For what it’s worth, it was just the first game. And that, really, sums up what happened and didn’t happen for the Gilroy High football team in its 35-21 loss to Live Oak last week.
The Acorns made more plays and had less miscues. Gilroy, though it effectively ran the ball for one half and had a big touchdown on special teams, stopped itself one too many times on offense.
“We were disappointed that we lost, but we took it in stride. We thought we played pretty well, but those mistakes with dropped balls and penalties ate us up a bit,” head coach Brian Boyd said Thursday.
The Mustangs (0-1) will look to avoid an 0-2 start Saturday as it visits Sobrato High back at Richert Field on the campus of Live Oak at 6 p.m. And doing so will take executing the little things. An extra day of practice only helps.
“We worked a lot on tackling and wrapping up, and we’ve been doing a lot of hands drills,” Boyd said.
The Bulldogs (1-0) are coming off of a 38-19 win over Christopher High last week. It is the first meeting between the two programs, but a familiar face in quarterback Michael Bocksnick is now in charge of running Sobrato’s multi-faceted wing-T offense. Bocksnick transferred from San Benito in the spring. Gilroy last saw him in the 2011 Prune Bowl, where the signal caller threw for 130 yards and rushed for 64 in a 39-3 Balers win.
Last week against Christopher, Bocksnick tossed for 219 yards and three scores. The Bulldogs offense is enhanced by running back Miguel Redmond and Drew Glines.
“We are going to put in a defense that is geared toward that wing-T offense,” Boyd said. “We know it will hurt if we fall to 0-2. We know Sobrato is a very good team. But we will compete and I expect the boys to come out with some fire.”
• Junior Brandon Boyd rushed for 151 yards for the sixth 100-plus yard game of his career.
• Cornerback Isiah Madolora, who suffered a lower body injury last week, has been cleared to play, as has sophomore lineman Michael Lasquette.
