Gilroy High football Coach Rich Hammond knows the more his team
wins, the greater the stakes become.
Gilroy High football Coach Rich Hammond knows the more his team wins, the greater the stakes become.
“I told the kids, ‘We’re kind of in a playoff mode because each game is gonna be bigger than the last,’ ” Hammond said after practice Thursday.
Last week’s 35-14 win over the Palma Chieftains was hailed by many associated with the team as one of the biggest regular season victories in school history. The three-touchdown win was a boost to the ego – just the second time GHS varsity football has beaten the private school out of Salinas .
“I think we stepped it up,” junior quarterback Jamie Jensen said. “We just can’t let it get to us.”
A win in tonight’s 7:30 p.m. matchup with the North Salinas Vikings would give Gilroy at least a share of a Tri-County Athletic League title for the first time since 1985. A win tonight and the following week at San Benito would hand the Mustangs their first outright league title since 1981.
Jensen has had the greatest ascension of any of the Gilroy’s players this year considering he had never started a varsity game as of Sept. 6 but currently ranks 28th in the nation, third in the state and first in Northern California with 2,438 yards passing, according to the Salinas Californian newspaper.
“I didn’t even think I was gonna get that kind of yards,” Jensen said, “But when you’ve got receivers making plays …”
Those receivers include Dante Fullard, Danny Contreras, Sean Hale, Travis Reyes and Marshad Johnson – five of the top six pass-catchers in league. All five receivers have made 22 catches or more with only one other player in the TCAL (Palma’s Nate Ramirez) grabbing more than 20 balls. Fullard leads the league in receptions and yards with 43 and 686, respectively. Contreras leads the team with six touchdown grabs.
“We’ve fulfilled every expectation we’ve had so far,” Fullard said. “Coach Hammond said we should win a TCAL title and that’s what we expect to do.”
Doing so won’t be easy.
North Salinas has only one real defeat this year, a 7-3 slugfest with Palma. The other blemish on the Vikings’ 7-2 record was a forfeit caused by players cutting class (making them ineligible) and playing in a game the same night against Alisal. Senior running back Devin Camel has carried the team with 117 rushing yards per game and receiver/safety Victor Sapp has big-play ability, catching eight touchdowns in just 18 receptions.
And then there is the familiarity factor between Hammond and North Salinas head coach Steve Zenk. Both started their coaching careers as defensive assistants at San Benito.
“We coached together and probably talk once a week,” Hammond said. “He called me (Wednesday) at 7:30 a.m. and talked to me for about a half-hour about how excited he was for this game.”
Something that should excite the juniors on Gilroy’s team is the chance to beat North Salinas. The last two years the junior varsity Mustangs finished in a three-way tie for a TCAL title with the Vikings and Palma, but the Mustangs never bettered North Salinas in those two seasons.
Junior varsity season update
The junior varsity squad has continued to play at a high level this season after losing only three games (one being a forfeit) in the prior two years.
With a 5-3 record entering tonight’s 5:30 p.m. contest against North Salinas, the Mustangs have started to unleash an aerial assault against overmatched defenses. That was never more evident than during last week’s 27-15 win over Palma.
Sophomore quarterback Nick Marra threw for two touchdowns, proving he will be a very capable backup to varsity QB Jamie Jensen next year.
“He can throw for 1,500 yards this year if we play like we did last week in our last two games,” Athletic Director and JV co-head coach Jack Daley said.
Daley said he was “pleasantly surprised at the level of play of our offensive line,” while also noting the efforts of tight end Michael Aldridge and receiver Niko Sandoval. Sandoval caught both touchdown passes in last week’s win.
Varsity coach Rich Hammond commended the coaching staff for developing the young players.
“Last week I was amazed with how well they moved the ball against Palma,” he said. “I’ve been really impressed with how they’ve improved defensively.”
Linebackers Mark Salazar and Nick Gibson have been ferocious in attacking opposing offenses, so much so that Gibson was recently pulled up to varsity to add depth at the middle linebacker position.
Gibson’s progress is an example of the goals Daley and the coaching staff have in mind.
“We’re trying to get them to win, learn to practice well and get them ready for the varsity level,” Daley said.
Freshman season update
The freshman team tied North Salinas 26-26 Thursday, putting the Mustangs’ record at 1-5-1.
Gilroy’s lone win came against Pacific Grove on Oct. 12.
Head coach Ignacio Magana said his team has shown remarkable improvement over the course of the year.
“Oh definitely, I think this year from where we started to where we’re at now, the kids are a lot more comfortable with the system and are coming along quite well,” he said. “I think next year we should have excellent JV and varsity teams.”
Staying in line with the rest of Gilroy’s football teams, the freshman squad has also been using the spread attack on offense – an incredibly complex system for a team that started the year with three-quarters of the players competing in organized football for the first time.
The Mustangs enter each new contest with twice the amount of plays it had installed for week one, Magana said, and the coaches now have over 100 plays they feel comfortable using.
The coach said quarterback William Bartholic has improved drastically with his ability to read coverages.
“He’s picking it up really well,” Magana said. “Trying to get freshman kids to throw the ball is really difficult. Sometimes we forget that they’re only 13- and 14-years-old.
Other players that have made an impact are fullback Eric Vegas, linebacker/halfback Brett Newton and Z receiver/nose tackle Eric Oliveras.
“(All) of those guys are just workaholics,” Magana said. “You put them through the process and they get it. And they’re running 100 hundred percent all day long.”
For the freshmen to begin their high school careers in such a complex system should make for a ferocious feeder system at GHS.
“Every week we’re improving by leaps and bounds,” Magana said. “It all goes back to practice.”
