Just call it a battle of the MVP hopefuls.
Not that nothing – or no one – else matters in Gilroy’s Week 4
match up Saturday with San Lorenzo Valley, but a big part of the
Mustangs’ success will hinge on stopping SLV senior wide receiver
Matt Kiel, who has scored 30 of his teams 42 total points this
season.
Gilroy – Just call it a battle of the MVP hopefuls.
Not that nothing – or no one – else matters in Gilroy’s Week 4 match up Saturday with San Lorenzo Valley, but a big part of the Mustangs’ success will hinge on stopping SLV senior wide receiver Matt Kiel, who has scored 30 of his teams 42 total points this season.
“He’s definitely an MVP candidate for their league,” said Gilroy head coach Darren Yafai. “They find every which way they can to get him the ball.”
Likewise, the Cougars will probably be keying on Gilroy star Justin Sweeney, whose season rushing yardage sits at 592.
In the past decade, Yafai said, SLV has established itself as a top football program. But the past couple of years have been down seasons for the Cougars. Gilroy (3-0) handed SLV a 49-14 drubbing at home last year and ended the Cougars five-year home undefeated streak with a 30-6 win on their turf in 2003.
But SLV, which was a young squad last year, seems to have matured in the last 12 months. The Cougars are led by longtime coach Doug Morris, who has nine Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League and three CCS titles to his name, and return nine starters on both sides of the ball. They fell to San Benito in the season opener, but traveled up to San Francisco to shock powerhouse St. Ignatius 21-13 last week.
“They have their quarterback (Harlan Prather), running back (Ed Gallagher) and receiver (Kiel) back,” Yafai said. “All three of those kids led the SCCL last year in each of their respective categories.”
Assigned the duty of stopping the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Kiel is starting cornerback Jay Raven, who will also get help from Sweeney when he’s in at the position.
No matter what happens during the game, one thing is for sure: The game will be physical.
“They’re one of the biggest, if not the biggest teams physically that we’ll see this year,” Yafai said. “It’ll be a slugfest.”
Kickoff is at 2pm on Saturday.
