Beating Alisal last Friday was good for Gilroy on so many
levels.
Gilroy – Beating Alisal last Friday was good for Gilroy on so many levels.
The 49-21 victory showed the Mustangs are playing strong as the season starts to winds down, it kept the team undefeated at 3-0 in Tri-County Athletic League play and it set up the most explosive league matchup involving Gilroy in decades, that does not revolve around prunes or a jug.
Homecoming is this Friday, and aside from floats and costumes, a football game of immense proportions will be played at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex at 7:30 p.m. The Mustangs (5-2 overall) will be host to the Palma Chieftains (6-1 overall, 4-0 TCAL) in a contest that will very likely decide who is the next league champion. The Chieftains only remaining TCAL game on the schedule will be against league pushover Alvarez (0-8, 0-4) on Nov. 9.
For a point of reference, Gilroy’s last share of a league title came in 1985 when Mark Speckman was at the helm. The last outright title came 25 years ago, when Edwin Diaz was coach of a Monterey Bay League Mustangs squad. Palma, in contrast, has won or had a share of a league title in 22 of the last 23 years.
“This is as big as any game Gilroy has played in the last quarter-century,” GHS Coach Rich Hammond said after practice Monday. “Yeah, you always have the Hollister rivalry, but (this game is) as big as any.”
Assistant Head Coach Craig Martin has been in Gilroy since 1975, and during his 32 years in Garlic Town, he said there hasn’t been a contest between Gilroy and San Benito that could measure up to the upcoming contest.
“Every time you play Hollister it’s a big game,” Martin said. “As far as a regular season, non-rivalry game, I can’t think of one (bigger).”
Running back Travis Reyes, who left the Alisal game to go to the hospital but was back in pads at practice on Monday, said Homecoming wouldn’t be a distraction in his preparation.
“I could care less about Homecoming,” Reyes said. “It’s probably the biggest game in Gilroy in 26-27 years – a TCAL title (on the line). We still have three games left but if we win (Friday), our destiny is in our hands.”
North Salinas, which is currently ranked third in the TCAL has two losses on its record after a defeat to Palma and a forfeit against Alisal.
GHS receiver Marshad Johnson knows the stakes.
“I think it’s gonna be an intense game because we both play similar styles,” Johnson said. “I know we’re gonna be hungry for it because we haven’t beat Palma since I was a freshman and we haven’t won a league title in 21 years.”
Coach Martin mentioned the Mustangs last win over Palma – which happened to be Homecoming for the Chieftains in 2004 – being a big game, but only in retrospect as Gilroy went on to the semifinals of CCS.
“That was big after, it wasn’t big leading up to it,” he said.
Coach Hammond summed up the hype as a product of the game’s outcome.
“It won’t be big if we lose,” he said.
