Mustang defense up to the task, but not offense
Salinas – Somewhat lost in the stellar season that Palma has enjoyed is a defense often overlooked because of the Chieftains high-powered offense.
There was no way to miss linebacker Jeff Davis and his defensive mates Friday as opportunistic Palma survived an inspired effort by Gilroy to win the Tri-County Athletic League encounter 14-0 at the Salinas Sports Complex.
On Homecoming night, the Chieftains (7-1, 5-0) scored on their opening drive and then got nothing else except a 72-yard draw play that went for a touchdown. The TCAL’s top passing attack netted 96 yards, and the Mustangs outgained Palma 129-65 in the second half.
“I’ve got to hand it to coach (Rich) Hammond,” Palma coach Jeff Carnazzo said. “They had a nice scheme. They did different things on defense that we weren’t use to.”
And yet the Chieftains seemed to have answers for everything Gilroy (3-5, 2-2) tried offensively. And that’s where Davis came up big.
“He’s a great football player whose motor never stops,” Hammond said. “He was coming across the field to make plays.”
He had plenty of support. Paul Gonzales went over 1,000 yards for the season, but was unable to break any runs more than 18 during the game.
“They swarm to the ball,” said Gonzales, who finished with 21 carries for 104 yards.
GHS put itself in a hole immediately when it had trouble handling the opening kickoff and started at its own 6. Unable to get a first down, the Mustangs had to punt from deep in their own territory and Palma was able to start at the GHS 41. On its fifth play, Brett Taylor scored on a 12-yard sweep.
The Chieftains started inside Gilroy territory on their second drive, but a fumble recovery by Ethan Ogle gave the Mustangs their first decent field position at the Palma 39.
Gilroy moved to the Chieftain 20 before Robert Dennehy’s quarterback sack halted the Mustangs’ drive. Palma moved to the GHS 14 before Vince Giacalone and Sebastian Muro came up with a big fourth-down play to halt the drive.
After Jacob Cantu’s quarterback sack put the Chieftains in a third-and-16 hole at their 28, Nathan Ramirez turned a simple draw into a 72-yard scoring play.
And that was it for the scoring, although GHS dominated the second half. The Mustangs’ first two possessions were in Palma territory but ended with turnovers. On its next possession, GHS controlled the ball for more than six minutes and got to the Palma 5 before Davis broke through to stuff third- and fourth-down running plays.
“Our defense did a pretty good job of making plays,” Carnazzo said. “We were able to bottle them up. We knew they were a good offense and would get first downs. But we didn’t give up big plays.”
For Gilroy, it was the best four quarters of defense the team had played all season.
“Everyone was flying to the ball,” Tyler Maslanka said. “We were totally prepared. The coaches put in a whole new defense. Other than that one big draw, we played four quarters.”
“Definitely the best we have played this year,” defensive coordinator Greg Garcia said. “They really believed and played great. If we play like this the rest of the year good things are going to happen.”
Sub-varsity: Wins over Palma have been hard to come by on any level, but the junior varsity and freshman teams each came up with wins. The JVs (7-1) got two scores from Dante Fullard and another from Sean Hale in an 18-7 win. The freshmen (4-4) won the opener 14-7.
