SALINAS—Gilroy stopped Alisal on its opening drive on a three and out. The ensuing punt was bobbled and the Trojans turned it into a quick 6-0 lead.
At that moment, coach Jubenal Rodriguez saw how much his young team has matured.
His team didn’t allow the early mistake to define the game and won 21-13 thanks to a touchdown in the final 40 seconds of the contest in Salinas.
Instead of getting down from the early adversity—that could have easily turned out similarly to the Live Oak or Christopher games—his boys rallied together and kept the things close.
“We definitely matured as a team, Rodriguez said. “We faced adversity real early. Normally a young team—in my opinion— would have given up when down real early. The guys had a plan, they stuck together, no one blamed anyone and just kept playing.”
Gilroy got on the board with a two-yard run from Joseph Barnes who eventually tied the game 13-all at the half.
And that’s where the game stood until the final 40 seconds of the game.
Gilroy had the ball in the final minutes and started marching down the field, but the drive stalled at the Alisal 40.
Facing third and long, Rodriguez gave the ball to his reliable back to get him the 12 yards or so for a first down that hopefully could make it easier to score in the last seconds.
Barnes took the draw and started up the field.
With kids literally draped over him, he took the ball the 40 yards to the end zone where the finally fell over with Gilroy leading 19-13.
“We just wanted a first down, but the kid just kept going,” Rodriguez said. “Two defenders had him tackled, but didn’t bring him down. He just kept going to the end zone and scored. All of a sudden we were up 19-13.”
The effort took everything from the CCS champion wrestler, who also happens to be the long snapper on PAT attempts.
Rodriguez opted for a two-point play and converted.
The team quickly turned the corner from elation to defense to keep the lead intact.
Brandon Weiler then intercepted Alisal’s quarterback to secure the win.
Barnes had 162 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries, upping his total to 723 for the year. He also had an interception on defense.
Rodriguez also said he had brilliant play from Spencer Soares and Tony Andrade on defense.
“Defensively, the team did their job, read their keys and got a victory,” Rodriguez said.
The team also got solid performances from Jon Jon Castro at corner and Max Pierce as well.
The win now puts Gilroy in a strong position for the Pacific Division, as the Mustangs have two big tests coming up in the next three weeks.
Gilroy enters its bye week this week before traveling to Seaside (4-1) on Oct. 7 and hosting Watsonville (2-3) on Oct. 14.
All three teams won their first league games on Friday.
Rodriguez said there are some positives to having to wait an extra week before taking on Seaside and Watsonville, noting that his boys had to endure quite a bit against Alisal.
“Alisal was bigger at every position. We’re definitely dinged up little,” Rodriguez said. “It’s nice to get this week to recuperate and we have more time to install things and get better offensively and defensively and also focus on grades. The bye week came at good time.”
When asked how important it would be to beat Seaside in terms of setting up a possible battle for the league title against Watsonville, Rodriguez said it is way too soon to be thinking that far ahead.
“I’m glad we control our own destiny, but we’re not looking beyond Seaside right not,” Rodriguez said. “We’re focused on getting better at the basics. Anything beyond that is extra.”
Seaside next plays North Monterey County on Friday while Watsonville hosts Alisal.
Only Monterey has yet to play a league game, sitting at 1-3 overall for the year.
Only Gilroy and Seaside have winning records through five weeks, with Pajaro Valley sitting at 2-3 overall and Alisal and NMC remaining winless.
Assuming Seaside defeats NMC on Friday, Gilroy will be a half game back for the league lead but still control its destiny moving forward.
A loss means the Mustangs will need some help from other teams to unseat Seaside. Kick off on Oct. 7 is slated for 7:30 p.m.
