Gilroy – First the bad news concerning Gavilan College football — numbers are down.
Now the good news — those who are there are the most talented group that John Lango has greeted in his seven years as Rams’ coach.
“We’ll suit up 38, 39 kids Saturday,” Lango said of Gavilan’s opener at 7 p.m. against Solano College at Garcia-Elder Complex. “We’re usually up over 50. The good part is I feel we have some exceptional players.”
If they can stay away from key injuries and eliminate turnovers that plagued the Rams last year, Lango believes it could be a banner season. Twelve sophomores return from last year’s 3-7 team.
“Everyone will play,” Lango promised, perhaps taking a precautionary approach with the lack of bodies. “We will try to get everyone in as much as possible.”
Among the talented players who have moved on, Bradley Niles will start at middle linebacker for University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and safety T.J. Monroe is at University of Texas-El Paso.
Three defensive starters return from last year — linebackers Jake Farotte and Anthony Vasquez, and end Kevin Jones. Defense has always been a trademark of Gavilan teams. Two years when the Rams made the playoffs and finished 6-5, they led the state in defense, yielding 179.2 total yards a game.
Most of the experience returns on offense, although transfers Sam Moultrie, a quarterback, and Brad Cintas, a tight end-fullback, figure into the mix. Moultrie and 2004 quarterback Will Kilday figure to see plenty of action. Leading rusher Garrett Burgess is part of a strong backfield that includes talented freshmen Justin Sweeney, Mike Ginther and Matt Perkins. The receiving corps has depth with returnees Alex Gonzalez and Tim Abbott along with newcomers Ellis Krout and Jermey Burns.
The offensive line includes 6-1, 285-pound All-Conference right guard Phil Leonard, 6-4, 295-pound tackle Clayton Johnson, who has already received an offer from University of California-Davis, and Dustin Vertin, who Lango calls the “bell cow” of the line.
“Nobody works harder,” Lango said of the 6-1, 230-pound co-captain from Live Oak. “He leads by example and everyone follows. He gives everything he has.”
Other co-captains are Moultrie, Johnson and defensive lineman Brett Brennan.
The Rams will operate out of the West Coast offense, with “probably the best offensive potential since I’ve been head coach here.” Several players will be used on both offense and defense.
“Each year, we’re optimistic,” Lango said. “This year we’re optimistic because the skill level is high. At the same time, we’re cautious because of depth. We have to be injury-free. If so, I believe we’ll be real successful.”
That makes Brett Nichols, the defensive line, strength and conditioning coach, a key member of the staff.
Gavilan got off to a good start last week in a scrimmage at Merced, where “we were pleasantly surprised. We showed up with 39 players, they had 80. We threw and caught the ball real well, and played good defense.”
Solano, coming off a 4-6 season, returns an experienced quarterback in Mike Neville to operate the Falcons’ balanced spread offense. Linebacker Patrick Smith spearheads the defense for Solano, which figures to contend in the Bay Valley Conference.
Lango has concentrated on three items that he said will make the Rams stronger — “we need to do a better job of coaching, we have to change the work habits of the players and we need better camaraderie, to be more of a group. I believe we have addressed all those issues.”
Gavilan has an interesting mix of players with 25 from either Gilroy, Live Oak or San Benito high schools, and seven out-of-staters.
“We take pride in being able to get some of the good local kids,” Lango said. “We don’t even try to get out-of-state kids. They usually come to us. This year is the most we have had in seven years.”
