Saratoga and its veteran defense shut down and shut out Gilroy’s
high-powered offense in the second half and manufactured 10
unanswered points in the fourth quarter to down the Mustangs 31-21
in Gilroy on Friday night.
Saratoga and its veteran defense shut down and shut out Gilroy’s high-powered offense in the second half and manufactured 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to down the Mustangs 31-21 in Gilroy on Friday night.
“We basically played our Cover 3 and kept the ball in front of us,” said Saratoga head coach Tim Lugo, whose Falcons defense (eight returning starters from 2010) put forth a gritty effort in holding the Mustangs to just three plays of more than 25 yards after losing its starting defensive end Mitch Faylor to a fractured tibia early in the opening quarter. “I have to give it up to our defensive staff and our kids, they held a very good offense to 14 points tonight.”
The Mustangs’ (1-1) offense may have been held to 14 points – the other touchdown came on an electrifying 96-yard kickoff return by Jourdan Soares – but a second half of miscues, mishaps and missed opportunities really spoiled the home team’s efforts.
“We beat ourselves. We beat ourselves all week. We beat ourselves tonight,” GHS head coach Steven Lo said. “It was a reflection of how they looked all week. Turn over balls in the red zone, missed tackles, missed assignments. We beat ourselves.”
After the two teams traded touchdowns at a feverish pace in the first half to a 21-21 halftime tie, neither offense did much in the third quarter. And really, the Mustangs did themselves no favors in the final 30 minutes overall.
Gilroy had a third-quarter drive interrupted after quarterback Niko Fortino coughed up the football at the Falcons’ 36-yard line with five minutes to play in the third. The blunder was the only blemish in an otherwise effective night for Fortino, who completed 20-of-27 for 281 yards and one score, but ended up being the first of two costly GHS fumbles in the ball game.
Stephen Ruff broke the deadlock with a 36-yard field goal at the 9:12 mark of the fourth quarter to give Saratoga (1-1) a 24-21 advantage.
GHS looked poised to take back the lead, embarking on a 10-play, 69-yard drive down to the Falcons 1-yard line. However, sophomore running back Brandon Boyd, who finished the night with 127 yards on 26 carries, including eight carries and 46 yards on the drive, fumbled the ball across the goal line where it was recovered by the Falcons with 6:27 remaining in the game.
Gilroy’s defense, and its bend-but-don’t-break mentality, forced a Falcons’ three-and-out on their next set of downs, getting the offense the ball back with 4:22 to go.
But two straight one-yard gains and a seven-yard completion to Christian Goldstein left GHS with a fourth-down-and-1 situation. Fortino’s pass to the right flat was dropped and the ball went back to the Falcons.
“This offense rolls when we are crisp and execute,” Lo said. “We can’t turn over the football, we can’t drop balls. No part of football goes the right way when those things happen. We didn’t have the focus this week and we didn’t bring it tonight. We have to focus on ourselves to play better football.”
Both Soares (eight catches, 81 yards) and Ryan Alba (four catches, 95 yards), who combined for five scores last Week, were both kept out of the end zone on offense.
Two plays later, running back Jerick Lee (15 carries, 157 yards) all but dashed any remaining Mustangs’ comeback aspirations with a 40-yard jaunt to the end zone with two minutes to play.
The Falcons recovered the ensuing kickoff after the ball ticked off of a Mustangs special teamer, tying a bow on Saratoga’s first win of the season.
“Tonight was a result of us not being ready,” GHS senior Stefan Mercer said. “We need to work harder in practice. Every thing just needs to be more revved up. “Being that this is our first loss of the season, our emotions are high. We just need to get rid of the attitudes from the past. We are a different team, different coaching staff. We will get it.”
The Mustangs seemed to get it in the first four minutes Friday. After stopping the Falcons on fourth down on the first series of the contest, GHS needed just five plays to take a 7-0 lead. Fortino hit Boyd on a check-down pass over the middle. Boyd slipped a couple of tackles before coasting up the right side for a 44-yard touchdown.
Davis Berryhill (12 carries, 77 yards) and the Falcons quickly knotted matters, covering 52 yards on two plays, the bulk coming on Berryhill’s 46-yard sprint to pay dirt. Bryson Yates (20 carries, 124 yards) made it 14-7 Falcons, coasting 41-yards untouched on the first play of the second quarter.
“We went back to basics this week. I said we were going to go back to old school, three yards and a cloud of dust and just pound the football and find out who we are,” Lugo said. “And I think we found out who we were tonight.”
Soares had his return on the ensuing kickoff to tie it, and Mercer made it 21-14 Mustangs, barreling in from 2-yards out to cap a nine-play drive, which was highlighted by a Fortino-to-Alba 46-yard connection.
Lee scored his first of the day three minutes later to bring it to the 21-all score at the break.
“It’s on us as coaches to teach these kids how to win,” Lo said. “We have to check those attitudes and make sure the kids understand that when the chips don’t fall in your favor, you can’t fold.”
Gilroy travels to face Leland, which beat Sobrato 28-21 on Friday next week.
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