Mustang gridmen prepare for physical SLV squad on Saturday
GILROY – Don’t be fooled by San Lorenzo Valley’s 0-2 record. The perennial powers of the Santa Cruz Coast League have played back-to-back games against North Salinas and St. Ignatius – two of the top 10 team’s in the entire section.
“That program expects to win. I don’t know how many years you have to go back that they weren’t league champions. You have to go back maybe to the early ’90s or ’80s when they weren’t league champs,” said head coach Darren Yafai of Saturday’s opponent.
“They graduated some quality football players off of last year’s team that were playmakers, but they’re well-coached,” he added. “They’re a program that is used to winning. They expect to win.”
Gilroy (2-0) has won its first two non-league games at home – coming out on top in close contests against both Terra Nova and Santa Cruz. But now the Mustangs are hitting the road for the first time this season.
“In high school, you want to play at home. There’s no travel and you’re in familiar territory. But it’s not like the NFL or college where there’s 60,000 screaming fans,” Yafai said. “In high school, once the whistle blows and you kick the ball off, it’s almost even ground.”
After two Friday night games, the Mustangs are also playing an afternoon game for the first time – which will be done next week again when they travel to Monte Vista Christian. Kick-off for both games is at 2 p.m.
“We’re looking at it like a big-time NCAA football game that is meant to be played on Saturday afternoons,” Yafai said. “This is going to be exciting for our kids.”
The Mustang coaching staff knows it will need four mistake-free quarters this week to beat a big, physical San Lorenzo Valley squad – which torched Gilroy, 34-7, inside their Mustang Stadium last year.
“The key is we’re going to have to play four quarters instead of two and we’re going to have to play incredibly physical football,” Yafai said. “San Lorenzo Valley is known for their aggressive, hard-hitting style of football. We’re going to have to match them hit for hit and still be able to exploit our athleticism and speed.”
Yafai called the match-up a complete contrast in styles with the Mustangs’ youthful athleticism and speed at skills positions put up against SLV’s meaty and bruising front line.
“They have one of biggest offensive lines we’ll see this year,” said Yafai, highlighting SLV’s two-way tackle Andy Levitre (6-3, 315) who is being looked at by Division I college programs.
The other player to watch on SLV will be All-League wide receiver/safety Ryan Crow (6-3, 190). “He’s fast. He’s athletic. He can jump. He has exceptional hands and good receiving instincts,” said Yafai of Crow.
The Mustang defense shut down what was being tagged as an explosive Santa Cruz passing game last week – but it will be a different task this week with SLV bringing a punishing inside running game.
“We play very good pass defense. Teams don’t throw the ball well against us because we have a good pass rush and we play good defense in the secondary,” Yafai said. “SLV’s strength is the power running game – where right now we need to vastly improve… Our defensive front seven is athletic, but we need to really improve in our run defense.”
After allowing Santa Cruz to run the ball with success in the first half last week, the Mustangs shut them down through the final two quarters – including a goal-line stand from the two-yard line.
“Our kids played a little more aggressively and more disciplined (in the second half),” said Yafai, whose club trailed 7-3 at the break before claiming the lead for good in the third quarter. “To beat this SLV team, we’re going to have to come out and play four full quarters of intense, disciplined football rather than wait until halftime to get into gear like our first couple of games.”
Senior tailback Melvin Bryant has kept his performances in high gear – rushing for back-to-back 100-plus yard games and showing his versatility as a receiving threat. When Bryant was split wide, junior back Marty Sustaita gave Gilroy another backfield weapon last week with his ability to get to the corners on sweeps and pitches.
“I think we’re going to continue to see a lot more than that. We want to be able to keep opposing team’s off balance,” Yafai said. “We also create some problems in that their defensive front eight is real stout against the interior run, tackle-to-tackle. That’s not our game. We spread it out. We’re going to spread the ball out and get to the perimeter with our speed.”
The success of the Mustang offense hinges on its front-line – which is led by senior guard Jose Albarron – who “is our smallest offensive lineman, but the most inspirational,” Yafai said.
Sophomore linemen Bobby Best (6-2, 220) and Matt Hunkin (6-3, 320) are the bulkiest of the bunch. Then there is junior guard John Torres along with the tackle rotation of junior Kevin Collins, senior Derek Hentschke and junior Mark Kennedy (6-4, 190).
“We’re getting a bunch of guys playing time. We have seven guys for five spots… We’re going to throw down field, but we have to pass protect,” Yafai said. “The good thing about our kids is we’re real young for a varsity squad and our kids don’t seem to know that yet. All they know is practice hard and go out and play football. We have a lot of young talent and kids that play with heart.”
