Mustangs suffer first shutout since Oct. 31, 2003
By Marc David Sports Editor
San Jose – Oak Grove justified its early season ranking with a dominant all-around performance Friday night.
With junior tailback Nevin Gardner leading the way, the Eagles rolled over Gilroy 49-0 in their opening game at Phil Stearns Stadium.
Gardner rushed 20 times for 170 yards and four touchdowns for Oak Grove (1-0-1), which led 35-0 at halftime. The Eagles had a 264-38 advantage in total yards in the first half.
“We just didn’t play,” GHS coach Rich Hammond said. “You have to play with confidence. We didn’t do that today. We played scared. We have to start games better.”
Oak Grove, ranked fifth in the Central Coast section, started the game in a big way, scoring twice in the first 4:13. Stacy Long, who rushed eight times for 94 yards and had a 55-yard scoring run called back because of a holding penalty, got the first touchdown on a 4-yard run with 10:34 left in the first quarter.
Nick Loredo’s fumble recovery at the Mustangs’ 8 set up the second score. After the Eagles moved 13 yards backwards following a holding penalty, Gardner scored on a 21-yard draw play.
Gardner scored twice more in the second quarter, sandwiched around a 25-yard TD play from Kevin Vye to Larry Lacotti.
It wasn’t just on offense where Oak Grove excelled. Jabari Carr intercepted three passes for the Eagles, returning one 59 yards to set up a third-quarter score.
“Their defense is good, but we have to do a better job of blocking,” Hammond said. “We have to play at a higher level.”
Oak Grove had a 21:13-14:47 advantage in possession time for three quarters before using wholesale substitution during a fourth quarter that featured four fumbles.
“We started the game with excellent field position,” Oak Grove coach Ed Buller said. “We jumped on them early. It was a lot better than our first game (14-14 tie with second-ranked St. Francis). Our goal this week was to finish drives. We were able to do that.”
The Eagles were far from perfect with 88 penalty yards and five fumbles (losing three). But the fumbles all came in the second half with the first coming after Oak Grove led 42-0.
Brandyn Lemmon recovered the first fumble, and Ethan Ogle and Dennis Rathi had fumble recoveries for the Mustangs in the fourth quarter. Ogle’s recovery came at the Eagles’ 35 and gave Gilroy good field position. Two plays later, however, the Mustangs gave the ball right back to Oak Grove with a fumble.
GHS managed just six first downs and 93 yards of total offense. In fact, the Mustangs had more penalty yards (114) than offense in their first shutout since losing 27-0 to Palma, Oct. 31, 2003. Gilroy was missing starting center Jonathan Bobadilla and got limited production from leading rusher Paul Gonzales (three carries, 9 yards) because of injury, but Hammond was using that as an excuse.
“We’re a team,” Hammond said. “Others are capable of being successful. When someone goes down, others have to be able to fill in. We’re a better football team than we showed tonight.”
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Mustangs, who host Juniper Serra at 7:30 pm next Friday at Garcia-Elder Complex.
Oak Grove 49, Gilroy 0
San Benito 10, Wilcox 7
Alisal 56, Gonzales 0
Salinas 41, King City 13
Palma 48, Santa Cruz 14
Live Oak 30, Alvarez 0
Seaside 59, Sobrato 0
North Salinas 27, Greenfield 0
Live Oak 30, Alvarez 0
Morgan Hill – Jeff Mounteer kicked three field goals in the first half, including a 46-yarder with two seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Mounteer also scored on a 15-yard pass with 2:41 remaining in the game.
Seaside 59, Sobrato 0
Seaside – The Spartans lived up to their billing as one of the top teams in the Central Coast Section by shutting out the Bulldogs.
Seaside (2-0) responded to an interception by Sobrato senior safety Michael Wilson on its first drive by rattling off 37 first-half points and coasted to the win.
The Spartans finished the game with 297 yards rushing and their defense limited the Bulldogs (0-1-1) to a net total of 18 yards of offense.
Anthony Zizzo paced Sobrato with 47 yards on eight carries.
San Benito 10, Wilcox 7
Hollister – After failing to run out the clock with just under two minutes to play, San Benito (3-0) was forced to punt to Wilcox, thus giving the visitors a chance to win the game. But when the Chargers lost control of the football on the return, ‘Balers senior Tim Lango swooped in to land on the fumble to secure the win for his team.
The fumble recovery marked San Benito’s fourth takeaway of the game. The ‘Balers scored all 10 of their points off two first-quarter turnovers by Wilcox, and then once again rode their defense to victory.
Wilcox (1-1) trailed 10-0 at the half, but posted a touchdown on its first drive of the third quarter to create the intensity-packed second half.
After blocking a 34-yard field goal attempt by San Benito’s Dru Blake with 3:40 left in the game, and seeing the ball roll all the way back to ‘Balers’ 41-yard line, the Chargers appeared to gain the momentum swing that could mean the difference.
But San Benito’s fearsome defense stuffed Wilcox’s first two running plays for no gain, eventually forcing the Chargers to turn the ball over on downs.
Blake, who also plays defensive back, said the defense relished the opportunity to carry the team to victory. “I was thinking our defense was going to have to win this game (after the blocked field goal attempt) and we did,” he said. “We’ve done it before and we’ll do it more times to come.”
Said ‘Balers defensive coordinator Tod Thatcher: “Regardless of how our offense is playing, our goal is to shut the opponent out. We’re playing for the shutout, no matter what the score is.”
Two plays into their second drive of the game, the Chargers coughed up the ball on a running play, and San Benito offensive lineman Sam Doty recovered the fumble at Wilcox’s 21-yard line. Four plays later, Lango burst through the middle of the line for a 7-yard touchdown to help the ‘Balers to a 7-0 lead with 6:37 remaining in the first quarter.
After two penalties backed Wilcox up deep into its own territory on the ensuing possession, San Benito’s Zach Canez intercepted Chargers quarterback Stephen Thompson’s pass. The junior cornerback, who now has four picks on the year, returned the ball 10 yards to set up Blake’s 38-yard field goal, which gave the ‘Balers a 10-0 at the 1:58 mark in the opening quarter.
San Benito could well have took a 17-0 lead into the locker room after a 29-yard run by running back Taylor Griffith gave the ‘Balers a first-and-goal at Wilcox’s three-yard line. But an ineffective running play and then a fumble in the backfield cost the team seven valuable yards, and then Blake’s 25-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.
“We had a chance to finish ’em off,” offensive coordinator Rick Dukes said, “and we bumbled the ball. Oddball mistakes, just shooting ourselves in the foot, and then we miss the field goal. It’s just frustrating.”
Nevertheless, after a four-turnover performance against San Lorenzo Valley a week before, San Benito’s coaching staff saw improvement in losing just one fumble against Wilcox.
After improving to 3-0 for the first time since 2000, the ‘Balers were understandably giddy afterwards.
“It’s a pretty big deal,” star middle linebacker Johnny Sanchez said. “We didn’t even do that when we won the CCS championship (last year).”
Nevertheless, head coach Chris Cameron said there is a lot of work to be done, especially with talented Bellarmine on deck and then a tough Tri-County Athletic League season.
“We’re not there yet,” he said. “Luckily, defensively, we’re getting after it. We’re creating opportunities for ourselves and we’re coming up with stops.”
And big wins.
The ‘Balers shoot for a 4-0 start to the season when Bellarmine comes to Hollister on Sep. 22.
Nevertheless, after a four-turnover performance against San Lorenzo Valley a week before, San Benito’s coaching staff saw improvement in losing just one fumble against Wilcox.
After improving to 3-0 for the first time since 2000, the ‘Balers were understandably giddy afterwards.
“It’s a pretty big deal,” star middle linebacker Johnny Sanchez said. “We didn’t even do that when we won the CCS championship (last year).”
Nevertheless, head coach Chris Cameron said there is a lot of work to be done, especially with talented Bellarmine on deck and then a tough Tri-County Athletic League season.
“We’re not there yet,” he said. “Luckily, defensively, we’re getting after it. We’re creating opportunities for ourselves and we’re coming up with stops.”
And big wins.
The ‘Balers shoot for a 4-0 start to the season when Bellarmine comes to Hollister on Sep. 22.
Contact Scott Campbell at sc*******@fr***********.com.
