Gilroy High has already clinched a berth in the CCS
playoffs.
Live Oak is not only fighting for its playoff life, but has lost
four in a row to its neighbor from the south.
Think the motivation is a bit one-sided heading into tonight’s
7:30 game at Mustang Stadium?
Think again.
Gilroy High has already clinched a berth in the CCS playoffs.
Live Oak is not only fighting for its playoff life, but has lost four in a row to its neighbor from the south.
Think the motivation is a bit one-sided heading into tonight’s 7:30 game at Mustang Stadium?
Think again.
“The coaches and players alike have been a little more intense at practice this week,” GHS head coach Darren Yafai said. “It’s been good to see some fire lit under them.”
A mistake-filled, 24-point beating on Homecoming will do that to a team.
Even though playoff seeding is the only thing offically up in the air tonight, a 32-8 loss to Salinas has created a “sense of urgency” for the Mustangs this week, Yafai said.
“We know we made a ton of mistakes and we know every game is crucial now,” he said. “But they’ve bounced back well in practice. The guys have showed some resiliency already this year.”
He’s referring to the team’s only other loss, a 7-6 heartbreaker to Hollister. The Mustangs (7-2/2-2 TCAL) bounced back from that with a rather stunning road win against Palma.
“We want to pull off a win this week like we did the last time,” GHS senior guard John Torres said. “We’ve just been focusing on a few of those mistakes from Salinas.”
Gilroy would also like to have a little momentum heading into its first playoff game in three years.
“It’s a question of whether we want to go in as a high seed and potentially host a game with a win under our belt,” Yafai said, “or lose and probably go on the road as a low seed and knowing we just lost two games in a row.”
Of course, the Acorns (7-2/2-2 TCAL) have some worries of their own.
In addition to losing its last two games (Palma, at Hollister), Live Oak also recently lost four defensive starters from a combination of injuries, grades and disciplinary reasons.
The missing Acorns include standout linebacker A.J. Avellar and a pair of stellar defensive backs, Cody Welch and Jared Koblis. The loss of the dual-threat Koblis, the team’s third-leading scorer with four receiving touchdowns, is especially costly for Live Oak.
Don’t expect Yafai to start handing over the tissues, though.
“No, because they have a lot of depth on both sides,” he said. “We’re not putting too much weight on that. Last week Salinas was missing two defensive starters and it didn’t slow that defense down.”
On the other hand, league opponents haven’t had any problem shutting the Acorns’ offense down. The unit does have some weapons – tailbacks Kevin Abbott (539 yards, 7 TDs) and Dustin Muhn (500 yards, 6 TDs) chief among them.
Since a 35-19 win over hapless North Salinas, though, Live Oak has averaged just 12 points a game – this coming from a team that averaged 30 points in rolling to a 7-0 start.
In a rivalry game with playoff implications, though? All bets are off there.
“I guarantee it’s going to be a battle,” Yafai said. “The history of this game is that no matter if a team is supposed to win or not, it’s always a close, well-contested game.
“I could see this year coming right down to it.”
