San Lorenzo tosses bombs for scores, Monte Vista visits Gilroy
tonight
One play summed up Gilroy High School’s performance against the
San Lorenzo Valley Cougars in last Friday’s 34-7 loss in Mustangs’
Stadium.
Midway through the first quarter with the Cougars up 6-0, SLV
Quarterback Mike Crisler took the snap from center, dropped back
and waited.
San Lorenzo tosses bombs for scores, Monte Vista visits Gilroy tonight
One play summed up Gilroy High School’s performance against the San Lorenzo Valley Cougars in last Friday’s 34-7 loss in Mustangs’ Stadium.
Midway through the first quarter with the Cougars up 6-0, SLV Quarterback Mike Crisler took the snap from center, dropped back and waited.
And waited.
With his offensive line providing Crisler enough time to survey the field, he found wide receiver Robert Houseck streaking down the sideline for a 46-yard touchdown.
The scene repeated itself midway through the second quarter on a 37-yard TD catch by Waylon Prather and again in the fourth quarter on a 50-yard bomb from Crisler to Ryan Crow.
Conversely, the Cougar defense harassed Mustangs QB Ben Hemeon to no end, putting pressure on the junior every time he attempted a pass while holding running back J.L Mangono to only 77 yards rushing.
Suffice to say if the Mustangs have similar problems tonight at home against the Monte Vista Christian Mustangs the results will be similar.
“We had some mental lapses out there,” said Gilroy Coach Darren Yafai. “They have a tremendous passing game. They were able to throw on us all night.”
Tonight at 7:30, Monte Vista will bring to the field QB Ben Martinez and its gaudy passing attack, which racked up 380 yards in its 30-13 win over the James Lick Comets last week.
Martinez’s favorite target, receiver Jason Kalira caught seven passes for 116 yards while running back David Leach scored three touchdowns and ran for 77 yards on 11 carries. Monte Vista is the newest member of the competitive Monterey Bay League, the former league of Gilroy.
Meanwhile the Monte Vista defense has only allowed 42 points thus far while the Mustangs’ D has given up 90 points.
“We have to stop the passing game and the deep ball,” said Yafai.
Last week, Gilroy was behind the 8-ball early.
When SLV coaches noticed after watching game tape that Gilroy’s players were a bit slow in preparing for kickoffs, after its first score, a 1-yard run, they attempted an onside kick.
The Cougars recovered the ball and six seconds later, Houseck hauled in Crisler’s 46-yard toss.
“We’ve been working all week and the offensive line stepped up and gave me that time,” said Crisler, who was 7-for-17 for 182 yards. “If I’m getting that kind of protection, I just have to throw the ball.”
The Cougars ran the Mustangs’ defense ragged, keeping them on the field for most of the game and capitalized on the fatigued bunch when the Gilroy offense did not produce.
Three times the Mustangs recovered SLV turnovers and each time the Cougars thwarted Hemeon and Mangono’s efforts.
The Mustangs could not profit from Tony Beal’s first-quarter interception of Crisler when they were down 12 points. After allowing a 21-yard reception by Mangono, the Cougars stuffed the Mustangs on three plays.
Gilroy also could not score after Defensive Back Anthony Gonzalez stripped SLV running back Zack Eckert of the ball and defensive back Brian Collom recovered it early in the second quarter.
On the ensuing drive the Mustangs converted two first-down plays before turning the ball over on downs when Beal’s effort on fourth-and-one fell short.
The Cougars turned right around and scored in five plays, which culminated with Crow’s 50-yard TD.
Finally, Mangono’s interception went for naught when the Cougars (3-0) forced a Mustangs punt after six plays from scrimmage.
The Mustangs fell to 1-2. Kickoff tonight is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
