Gilroy
– The Gavilan Rams improved to 1-1 in pre-Coast Conference
football action with a “sloppy” 20-0 whitewashing of College of
Marin Saturday afternoon on the losers’ turf. Victorious coach John
Lango used the term “sloppy” liberally in analyzing the
contest.
Gilroy – The Gavilan Rams improved to 1-1 in pre-Coast Conference football action with a “sloppy” 20-0 whitewashing of College of Marin Saturday afternoon on the losers’ turf.
Victorious coach John Lango used the term “sloppy” liberally in analyzing the contest.
“I am concerned that we were sloppy, that we should have won by more,” Lango said. The Rams built a 20-0 lead by the intermission, then shut down the offense in the second half behind reserve quarterback Eduardo Arias. Despite being flagged for 16 penalties Gavilan was able to easily handle the Mariners (0-2) who suffered their second consecutive shutout in as many weeks.
Ram starting quarterback Matt Virus completed 10-of-15 tosses for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Virus was pulled from the game on the last play of the first half with an ankle injury. Lango is unsure of Virus’ status for Saturday’s home tilt against powerhouse College of the Sequoias in Gilroy.
“I was pleased that we played some inspired football in the first half,” added Lango. “If we lost the ball on a turnover, our defense would come right back and respond with an interception or fumble recovery.”
The Rams moved into the red zone five times in the first 30 minutes and posted scores on four of those occasions. Garrett Burgess, who responded to an emergency call as a place-kicker, was a big part of the offense, converting two of three field goal attempts along with two successful point-after kicks, following Ram touchdowns.
Gavilan needed just 2:19 of action to take a 3-0 lead. The Mariners went three and out on their first series, then made matters worse with a net zero punt to give Gavilan the ball on the Marin 21-yard line. Three plays later Burgess booted a 34-yard field goal that put Gavilan on the scoreboard.
Burgess missed a field goal try on the Rams’ second series. The next series resulted in a 10-0 cushion when freshman wide-out Ricky Mhoon pulled in a Virus pitch covering 16 yards, finding the end zone with 3:39 to play in the first quarter. The drive was set up by a fumble recovery by sophomore defensive tackle Mike Lango.
Burgess drilled a 21-yarder with 9:37 left in the half for a 13-0 Ram edge. The scoring ended with 2:34 left in the half when Gilroy product Melvin Bryant scampered over from one yard out.
Shane Butcher, the Rams’ receiving leader who went for seven catches and 134 yards, set up the Bryant score with a 32-yard reception. The Rams covered 67 yards to paydirt after corner Xavier Ceballos turned an interception into a 32-yard runback to the Gavilan 33.
“I became conservative in the second half,” Lango said of the play-calling over the scoreless 30-minute period. “We struggled some with Matt out of the game, but we knew that Eduardo would be limited in what we could expect him to do in his first go at quarterback.
“I wanted to work on the running game, but we need to do better than what we showed against Marin. We did have several injuries, including three starters out from the offensive line, but we should have been able to play better even with the back-ups.”
Louis Jones, primed to be the key defensive lineman if the Rams are to defend their state-best defensive unit title, suffered an ankle injury midway through the first quarter.
Arias went 1-for-5 for eight yards during the second half. David Salinas and Nick Fortino each grabbed one eight-yard pass for the winners.
Gavilan’s Saturday opponent, COS, is 2-0 after wins over Coast Conference member San Jose City (54-0) and College of San Mateo (42-40).
