Shuffling within the TCAL will have local squads playing schools
new to the league
When the 2006 local high school football season gets underway on
Sept. 1 the Tri County Athletic League will have a much different
look.
For starters, Morgan Hill’s Live Oak High School, which shared
the league title with San Benito High and Palma, has opted to move
north to compete in the Blossom Valley Athletic League, which
includes mostly San Jose High School teams.
Shuffling within the TCAL will have local squads playing schools new to the league
When the 2006 local high school football season gets underway on Sept. 1 the Tri County Athletic League will have a much different look.
For starters, Morgan Hill’s Live Oak High School, which shared the league title with San Benito High and Palma, has opted to move north to compete in the Blossom Valley Athletic League, which includes mostly San Jose High School teams.
In order to fill the void left by the Acorns’ departure, Salinas’ Alisal and Everett Alvarez high schools will join the TCAL. The move gives the restructured league a look similar to what it had been several years ago when all of the aforementioned schools competed in the Monterey Bay League.
About the only thing that won’t change is that defending Central Coast Section Champion Haybalers of San Benito High along with the Palma Chieftains will be the favorites to vie for the league and advance deep into the playoffs.
Last season, under the guidance of Baler coach Chris Cameron, San Benito High finished the year with a record of 9-4, capping their banner year off with a 27-21 win over Oak Grove in the CCS Large School Division finals.
One of Cameron’s former players will be running the show this season at Gilroy High.
Hollister native Rich Hammond, who also coached under Cameron at San Benito High in 1997, will be at the helm of Gilroy High football program this season. Hammond, who had been the head coach at Santa Clara High School the last two seasons, guided the Bruins to a 9-1 record and an El Camino League title last year.
After longtime Mustangs’ coach Darren Yafai opted to step down after last season, Hammond jumped at the opportunity to coach and teach in Gilroy.
“I like being here a lot,” said the 27-year-old coach. “I like the people and the community. I’m really ecstatic. Gilroy has the kind of program that I want to be associated with and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Hammond, who played his college ball at Cabrillo, is also excited to be able to square off with his former coach and mentor in the Prune Bowl later this season.
“I learned a lot from Chris (Cameron). He focused on playing great defense, being very physical and running the ball consistently and that’s what I plan to do here.”
But it’s not going to be easy. Last season, the Mustangs went 5-5 overall and 2-3 in league play, and that was with Justin Sweeney – one of the top running backs in the section – in the lineup. Sweeney, who rushed for 1,549 yards and 17 touchdowns, graduated in May.
In addition to the loss of Sweeney, the Mustangs have arguably the hardest schedule in all of CCS this year.
“We have five teams on our schedule that have won a CCS championship in the last three years,” Hammond said.
Those teams are Woodside, Burlingame, Oak Grove, Palma and San Benito.
Gilroy’s strength this year is going to be it’s offensive line, despite the loss of All-League center Bobby Best, who received a full scholarship to California Polytechnic Institute-San Luis Obispo.
One of the players to watch out for is Carlos Estrada, who at 6-foot-2 and 260 pounds, is expected to be one of the most dominant players in the league.
“He’s mean and physical,” Hammond said. “He gets after it and likes to knock people in the mouth.”
Another player on the line to watch is Jonathan Bobaeilla, who will play the guard position and enters the season at 6-foot-1 and 250 pounds.
“I plan on doing a lot of running behind these two guys,” Hammond said.
Anchoring the Mustang defense this season is strong safety Vince Giacalone. Although he’s only 5-foot-6 and 165 pounds, he plays with authority.
“He’s probably the best player I’ve ever coached,” Hammond said. “He’s a sound thinker who knows how to play the game.”
Without any major stars on the team, Hammond is focusing on the importance of teamwork.
“We’re going to get everyone involved and spread the ball around a lot, not focus on one guy,” he said.
He plans on using or “platooning” in two running backs that will both split and share time on the playing field.
“We did this last year at Santa Clara and combined those two guys had over 2,000 yards,” Hammond said. “I think we will be successful with that here.”
Those two backs are senior Paul Gonzalez, who is the team’s top returning rusher from last year, and junior Travis Reyes.
Although Hammond has the goal for his team to win league and make the playoffs because “that’s why we get after it in the first place,” there’s also more to it than that for the new coach.
“I want to help them to become better people. I want them to learn how to work together and play together,” Hammond said. “I think if we do these things it will all take care of itself.”
With Live Oak out of the mix, the Prune Bowl game against San Benito will draw the most local interest.
Live Oak chose to leave the TCAL to compete in the multi-tiered Blossom Valley Athletic League, where the school felt it could better compete.
“I’m going to miss coaching against the coaches that I’ve coached against for years,” Live Oak coach Rick Booth said. “The thing is that since Sobrato (Morgan Hill’s other high school) opened we now only have 1,300 kids. Sobrato has 1,450 kids. Hollister and Gilroy have close to 3,000. That’s kind of tough to compete against numbers wise.”
Competing against teams in the BVAL is also going to require Booth to modify the playbook quite a bit.
“We’re going from a black-and-blue league where everyone runs the ball and pounds it at you to a league where everyone pretty much throws it all the time,” Booth said. “Some teams throw it 30 times a game. In the TCAL, 15 passes might be considered a lot.”
The two Live Oak quarterbacks that are vying for the starting job are senior Chris Nicholls and junior Tim O’Roark.
If needed, both players can throw the ball, according to Booth.
“They both can throw the ball. Both have strong arms and they are both over 6-feet,” he said.
Although he admits he might be retired by then, Booth could foresee a time when the Acorns rejoin the TCAL after Gilroy and Hollister get new high schools, which would dwindle down its student body populations as well.
“I’ll miss the Gilroy and Hollister games,” Booth said. “I thought about keeping a game with Gilroy in the preseason (non-league) but with them having close to 3,000 kids it’s pretty tough.”
The Balers begin their CCS title defense at Aptos High on Sept. 1. On that same night Gilroy will play host to Burlingame. Both games are at 7:30 p.m.
Play in the BVAL doesn’t commence until Sept. 8. On that Friday afternoon the Acorns will play host to Saratoga High School at 3:30 p.m.
