No one knew what to expect coming into the season, but by the
time Gilroy was playing Oak Grove in the Central Coast Section Open
Division Championship the bandwagon was at full capacity.
STAFF REPORTS
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1. Best show in town
No one knew what to expect coming into the season, but by the time Gilroy was playing Oak Grove in the Central Coast Section Open Division Championship the bandwagon was at full capacity.
Second-year coach Rich Hammond and his staff guided the Mustangs to only the second 10-win season in school history, the first outright league title since 1981, the largest margin of victory by Gilroy in the 51 years of the Prune Bowl (57-27 over San Benito) and a first-ever appearance in the CCS title game.
While the team came up just short in the final minutes of that contest, the season was too spectacular to be diminished by a hard-fought defeat.
Quarterback Jamie Jensen demolished several section records with 4,205 yards passing and 41 touchdowns in his first year as a starter. An equal-opportunity distributor, he had two receivers go over 1,000 yards receiving (Danny Contreras and Dante Fullard) and two running backs go over 1,100 yards rushing and receiving combined (Travis Reyes and Sean Hale).
The defense made incredible strides over the course of the year, playing a key role in going undefeated in the Tri-County Athletic League. Special teams featured several extraordinary performances as well, including a school record 43-yard field goal by Kevin Grove, a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Contreras and not a single special teams touchdown allowed by an opponent despite numerous kickoffs due to the amount of points Gilroy scored in bunches.
While some players recently got into trouble following the season, the vast majority of players represented their school and community with pride and integrity.
2. Ole! Ole! Ole!
Gilroy’s boys soccer team won a stunner in February, capping off a 16-game winning streak with a 2-0 victory over Bellarmine Prep in the Central Coast Section Championship. The Bells came into the match as heavy favorites having won the section a year before and a total of 12 CCS titles.
Shockingly, the Mustangs were able to use Bellarmine’s own style of play against the favorites, scoring both of the game’s goal on headers.
Senior Jose “Tapon” Velasquez scored nine minutes after a header by freshman Forrest Alvarez, giving Gilroy High its first-ever outright CCS crown in soccer. The Mustangs finished the season with a 17-2-5 record.
Gilroy shared the title with Santa Cruz in 1990-91 and the 2003-04 squad finished second to Watsonville.
Gilroy goalkeeper Jairo Rodriguez-Avalos posted his third straight shutout in the playoffs to give Gilroy an incredible finish to an improbable season.
3. Pinning down history
After winning a Central Coast Section title for the fifth straight year in February, an area record, Gilroy’s wrestling coach Armando Gonzalez couldn’t have been happier.
“It’s awesome, a dream come true.” he said at the time. “I set my sights on doing this years ago. I never thought it would happen, that we would be the only team to win five straight titles.”
Freshman Jesse Delgado and junior Hunter Collins each won CCS titles in their respective weight classes of 105 and 171 pounds. Andres Barragan, Martin Gonzalez and Jesse Rogers each finished second and Nicolo Naranjo and Travis Sakamoto both finished third.
The seven wrestlers were able to advance to the State championships in Bakersfield, with Delgado and Collins each taking third place. Martin Gonzalez was able to medal in the 119-pound division by placing seventh.
4. The Year of the Ghost
Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero started and finished 2007 in smashing style.
The 24-year-old Gilroy native entered the year without his IBF Featherweight title after a tainted defeat to Orlando Salido in late 2006. The bout was later ruled a no-contest as Salido tested positive for steroids.
Guerrero regained the title by stopping Spend Abazi in Copenhagen, Denmark in February. Pummeling his opponent for eight rounds, The Ghost was victorious as Abazi wanted “no mas” before the ninth.
In November, Guerrero defended his title by delivering the quickest knockout of his professional career, flooring Martin Honorio in 56 seconds. The victory improved his record to 21-1-1 with 13 KOs. Getting the win was more than physically challenging, though, as Guerrero was also dealing with the news that his wife, Casey, had been diagnosed with leukemia just weeks before the bout.
“She told me, ‘I want you to go and fight. You’ve been training a long time. I want you to go out there and make it happen,’ ” he said after his first-round knockout. “And that’s what I did.”
The couple, who have two children, found out on Casey’s birthday in December that her cancer is now in remission.
5. The Road Warrior keeps blazing a trail
Kelsey Jeffries fought her 50th career fight in December and finished a fine 2007 with a 40-9-1 record with three KOs.
The champ was perfect in four fights this year. She defended her IFBA (International Females Boxers Association) Featherweight belt against Rhonda Luna, Donna Biggers and, most recently, Jun Yun Jung in Eumsung, South Korea. The Gilroy native also won the Global Boxing Union World Title in November against Elizabeth Villarreal, adding a seventh title to her collection.
Traveling to South Korea, “The Road Warrior” won by a unanimous decision last Sunday against Jung, and defended her IFBA belt for the eighth time since earning it in 2004.
“It was the toughest fight in my career, mentally and physically,” Jeffries said. “I knew going in I had to just win … I had to push myself through it, and I’m lucky I did it.”
Jeffries didn’t have any video on Jung, and after traveling halfway across the world to fight the native of Seoul, South Korea, Jeffries stepped foot onto a “memory-foam” ring mat, which reduced the movement of the speedy prize fighter.
“She thought she was gonna steal my belt,” Jeffries said. “She certainly surprised me, but not enough, I guess.”
6. Jeff Garcia does it again
After helping the Philadelphia Eagles get into the postseason in 2006, Gilroy native Jeff Garcia showed what a savvy, veteran quarterback can do again in 2007 by leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the playoffs after the team went 4-12 a year ago.
On top of being named an alternate to this year’s NFC Pro Bowl roster, Garcia has been working plenty off the field.
He and his wife, Carmella, formed the Garcia Pass it On Foundation, which has donated thousands of dollars to local high schools (Gilroy High and Anchorpoint Christian) and colleges (Gavilan ad San Jose State).
Through his own community service and the work of the foundation, Garcia has donated or raised money for college scholarships, youth sports programs, family service programs and cancer research among others.
7. First gilroy, then the world
For a group of 11- and 12-year olds, the Gilroy girls Majors showed they can play some ball. The squad made a third-straight appearance to the Little League Softball World Series this summer, held just outside of Portland, Ore.
After sweeping through regional play by going undefeated in six games, the team was able to take fifth place in the World Series, winning a dramatic extra-innings contest against Puerto Rico 10-8.
Shawnte Garcia hit a two-run walk-off home run to win the game, setting up the second year in a row Gilroy finished fifth.
The girls used team chemistry to propel them through tough situations, as every player on the roster is also a part of the Gilroy Chaos traveling squad.
8. Running down the right path
Gilroy’s girls cross-country team was one of the most unique athletic squads in the state.
Winning its first league title in 22 years this fall, the Mustangs also added two other prestigious titles in 2007. The team, comprised of seven girls, had an unweighted GPA of 3.9545, the best in the state of California for 2006-07. And the Mustangs might be able to repeat for 2007-08, as GHS was named the scholastic champions of the Central Coast Section this fall with a team GPA of 3.9512.
Gilroy was equally dominant outside of the classroom this season, with five Mustangs finishing in the top 12 spots at the Tri-County Athletic League Championships. The team advanced to the CCS championships, and Kathleen Miller led Gilroy with a second-place finish, clocking in at 19 minutes, 19 seconds. Miller advanced to the CIF State meet and took 31st by finishing in 18 minutes, 38 seconds.
9. A league of their own
Gilroy’s field hockey team went undefeated for the second straight year in the Mission Trail Athletic League (10-0), and only allowed a single goal in those contests.
The Mustangs later beat Del Mar in the first round of the Central Coast Section playoffs 2-1 before a 3-2 quarterfinal defeat to Archbishop Mitty in overtime.
All nine graduating seniors have plans to attend college, and the studious efforts of the upper and lower classmen helped the team win a scholastic title, as Gilroy had the highest grade point average (3.5714) of any field hockey team throughout the CCS.
Sophomore Elise Ogle and junior Laura Spellman both were nominated to the CCS first team, with 8 returning players total receiving MTAL All-League awards.
10. Tackling the game head-on
The Anchorpoint Warriors kicked off their first season of 8-man football this September, finishing the year with an impressive 5-2 record and perfect 4-0 mark in the Coastal Athletic League.
The team had a small roster with 22 kids coming out to the first two days of practice according to coach K. C. Adams. But by the end of the schedule, other 8-man squads in the area were wondering what was working so well for the Warriors. Anchorpoint’s successful season now has other private schools considering putting together teams of their own to join the league.
“The season was an unbelievable success,” Adams said after the Warrior’s last game. “We had a coaching staff that was second to none and I had players that bought into the system.”
honorable mentions
Barone gets the call
Daniel Barone, a 2001 graduate of San Benito High School, was called up by the Florida Marlins from Triple-A Albuquerque on Aug. 8 and got the nod to pitch just two days later against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium.
“The (Albuquerque) manager called me in and said we’ve got to talk about the hitters for Friday,” Barone recalled back in August. “I was preparing for a Friday night start against Nashville or a Saturday night start against the Mets.
“He said, ‘We’ll, we’re gonna play Nashville, but you’re gonna pitch against the Mets.’ I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ It was awesome … I’ve been dreaming since then. Just crazy.”
The right-handed starter threw 4 and 2/3 innings against the Mets and allowed two earned runs on five hits. He received a no-decision in his Major League debut.
Barone threw out of the bullpen at one point in the season, allowing just two runs through 15 innings of work.
He picked up his first win on Sept. 12 against the Washington Nationals. Coming out of the bullpen, Barone threw one inning and struck out one in a 5-4 Marlins victory.
“When you get someone to that level, from a town as small as Hollister, you get a sense of pride,” said Derek Barnes, who coached Barone when he was a freshman at SBHS. “There’s a lot of people that are happy for him and his family.”
No surprise, Barnstormers own NorCal
The Central Coast Barnstormers throttled the Sacramento Wolverines 23-3 in the NorCal Championship game in August after having nearly two months off from their previous game in June.
The ‘Stormers won the Northern California Amateur Football Federation Championship on June 16, and awaited for the Wolverines to win their respective division, the Golden Coast Football League Championship.
The two teams met up in mid-August for the NorCal title game, and the ‘Stormers played with seemingly little rust to suggest that it was their first game in two months.
Quarterback Rhett Van De Mark was 7 of 17 for 126 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Central Coast’s top-ranked defense allowed just 215 total yards against Sacramento.
“There was a little bit of rust offensively, but the defense played so well early that it allowed the offense to get going and execute,” ‘Stormers head coach Dave Clapham said. “It doesn’t take long to rub that rust off.”
