Gilroy’s goal going into the first game of the season was to
shut up the critics. A 27-0 pounding of Mountain View last Friday
wasn’t a bad start.
Gilroy – Gilroy’s goal going into the first game of the season was to shut up the critics.
A 27-0 pounding of Mountain View last Friday wasn’t a bad start.
“It’s nice to get a win, especially that big of a win,” junior quarterback Jamie Jensen said.
“Especially with all the talk about our team,” senior running back Travis Reyes said. “Everyone says Gilroy is all talk and it was nice to put on the pads and show that we’re for real this year.”
Ironically, while the goal was to silence all the talk surrounding Gilroy, such a successful game could have the opposite effect. Expectations of the team could become heightened with Gilroy’s style of play being a high scoring, fast and furious hurry-up tempo shotgun formation on offense, and a swarming, aggressive array of blitzing on defense.
“To be completely honest, were going to thrive this year on taking chances,” GHS coach Rich Hammond said. “Sometimes they’re going to go good for you and sometimes they’re going to go bad. That’s kind of the nature of this team.”
One example of things not going good for the Mustangs in game one was when Hammond decided to go for a first down with a 17-0 lead and the ball on the Mt. View 12-yard line on fourth and two. Passing up the field goal and a strengthened three possession lead at halftime, GHS decided to go for the jugular.
“My thinking was, we get the first down, I thought we were going to get a score out of it, get to 24-0 nothing and have the momentum going into halftime,” Hammond said. “I felt the way we’ve been moving the ball etc., I thought kicking a field goal would be a letdown,”
On the flip side of such risks, Gilroy got a lift by going for it on fourth down in the third quarter, only this time at midfield. While he only needed two yards, Reyes got a hand-off and ended up gaining twenty. (The end of the drive, however, ended with a blocked field goal.)
Being bold and taking chances will be a staple of this year’s games.
“If we play our A-game, I think this offense is special. We got a lot of playmakers that will touch the ball,” Reyes said. “I mean, last year it was like 8,9,10 guys in the box, and we still ran the ball well. But with this offense, we get six guys in the box, five guys in the box.”
According to last week’s defensive player of the game, junior linebacker Brandon Elam, in addition to a special system in place, this team has a swagger that doesn’t rely on varsity experience.
“I knew we were (good), going 9-1 freshman year, 8-2 are sophomore year (on junior varsity),” Elam said. “We have the potential to probably win sectional if we play our game.”
With that kind of talk, silence could be in short supply.
