10 with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter. The play followed a 1-yard touchdown run by the Vikings’ Sam Tompkins.
Fellow Gilroy safety Tony Travis then provided the Mustangs some breathing room by returning an interception 95 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-10.
Down 11 points with a little more than five minutes remaining, Palo Alto decided to go for it on fourth-and-19. Vikings quarterback Will Brandin lofted a fade route into double coverage, giving Travis the chance to make a leaping grab before streaking up the sideline.
“I just went and caught the ball at the highest point, looked out for my blockers and went for the end zone,” Travis said.
An Ivan Lopez field goal with 1:22 remaining gave Gilroy a comfortable 21-point victory against a team that was considered one of the Central Coast Section’s elite.
While Mustangs head coach Rich Hammond said he was happy to be entering Tri-County Athletic League play with a 3-0 record, he added that there is plenty to be corrected before Saturday’s 2 p.m. game at Alvarez.
“I’ll put it this way – as a head coach, I feel fantastic,” Hammond said. “As an offensive coordinator, we have a long ways to go. It was the worst it’s been since I’ve been here.”
Penalties, missed assignments by blockers and receivers, and turnovers left Gilroy’s defense on the field for the majority of the game, limiting the Mustangs to just two offensive touchdowns, both in the second quarter. A 10-yard swing pass to Peter Guenther made it 7-3 and a 64-yard touchdown pass to Dante Fullard helped Gilroy gain a 14-3 lead by halftime.
Palo Alto scored the game’s first points on a 27-yard field goal by Will Holder early in the second quarter.
Gilroy quarterback Jamie Jensen finished 14 of 28 for 210 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
“It’s kind of nice to know our defense and special teams can do that … to know not all the pressure is on us,” Jensen said. “But we need to step it up.”
Gilroy consistently shot itself in the foot, racking up four penalties on offense in the first half alone.
“We would have had three more first downs if it weren’t for all those penalties,” Hammond said, noting that each flag caused momentum to go out the door.
Palo Alto coach Earl Hansen said he was pleased with the effort of his squad, which dropped to 2-1 on the season despite severely limiting an offense that has torn other teams to shreds.
“I thought our defense played great,” Hansen said. “[Their offense] didn’t score on us in the second half.”
Gilroy’s defense did, however, making the unit the story of the evening.
The Mustangs forced Brandin (20-38, 214 yards) into throwing three interceptions, two of which were picked off by cornerback Jeff Smith, and sacked him seven times. Jacob Aldridge, Mick Eddy and Brandon Elam all had two sacks, while Chris McMurray had one.
“I think that’s the best defensive effort we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Hammond said.
In each of its three games, the GHS defense has not allowed more than 13 points to be scored. A 27-19 win at Atascadero last week included a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by the home team, and the Mustangs marched over Archbishop Mitty 62-13 in the opener.
Gilroy’s prolific offense might have to take a backseat to the defense if things continue this way.
“The defense is out here and we’re trying to get known, too,” Travis said.
Scoring Summary
PA — Holder 27 FG
G — Guenther 10 pass from Jensen (Lopez kick)
G — Fullard 64 pass from Jensen (Lopez kick)
PA — Tompkins 1 run (Holder kick)
G — Sotelo 88 kick return (LOpez kick)
G — Travis 95 interception return (Lopez kick)
G –Lopez 23 FG
Offensive Player of the Game:
Dante Fullard could be earning this award a lot this season. He finished with four catches for 90 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown catch and run that couldn’t have been set up better.
Coaches spotted a flaw in the coverage, as Palo Alto’s cornerback was too slow in backpedaling. Bringing Fullard from the left to right side in motion, on the snap he immediately tore up the sideline on a fly pattern as the cornerback was caught on his heels.
(Side note: I actually had assistant coach Craig Martin draw up the play for me seconds before it happened. Seeing it work exactly how it was drawn up was pretty cool.)
Defensive Player of the Game:
Picking one person’s defensive performance in an all-out clinic against a very strong Palo Alto team is difficult. So in no particular order: Tony Travis for the pick-six, Jeff Smith for his two interceptions, and Jacob Aldridge, Mick Eddy and Brandon Elam for their two sacks each.
Plays by members of the secondary and the defensive line go hand-in–hand. If the line gets pressure, balls are going to float in the air a little longer, such as the case on Travis’ interception and one of Smith’s. If the coverage is good, there are times the quarterback is going to hold on to the ball too long. It’s worth noting the defensive line didn’t give Brandin very long at all, though.
Worst Penalty of the Game:
Amazingly, this one wasn’t committed by Gilroy.
Down 21-3, Palo Alto was called for holding on a 4-yard touchdown run by Tompkins that would have made it a two-possession game. The next two plays were an incompletion and then Travis’ touchdown return.
Play of the Game:
Richie Sotelo has been the best player on the team to start the year (no offense, Mr. Fullard), and it showed on his kickoff return for a touchdown. He broke a few ankles and arm tackles on his way to the end zone. Don’t expect to see him on offense against Alvarez this Saturday, but when a game is on the line, No. 21 could be taking snaps with the ball in Gilroy’s hands.
TCAL leaders
Passing
Name, School Com Att Yd Int TD
Jensen, Gilroy 49 84 761 5 7
Vallejo, Hollister 30 77 533 2 4
Fales, Palma 31 38 510 0 7
Mi. Ramos, N. Salinas 15 32 307 7 7
Aportela, Alisal 19 42 204 1 1
Rocamora, Alvarez 15 30 161 1 2
Marra, Gilroy 9 14 124 0 2
Gregg, Salinas 15 41 122 4 3
De La Rosa, Alvarez 11 35 119 1 0
Rushing
Name, School Att Yd Avg
Ma. Ramos, N. Salinas 53 435 8.2
Olivarria, Palma 33 431 13.0
Grant, Alisal 49 384 7.8
Enriquez, Alisal 62 349 5.6
Jelks, Salinas 64 348 5.4
Bautista, N. Salinas 53 321 6.0
Rosa, Alvarez 18 214 11.8
Brooks, N. Salinas 14 185 13.2
Melesio, Alvarez 41 171 4.1
Guenther, Gilroy 19 154 8.1
Jones, Alvarez 17 132 7.7
Gregg, Salinas 27 131 4.8
Padilla, Hollister 23 114 4.9
Souza, Salinas 15 101 6.7
Cathirell, Hollister 22 96 4.3
Mancera, Alisal 23 95 4.1
Parola, Palma 5 93 18.6
Rushing touchdown leaders: Gregg (Salinas) 5, Olivarria (Palma) 5, Bautista (N. Salinas) 4, Grant (Alisal) 4, Rosa (Alvarez) 4, Ma. Ramos (N. Salinas) 3, Enriquez (Alisal) 3, Olivarria (Palma) 3
Receiving
Name, School Rec Yds Avg
Fullard, Gilroy 15 299 19.9
Hale, Gilroy 13 173 13.3
McFadden, Hollister 11 233 21.1
Chernetsky, Palma 10 222 22.2
Guenther, Gilroy 10 128 12.8
Olivarria, Palma 8 202 25.2
Gettys, Gilroy 8 160 20.0
Perez, Alvarez 8 112 14.0
Cathirell, Hollister 7 73 10.4
Ramirez, Alisal 7 67 9.5
Jelks, Salinas 6 52 8.6
Grant, Alisal 6 51 8.5
Cornell, Hollister 5 146 29.2
Delgado, Gilroy 5 66 13.2
Martinez, N. Salinas 4 143 35.7
Receiving touchdown leaders: Chernetsky (Palma) 5, Martinez (N. Salinas) 4, Fullard (Gilroy) 4, Ma. Ramos (N. Salinas) 2, Mosley (N. Salinas) 2, (Perez (Alvarez) 2, Guenther (Gilroy) 2, Gettys (Gilroy) 2, McFadden (Hollister) 2, Olivarria (Palma) 2.
