Gilroy sure didn’t shrink from the challenge of beating
Hollister in back-to-back Prune Bowls for the first time since
1991.
And some people thought last year’s victory couldn’t be
topped.
The Gilroy Mustangs dismantled the visiting San Benito Haybalers
47-0 Friday night at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex to win the 52nd
Prune Bowl and retain the coveted VFW Memorial Trophy.
Also with this story, photo gallery.
GILROY – Gilroy sure didn’t shrink from the challenge of beating Hollister in back-to-back Prune Bowls for the first time since 1991.
And some people thought last year’s victory couldn’t be topped.
The Gilroy Mustangs dismantled the visiting San Benito Haybalers 47-0 Friday night at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex to win the 52nd Prune Bowl and retain the coveted VFW Memorial Trophy.
“This was the best game of my life,” GHS senior center Ray Gonzales said. “I trained so hard for this all offseason. It’s hard to believe this could be my last game on this field.”
As it turns out, the blowout victory will not be the senior’s last game at GHS. The Mustangs were awarded a home game to start the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs. Receiving the No. 2 seed, the Mustangs will host No. 7 Serra (7-3) at 7 p.m. on Friday night.
Ending its regular season with such a strong win has extra significance for Gilroy (9-1) for several reasons. It gives GHS a share of the Tri-County Athletic League championship at 5-1 with Palma (8-2) and North Salinas (9-1), which hands the Mustangs their first consecutive league titles in school history, as well as the largest margin of victory in any Prune Bowl played.
The game could also mark the last time the two schools will meet on even terms for years to come. Gilroy’s enrollment will soon be sliced in half when Christopher High School opens its doors in the fall of 2009.
“I’m just excited because with the school splitting and everything happening, I don’t know if were going to win this trophy on this field again,” Gilroy coach Rich Hammond said. “It’s going to be a tremendous challenge to do that. We’re going to be a school of 1,500 and they’re going to be a school of 3,000. Those are tough odds. So, for us winning this … it’s special because it might be the last one that happens here for a long time.”
Friday night wasn’t about the future, though. Gilroy’s players and coaches were focused on celebrating a big win over their most bitter rivals.
Mustang quarterback Jamie Jensen nearly broke his own Central Coast Section record for passing yards (486), which he set in last year’s 57-27 win in Hollister. He completed 30 of 36 passes for 470 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Coaches for Gilroy tried to give him a chance to top last year’s passing yards total but Jensen completed only an 11-yard pass after a sack and incompletion. Jensen came out the next series.
“It’s a good win so I’m not worried about my record,” he said after the game.
Jensen also caught a 7-yard score from his primary target Dante Fullard, who finished the game with eight catches for 136 yards and a touchdown.
“We just put that (play) in for a 2-point conversion,” Fullard said of his pass to Jensen. “I told Jamie I was gonna get him a touchdown catch. For all the ones he’s given me, I had to get him back.”
Gilroy’s defense, on the other hand, gave up nothing, forcing six turnovers.
The first two takeaways helped Gilroy jump out to a 9-0 lead with 4:35 left in the first quarter. Referees ruled that Mitchell Cook (11 carries, 37 yards) fumbled on the first down of the game, allowing Chris McMurray to jump on the first of two fumble recoveries in the contest. Four plays later Ivan Lopez converted a 22-yard field goal.
Tony Travis intercepted a pass by Trevor Fabing (7-for-15, 50 yards, 2 interceptions) on San Benito’s next possession, setting up a 12-yard touchdown catch by Juan Delgado (4 catches, 68 yards) with 4:35 left in the first quarter.
The Mustangs added a field goal and seven more points on Fullard’s toss and an extra point to lead 19-0 with 7:18 left in the half.
The Haybalers showed no quit by recording interceptions on back-to-back Gilroy possessions following two consecutive turnovers of their own (one of which was a Nico Sandoval interception), but ended the half down 26-0 following a 26-yard touchdown catch by Richie Sotelo and a PAT at the 1:37 mark.
Fullard scored on a 68-yard catch and run on the second play of the second half, and Sotelo added a 3-yard run and 25-yard punt return to round out the GHS’ second half touchdowns. Lopez converted all three extra points.
Brandon Elam and Mark Salazar both recovered fumbles in the second half.
“We needed a good game going into playoffs,” Hammond said. “We had a few turnovers, but outside of that I thought it was as good as we could have played.”
A 42-12 loss to North Salinas a week prior may have had the Mustangs down for a couple days, but beating Hollister was what many players had been looking forward to all year.
“After what happened last week, pretty much, we just had to come back and play our game, do our job,” Fullard said.
Note: Despite the defeat, Hollister still holds a 29-22-1 advantage over Gilroy in the Prune Bowl series. While the two schools have played each other far more than 52 times, 1956 was the first year the winner was awarded the VFW Memorial Trophy.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SB 0 0 0 0 0
GL 9 17 14 7 47
JV Note:
Gilroy 41, San Benito 6
Frosh Note:
Gilroy 14, San Benito 14
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
KICK (10:37) – GL, Ivan Lopez 22-yard field goal is good; 3-0, Gilroy.
PASS (4:35) – GL, Jamie Jensen to Juan Delgado, 12-yard touchdown, PAT (Ivan Lopez) failed; 9-0, Gilroy.
Second Quarter
KICK (10:37) – GL, Ivan Lopez 24-yard field goal is good; 12-0, Gilroy.
PASS (7:18) – GL, Dante Fullard to Jamie Jensen, 7-yard touchdown, PAT (Ivan Lopez) is good; 19-0, Gilroy.
PASS (1:37) – GL, Jamie Jensen to Richie Sotelo, 26-yard touchdown, PAT (Ivan Lopez) is good; 26-0, Gilroy.
Third Quarter
PASS (11:04) – GL, Jamie Jensen to Dante Fullard, 68-yard touchdown, PAT (Ivan Lopez) is good; 33-0, Gilroy.
RUSH (1:29) – GL, Richie Sotelo, 3-yard touchdown, PAT (Ivan Lopez) is good; 40-0, Gilroy.
Fourth Quarter
PUNT RET (3:03) – GL, Richie Sotelo, 25-yard touchdown return, PAT (Ivan Lopez) is good; 47-0, Gilroy.
STATS
PASSING
Trevor Fabing, SB – 7 of 15, 50 yards, 2 INT
Jamie Jensen, GL – 30 of 36, 470 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
Nick Marra, GL – 4 of 6, 33 yards
Dante Fullard, GL – 1 of 1, 7 yards, 1 TD
RUSHING
Trevor Fabing, SB – 1 rush, 1 yard
Nick Acosta, SB – 4 rushes, 9 yards
Christian Maravilla, SB – 3 rushes, 4 yards
Anthony Padilla, SB – 4 rushes, 29 yards
Jeff Bernaldez, SB – 9 rushes, 50 yards
John Pulido, SB – 3 rushes, 19 yards
Mitchell Cook, SB – 11 rushes, 37 yards
Jamie Jensen, GL – 4 rushes, -27 yards
Peter Guenther, GL – 1 rush, 2 yards
Bryan Sanchez, GL – 1 rush, -5 yards
Richie Sotelo, GL – 3 rushes, 12 yards, 1 TD
RECEIVING
Andre Cornell, SB – 2 catches, 20 yards
Felipe Davila, SB – 1 catch, 11 yards
Anthony Padilla, SB – 1 catch, 2 yards
Jacob Hunter, SB – 1 catch, 7 yards
Jeff Bernaldez, SB – 1 catch, 4 yards
Joshua Brooks, SB – 1 catch, 6 yards
Jamie Jensen, GL – 1 catch, 7 yards, 1 TD
Dante Fullard, GL – 8 catches, 136 yards, 1 TD
Richie Sotelo, GL – 3 catches, 41 yards, 1 TD
Juan Delgado, GL – 4 catches, 68 yards, 1 TD
Bryan Sanchez, GL – 3 catches, 28 yards
Peter Guenther, GL – 6 catches, 94 yards
Steven Martinez, GL – 6 catches, 103 yards
TOTAL OFFENSE
San Benito – 199 yards (50 pass, 149 rush)
Gilroy – 485 yards (503 pass, -18 rush)
TURNOVERS
San Benito – 6
Gilroy – 2
