Gilroy
It had been awhile since Gilroy last tasted victory — almost a year in fact. But the long drought ended for the Mustangs on Sept. 13 when they not only beat, but shut out Sobrato.
The Mustangs (1-1) led a balanced attack against the Bulldogs (0-2) to win 28-0 at home, picking up their first win since beating Everett Alvarez on Oct. 11, 2012. Gilroy scored three offensive touchdowns as well as one on special teams — a 70-yard punt return from senior Bubba Lara.
Brandon Boyd surpassed the 200-yard mark for the second time in as many games, picking up 242 yards off 29 carries with two touchdowns against Sobrato. The senior running back leads the league with 573 yards so far this season. The Mustangs will be looking to Boyd repeat his success this week when they take on Monte Vista Christian at 7 p.m. tonight on the road.
Monte Vista Christian (1-1) was only able to muster up a field goal in its 36-3 loss to Pacific Grove last week. Gilroy, on the other hand, dominated Sobrato in total offense 533-289. The Mustangs’ sophomore quarterback David Munoz was a huge part of that, displaying more confidence going 16 for 29 for 206 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Lara and sophomore wide receiver Jakob Method were Munoz’s favorite targets, combining for 98 yards through the air.
“I’m starting to get comfortable,” Munoz said following Friday’s game. “There might be pressure, but I don’t feel any of it. I’m just focused on what I’m doing and just trying to do my best.”
The Mustangs have been able to run a pretty balanced offense so far this year and are looking to continue that tonight. Coach Brian Boyd
is hoping to get some of his key players in one-on-one matchups because he’s confident in their ability to win the battle against their MVC counterparts.
“Our initial plan when we sat down at the beginning of the year was that we were going to be heavy on the run side — especially David (Munoz) being a sophomore — to allow Brandon (Boyd) to take some pressure off of him (Munoz),” Brian Boyd said. “It’s just worked out that way that Brandon is still getting quite a bit of yards on rushing and being able to throw the football to help us out on the run. They’re complementing each other right now and ideally on an offense that’s what you want. That seems to be working for us right now — we’re going to stick with that.”
Gilroy also saw a significant improvement from its young defense — the result of a week focused on tackling drills. The Mustang D cutoff the route to Sobrato’s dangerous receiver JoJo Nunn, allowing only three catches for 94 yards. They also picked up three sacks for 21 yards in the game.
The Mustangs D are led by Isaiah Madolora, who leads the Monterey Bay League with three sacks this year, and Julian Carabajal who is the league leading tackler with 25. Gilroy will look to them to shut down MVC’s quarterback Quentin MacLeod, who Brian Boyd believes is the biggest threat MVC has.
“We’re going to go after him and put pressure on this kid,” Boyd said. “They like to throw the ball, their receivers aren’t real fast but they catch the ball. We think their receivers have better hands than our receivers, but they can’t run like ours can. Our whole plan, in a nutshell, is to contain this quarterback and put pressure on him and not let him throw the ball. We think if we put pressure on him, make him leave the pocket and move around that we’ll have no problem winning this football game.”
Gilroy
Running back Brandon Boyd: 573 yards on 58 carries with seven touchdowns — best in the Monterey Bay League
Monte Vista Christian
Quarterback Quentin MacLeod: 10 for 19 for 116 yards, one touchdown
Our whole plan, in a nutshell, is to contain this quarterback and put pressure on him and not let him throw the ball. We think if we put pressure on him, make him leave the pocket and move around that we’ll have no problem winning this football game.”
