Nobody said winning a championship was going to be easy. It
certainly won
’t be for the Gilroy-based Central Coast Barnstormers.
Nobody said winning a championship was going to be easy. It certainly won’t be for the Gilroy-based Central Coast Barnstormers.
The local semipro football team is two victories away from realizing its dream of a Golden State Amateur Football League title, but it’s facing an uphill battle.
In Saturday’s GSAFL AAA National Football Conference final, the Barnstormers are slated to take on the undefeated South Bay Buccaneers. The game is slated for 1 p.m. on Saturday at Peterson Middle School in Santa Clara.
The winner of Saturday’s NFC finale will advance to Golden State Bowl III on July 10 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco against the Amercian Football Conference champion.
But the Barnstormers (8-3 overall) will have their hands full with the Santa Clara-based Buccaneers (11-0), who thrashed the local team 42-14 in the regular season meeting between the two.
However, Barnstormers owner Eric Snyder is convinced that his team can play with the favored Buccaneers, if for no other reason than they can’t play any worse than they did in the first game.
Snyder said turnovers and mistakes, combined with a few key Central Coast injuries, contributed heavily to the blowout loss. Snyder said he knows South Bay presents a huge challenge for his team but he’s convinced the Barnstormers are up to it.
“(The Buccaneers have) been one of the top teams (in the league) for the last five years , they’re undefeated this year and as far as everyone’s concerned they’re the best team in the league,” Snyder said. “But I thinik we can beat them. We’ve got to not make the same mistakes we did last time and not give them easy scores.”
The Barnstormers will rely on the strong arm of All-GSAFL quarterback Bryan Smith, who was the third-ranked passer in the league this year. Smith passed for 1,661 yards and 22 touchdowns with just eight interceptions, completing a league-high 61 percent of his passes.
Smith leads a versatile offensive attack that incudes a deep receiving corps, led by all-league wide receiver Arvin Sylvestre (22 catches, 299 yards, two TDs), Steve Sisko (22 catches, 307 yards, five TDs), Slade Williams (18 catches, 188 yards, three TDs), Derrick Morrison (15 catches, 242 yards, six TDs), and Rigo Munoz (15 catches, 283 yards, three TDs), among others.
Munoz and fellow receiver David Gittens were both injured in the first game against the Buccaneers this season.
Morrison, an all-league running back, also led the team in rushing with 498 yards and eight TDs in 91 carries (better than five yards a pop), and tied for the league lead in scoring with 84 total points. Sylvestre (389 yards, two TDs) and Tommy Jimenez (386 yards, five TDs) also contributed to the rushing effort.
All-league linemen Jose Rodriguez and Joffre Longoria lead the effort to protect Smith and open up holes for the Central Coast running attack.
“We’re pretty balanced,” Snyder said. “We don’t have any one player who stands out and carries the offense.”
On defense, the Barnstormers are led by defensive lineman Alfredo Euchari, and defensive back David Flores.
The Buccaneers are led by a tough, talented defense that pitched five shutouts this season and boasts a total of six all-leaguers, including linebackers Jaime Iracheta and Cleon Jones, defensive linemen Kevin Woods and Dan King, and defensive backs Troy Julian and Michael Neely.
South Bay is led on offense by all-league running back Johnny Gray, the league’s second leading rusher with 782 yards and 11 TDs, and all-league wide receivers James Smith, Oscar Johnson and Andre Kelley.
Last season, the Barnstormers also made it to the conference final but lost to the eventual Golden State Bowl champion Capitol City Fury in double-overtime.
