PALO ALTO – Jordan Holler gave the fans whom made the trip up
the peninsula something to cheer about, returning a kick off 85
yards in the second quarter. But, it wasn’t nearly enough as the
Mustangs were delivered a wake-up call in the form of a 61-7 loss
to the Vikings on Friday night.
PALO ALTO – Jordan Holler gave the fans whom made the trip up the peninsula something to cheer about, returning a kick off 85 yards in the second quarter. But, it wasn’t nearly enough as the Mustangs were delivered a wake-up call in the form of a 61-7 loss to the Vikings on Friday night.
A dubious first quarter, in which the Vikings built a 20-0 lead, was only the beginning of a devastating downward spiral the Mustangs could not stop, let alone slow down.
Sluggish starts have become somewhat of a trend for the Mustangs. In each of the last three games Gilroy has dug early holes and haven’t shown the ability to catch up and play from behind.
“We didn’t start off strong, we didn’t finish strong. So, I mean, that carried through the whole game,” head coach Greg Garcia said. “It’s part of the game, being behind. We just have to make things happen.”
The Gilroy offense was nonexistent from their opening drive on, leaving the defense little time to rest between Vikings’ series. Rest, however, would not have helped much as the Mustangs missed point-blank tackles and were burnt on the corners consistently throughout the contest.
For the first time this season the Mustangs’ offense was shut out of the end zone – its production has been on the decline ever since the first game of the year against Live Oak.
Quarterback Nick Marra completed 13-of-31 for 129 yards and two interceptions. Marra faced persistent pressure from the Vikings’ front three, forcing many throws on the run.
“We have to come out with more intensity,” Marra said. “Sixty-one points is a lot and it looks bad on the defense, but that’s just as much on the offense. It’s frustrating. This game I just didn’t know what was going on out there tonight.”
The Mustangs could only muster eight first downs, two of which came via Vikings’ penalties.
The lone bright spot, courtesy of Holler, came midway through the second quarter. After the Vikings went up 27-0, the senior safety Holler received the ensuing kick off from the 15 yard line. Waiting for his blocks, Holler drifted to the left sideline, broke a leg-tackle and turned on the jets, racing 85 yards for the touchdown.
But, seemingly right on cue – and almost predictably – the Vikings’ Davante Adams responded with a 67-yard return of his own setting up Palo Alto’s fifth touchdown of the half one play later. The Vikings carried a 34-7 lead into the locker room, too steep of a climb for the Mustangs to summit.
“We have the pieces. It’s not like we can’t play with these teams,” Garcia said. “There are small pieces that we are still figuring out. We are dealing with a lot of injuries, maybe there are things that we have to do to adapt. There are things that I’ve talked about and we have addressed. We fixed some problems on special teams and that came through. We just have to fix things now as a whole.”
