Don’t flinch.
It’s a message Gilroy native Jeff Garcia hears every week from
an assistant coach on the Cleveland Browns.
And it’s a message the ex-Mustang quarterback conveyed to the
current GHS football team during a surprise visit to practice
Thursday.
Don’t flinch.
It’s a message Gilroy native Jeff Garcia hears every week from an assistant coach on the Cleveland Browns.
And it’s a message the ex-Mustang quarterback conveyed to the current GHS football team during a surprise visit to practice Thursday.
“He was motivating us,” senior linebacker Joe Cano said, “telling us not to flinch when times are good or challenges arise.”
According to senior defensive tackle Rico Loza, Garcia also warned the team not to overlook any opponent and to “go out there and dominate.”
Gilroy (6-1/1-1 TCAL) looks to do just that tonight against a struggling North Salinas team. For the second straight week, GHS will kick off at 7:30 at the Salinas Sports Complex.
Unlike last week’s game against Palma, though, the Mustangs will now be the ones coming in as decisive favorites.
“We’re not going to overlook them, though,” Loza said. “The second you do that, you might just become the underdog yourself.”
Palma found that out last week in a stunning 29-22 loss to Gilroy. The Mustangs almost found it out last month in a 14-7 escape from North County.
“It almost happened there and we don’t want to let it happen again,” junior linebacker Taylor Micali said.
“We’re coming off probably our biggest game of the year, but we gotta look forward. We can’t be cocky about it.”
If they do want to look backward, though, the Mustangs can certainly find some motivation, Micali added. All they have to do is remember the 42-14 beating the Vikings placed on them at Mustang Stadium last season.
“Personally, I don’t really like them,” Micali said. “They scored 42 on us and embarassed us at home.
“I know on defense we’re not going to be holding anything back.”
Motivation aside, graduation losses make the 2004 Vikings (1-6/0-2 TCAL) a mere shell of the 2003 squad that reached the CCS semifinals. In a 41-0 loss to Hollister last week, North Salinas gained a grand total of 47 yards.
Out of the four leagues in the southern part of CCS (26 teams), the Vikings rank dead last in yardage (151 ypg) and second-to-last in points scored (8.9 ppg). The team hasn’t scored in the third quarter all year long.
Doesn’t matter, said GHS head coach Darren Yafai, noting his team put in some of its hardest conditioning of the year earlier this week.
“We won’t be overlooking anyone,” he said. “There may be certain games where the team is a little extra pumped, but we’ll never overlook a team.
“We know what a whooping they put on us last year. We know they always have really good athletes. And we know we want that seventh win on Friday night.”
