Hollister-San Benito High running back Gabe Gaitan was looking
for a little bit of redemption Saturday night after Wilcox
’s Chris Wong snatched the football away from him as he was
going down following a nice run and took it all the way back for a
57-yard touchdown. Gaitan got his redemption and then some as the
Haybalers defeated the Wilcox Chargers 24-10 after scoring 17
unanswered points late in the game to earn
a shot at the Central Coast Section Large Schools title against
Oak Grove on Saturday.
Hollister-San Benito High running back Gabe Gaitan was looking for a little bit of redemption Saturday night after Wilcox’s Chris Wong snatched the football away from him as he was going down following a nice run and took it all the way back for a 57-yard touchdown. Gaitan got his redemption and then some as the Haybalers defeated the Wilcox Chargers 24-10 after scoring 17 unanswered points late in the game to earn a shot at the Central Coast Section Large Schools title against Oak Grove on Saturday.
Gaitan finished the contest with 132 yards on 10 carries, including a 54-yard touchdown run down the left sideline late in the fourth quarter that gave his team a 14-10 lead.
“It feels great,” Gaitan said of his bounce-back performance. “But it feels even better that we’re going to be back here next Saturday. We all have a bad taste in our mouths from last season. We didn’t have our best performance here last year. This year, we just have to come out blazing.”
The Balers should be in good shape if they can keep up the level of play that they displayed against Wilcox. The Baler ground attack racked up 248 total yards between six different runners, including 37 from quarterback Karson Klauer on four attempts.
They were also efficent on defense, holding the Chargers to a mere 82 yards rushing despite their 33 attempts, and held the Wilcox passing attack, led by Thomas Russell’s powerful arm, to only 50 yards.
Hollister-SB’s Anthony Vasquez chipped in with a huge defensive play for the second-straight week when he intercepted a Russell pass late in the game.
Gilroy vs. Oak Grove
Top-seeded Oak Grove escaped with a 25-20 victory over Gilroy High with steady defensive pressure and a punishing ground game that was finally too much for the plucky Mustangs.
Gilroy had a shot at taking the lead late in the game but turned the ball over on downs.
Oak Grove opened the scoring on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Vye to Terry Newsome at the start of the second quarter. The Eagles added a TD on a quarterback sneak with three minutes left before halftime to go up 12-0.
That’s when the Mustangs got on track. Boosted by a 35-yard run by Justin Sweeney and a 17-yard pass to Gamm, the Mustangs marched right down the field and scored when Gamm stretched into the end zone with 23 seconds left.
The Eagles never touched the ensuing kickoff and Gilroy was able to recover at the Oak Grove 28. Mickartz first found tight end Taylor Micali, who took it to the 1, and then the quarterback took the ball in himself with just seven seconds remaining. The two-point conversion was no good, but just like that it was Gilroy 13-12 at halftime.
The second half, though, was deja vu all over again for Gilroy. Oak Grove returned the kickoff all the way to the 24 and scored on a 5-yard touchdown run by their star running back Burton Iosefa.
After a GHS three-and-out, the Eagles drove 62 yards on eight plays, the final one being a 7-yard touchdown from Iosefa, who finished the game with 114 yards on 21 carries.
“You’ve gotta give Oak Grove a lot of credit,” Gilroy head coach Darren Yafai said. “That’s one incredibly talented team. They’ve got the perfect combination of very big guys, great athletes and great coaching.”
They also had the size and athleticism up front to contain the talented Sweeney. On 16 carries, the leading rusher in CCS was held to a season-low 66 yards.
