GILROY—Gilroy and Christopher kicked off their seasons on Sept. 4 and 5, but came away with very different results.
The Cougars, who had question marks lingering after several key seniors graduated, breezed past Sobrato 52-12 Saturday in Morgan Hill. Senior quarterback Matt Adamkiewicz, who amassed 288 passing yards with four touchdowns, led Christopher.
“We came into this game knowing we were going to have a tough season,” Adamkiewicz said. “You have to come out working, you have to come out positive and as long as you keep working hard, good things will happen.”
Things weren’t as pretty for Gilroy, which lost 42-6 to Live Oak Sept. 4 at Christopher High. The Mustangs avoided a shutout thanks to a late third quarter touchdown from Noe Garcia. Just a few plays earlier, Garcia exploded for a 45-yard gain, which put his team in Acorn territory for the first time all game. The senior, who normally plays defense, was called to play running back as a few of his teammates were sidelined with injuries.
“It’s odd. I haven’t played running back since my freshman year,” Garcia said. “…they needed me, my number was called and I just took it.”
The Mustangs were held to just 163 yards of offense in the game, while giving up 439 to the Acorns. They found themselves in trouble early, trailing 21-0 after the first quarter.
The Cougars defense, on the other hand, held the Bulldogs to 169 total yards of offense. They tallied 469 yards of offense, 139 of which belonged to Dylan Olivares. He racked up 76 yards in the air and 63 on the ground.
PJ Reichert led the Christopher receivers with nine catches for 86 yards with two touchdowns, followed by Xander Bowers who had three for 79 and also scored a TD.
Now, both teams will swap opponents.
Gilroy turns its attention to Sobrato, which it will take on at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Christopher High. The Mustangs look to avoid another early deficit by maintaining the second-half momentum they exhibited in the opener against the Acorns.
The Mustangs will also need to tighten up their defense. It allowed several plays for big yards against Live Oak, including an 85-yard rushing touchdown from Jacob Ryder in the first quarter.
Protecting the quarterback will also be crucial for Gilroy as it chases its first ‘W.’ As his protection broke down, sophomore quarterback Jon Jon Castro often found himself scrambling in the backfield and was sacked twice for a combined loss of 23 yards.
Gilroy head coach Jubenal Rodriguez said part of his team’s struggles was due to nerves, but said he and his staff were going back to the drawing board.
“We’ve just got to keep working on our fundamentals and work on being more physical,” Rodriguez said after the Sept. 4 game.
Christopher looks to maintain the South County championship crown its retained for the past two years, but will need to get past Live Oak to do it. The two teams will clash at 7 p.m. tonight at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill.
The key to success for the Cougars lies in shutting down Live Oak’s run game. The Acorns have two lethal weapons in Jacob Ryder, who led with 114 yards on five carries and scored two TDs, and Christian Guary, a sophomore who shined with 100 yards on 11 carries and scored a touchdown.
The Acorns didn’t need their aerial attack much, but QB Erik Ornduff did rack up 151 yards off six completions. He also scored two touchdowns.
But just because Ornduff didn’t throw much, doesn’t mean he can’t. He recorded plays for big yards, including a 41-yard TD to Isaac Nfon in the
second quarter.
With two explosive offenses and two solid defenses, tonight’s clash for the crown is up for grabs. And Live Oak coach Mike Gemo knows his team needs to bring its A-game in order to snap the Cougars’ streak.
“We made some mistakes on defense and some blocking mistakes on offense,” the Acorns’ coach said, “but we’ll fix it throughout the week and we’ll get better next week.”
Morgan Hill Sports Editor Cheeto Barrera contributed to this report.
