Playoff hopes still alive heading into Firday’s match-up against
Vikings
GILROY – If you ask Mustang head football coach Darren Yafai his team’s record, he’ll tell you that Gilroy is 4-3-1.
But officially the Mustang gridmen are 3-4-1 after they were forced to forfeit a 30-6 victory over San Lorenzo Valley due to late paperwork on a transfer student.
Regardless, playoff hopes are still alive in the garlic capital as the Mustangs need to take care of business Friday night against North Salinas at 7:30 on their home field and then finish up against Live Oak in Morgan Hill. If they win out, Gilroy will be considered for an at-large CCS berth.
“We’re backed into a corner. If we win our next two games, we’ll be 6-3-1, but according to CCS we will be 5-4-1,” said Yafai, who was disappointed with the section’s decision since the transfer student played in only one play in the SLV game and was later given his eligibility once the paperwork was in. “We have a fighting chance.”
The Mustangs must first find a way to stop North Salinas tailback Ronnie Drummer – who is the league’s reigning offensive player of the year for good reason.
“He’s the fastest player in the section,” said Yafai of Drummer, the section’s 100 and 200-meter track champion. “Last year, we held him in check for three quarters. He finally busted a long run early in the fourth quarter.”
The Vikings come into Friday’s match-up inside Mustang Stadium with a 4-4 overall record.
“They are a senior dominated team,” Yafai said. “They’re more experienced and they’re bigger than us. But looking at some game-film and scores, we think they have the edge offensively but we like to think that we play better team defense. We’ve gotten better on defense each week.”
The question still remains, can the struggling Gilroy offense get anything going this week against the North Salinas defense?
“We’re not going to recreate anything,” Yafai said. “We’re going to keep doing what we’ve done all year long and, hopefully, we can execute better.”
The offense does return junior speedster Marty Sustaita – who did not play against Palma after suffering an ankle injury in the loss to Hollister.
“Marty has been a big part of our offense,” Yafai said. “He’s made some big plays.”
There is no bigger game this season for the Mustangs than tonight against North Salinas. Gilroy is looking to snap a three-game losing streak and a four-game winless streak to have a chance a playoff spot.
“I think that we have a shot at getting in,” said Yafai, hoping that strength of schedule and playing in T-CAL will push the Mustangs ahead of other teams. “There’s nothing we can do but move on.”
