Mustangs take top-seeded Eagles to the limit but missing one
final miracle in loss
San Jose – Two times it looked like the Gilroy High football team was dead-in-the-water during Friday’s CCS semifinals.
And two times the Mustangs fought back.
In the end, though, top-seeded Oak Grove escaped with a 25-20 victory over a gutty Gilroy team. In the end, it just wasn’t enough.
In the end – after the entire GHS team had saluted the legions of Mustang fans who made the trip to San Jose City College – the tears from the players and coaching staff were outnumbered only by the hugs.
“Just that close,” senior receiver Jorden Newton as he walked off the field as a Mustang for the final time.
Taking over at its own 31 with just over two minutes remaining in the game, the Gilroy offense simply couldn’t withstand the relentless pressure from Oak Grove and turned the ball over on downs after gaining just one first down.
The Mustangs did get the ball back at their own 36, but only two seconds were left on the clock and a last-gasp lateral didn’t connect.
“We showed the same resilience we’ve showed all year,” senior safety Jared Kaczorowski said. “Every guy on this team gave it his all. Unfortunately we just came up a little bit short.”
Coming up just that little bit short took some work. Twice the Mustangs fought back after rather shaky performances in the first 20 minutes of each half.
On the team’s first play of the game, Gilroy quarterback Peter Mickartz threw a tipped interception. He had trouble finding his rhythm throughout the first half. The senior fumbled four times right after the snap, but was able to recover each one.
“The offense in the first half was out of sync,” GHS head coach Darren Yafai said. “I think some semifinal jitters were part of it. But also a big, physical team had something to do with it.”
The Gilroy defense was able to rescue the Mustangs for most of the first half. The unit stopped the Eagles on a 4th-and-goal at the 3 and free safety Jared Gamm snared an interception in the end zone two possessions later.
In between, Oak Grove scored on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Vye to Terry Newsome at the start of the second quarter. Right after that, the Eagles scored on a quarterback sneak with three minutes left before halftime.
That’s when the Mustangs got on track. Boosted by a 35-yard run by Justin Sweeney and a 17-yard pass to Gamm, the Mustangs marched right down the field and scored when Gamm stretched into the end zone with 23 seconds left.
But it wasn’t over.
The Eagles never touched the kickoff and with an assist from Joe Cano, Kaczorowski was able to recover at the Oak Grove 28. Mickartz first found tight end Taylor Micali, who took it to the 1, and then the quarterback took the ball in himself with just seven seconds remaining.
The two-point conversion was no good, but just like that it was Gilroy 13-12 at halftime – two scores in less than a half-minute of clock time.
“We definitely never quit in this game,” Mickartz said, “That’s for sure.”
The second half, though, was deja vu all over again for Gilroy. Oak Grove returned the kickoff all the way to the 24 and scored on a 5-yard touchdown run by their star running back Burton Iosefa.
After a GHS three-and-out, the Eagles drove 62 yards on eight plays, the final one being a 7-yard touchdown from Iosefa, who finished the game with 114 yards on 21 carries.
“You’ve gotta give Oak Grove a lot of credit,” Yafai said. “That’s one incredibly talented team. They’ve got the perfect combination of very big guys, great athletes and great coaching.”
They also had the size and athleticism up front to contain Sweeney. On 16 carries, the leading rusher in CCS was held to a season-low 66 yards.
“We’ve seen these guys on film and in person and knew what a dominating line and front seven they had on defense,” Yafai said. “It was maybe the first time all year a defensive front was able to stuff our running game.
“But we weren’t surprised by the way they played.”
The Eagles also continually harassed Mickartz, who was forced into several passing situations and finished 14-of-24 passing for 147 yards.
“Those guys were big and athletic,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been hit by a D-line like that.”
Nevertheless, the Mustang offense did recover in time to make things interesting. With the Eagles on the brink of making it 32-13, Gilroy cornerback Jay Raven came up with a beautiful interception in the end zone to breath new life into the ‘Stangs.
Mickartz completed four straight passes, the last of which went for 38 yards to Newton down to the 12. Three plays later, Mickartz snuck it in from two yards out to complete the 80-yard drive.
With just under five minutes remaining, it was a five-point game.
And with the hundreds of Gilroy faithful at a fever pitch, the Mustang defense forced a three-and-out thanks to an open-field stop by Raven and Titus Karvon on third down.
In the end, though, it just wasn’t enough. In the end, the top seed moved on to the championship – but not without a newfound respect for their semifinal opponent.
“Give them credit,” Oak Grove head coach Ed Buller said of the Mustangs. “That Gilroy team gave it all they had out there.”
As the team reflected on its eight-win season – the school’s first in nearly 20 years – it was most certainly a bittersweet feeling.* “All that hard work and it’s almost like there’s a big void there,” Newton said. “But I’m definitely still proud of this team. I love these guys. No one ever did some of the things we did at Gilroy this year.”
Kaczorowski, one of several seniors who have been friends since Pop Warner days, said he’s got “nothing but love for the senior class.”
“It hurts and it’s really tough being so close, but it was good to know we went out fighting,” he said. “If this game had ended in a blowout, it would’ve broken our hearts.”
As it stands, the Mustangs have nothing to hang their heads about, Yafai said.
“Yeah, it’s bittersweet … and we’re all sad we didn’t make it to the championship,” he said. “But I couldn’t be prouder of the effort and the performance these guys gave all year.”
