Gavilan
’s state-best defense will face its stiffest test of the season
Saturday at 1pm when the host Santa Rosa Bear Cubs bring their
state-best passing attack into the CLO Bowl. “This should be a
classic match-up,” said eighth-year Bear Cub head coach Keith
Simons. “Gavilan’s the No. 1 defense i
n California. We have the No. 4 offense and lead the state in
passing. It will be interesting to see whether a good offense can
move against a very good defense.”
Gavilan’s state-best defense will face its stiffest test of the season Saturday at 1pm when the host Santa Rosa Bear Cubs bring their state-best passing attack into the CLO Bowl.
“This should be a classic match-up,” said eighth-year Bear Cub head coach Keith Simons. “Gavilan’s the No. 1 defense in California. We have the No. 4 offense and lead the state in passing. It will be interesting to see whether a good offense can move against a very good defense.”
Gavilan earned its second consecutive bowl assignment by finishing 6-4 for the season, including a second-place effort (3-2) in the Coast Conference. Santa Rosa is also 6-4, scoring at least 21 points in every game and tallying 30 or more eight times.
“Santa Rosa’s not a big-play team, although they have big-play capability,” said Gavilan coach John Lango. “Their school has 30,000 students, so they have many more athletes than we do. Santa Rosa runs a spread offense, four wide-outs and a shotgun every play, with no huddles. We know they’ll get their catches. We’ll have to create turnovers, get in the throwing lanes, all the small things. We’ve spent the past three weeks, on defense, on techniques for man-to-man coverage.”
The Bear Cubs powered to an 11-0 record last season, including a CLO Bowl victory. That squad finished third in the state and fourth in the nation. The Fast Break offense has finished No. 1 in the nation in passing in three of the past six seasons.
“We’re finally getting everybody back,” Simons said of his squad’s health entering the CLO Bowl.
One Bear Cub missing this weekend will be sophomore defensive back Mike Savage, who is still recovering from a broken collarbone.
Bear Cub quarterback Kevin Ballatore covered 3,029 yards passing in 10 games. Receiver Kyle Sammons led the state with an average of 117 yards per game along with 78 receptions and 12 touchdowns, and receiver Brandon Simpson was fourth in California with a 104.9 average with nine touchdowns on 60 grabs.
“We had several players out the last four games. We’ll need everyone ready Saturday because Gavilan’s a solid team, well-coached.,” Simons said “They fly around on defense, have a size advantage with their offensive line against our defensive front, and have a punishing runner. I’m concerned about No. 13 (defensive lineman Roy Sims). He jumps out at you watching him on film. We’ll have to keep him out of our quarterback’s face.”
Gavilan and Santa Rosa had two common opponents. The Bear Cubs swept the series (45-15 over West Valley and 46-34 over San Mateo), but Gavilan split (a 21-3 win over West Valley and a 35-25 loss to San Mateo).
“Santa Rosa is very solid on offense,” said Lango. “They are very good defensively, but we should be able to run the ball well enough to sustain drives. We’ll need to protect the football. Santa Rosa blocks a punt about once a game, so we don’t want to give up any special teams points. If we can keep Santa Rosa to 28 points, we’ll have a chance. I’d prefer to keep this a low-scoring game.”
Lango was enthused about the bowl opportunity.
“It’s a great bowl game. The bowl committee puts on a great experience for the players. We’ll arrive Friday in time for a 2:30 practice, get to the hotel (Hilton) by 4 and a 6pm banquet on campus. The Hilton will have a 9am breakfast for us Saturday.
“Just being in a bowl game is a plus. It helps in recruiting, it gives us three more weeks of practice for player evaluation, and it gives us another chance to represent the school and community. We’re one of only six community college teams still playing.”
