Without true ‘Hell Week’ again, Sobrato dives into fall camp at
full speed
MORGAN HILL — Sobrato coach Nick Borello loves football, but not the kind he has seen the last two opening days of fall camp.
While other Central Coast Section programs were warming up for a full week of two-a-day padded practices Friday, the Sobrato Bulldogs were working just as hard knowing their slate of double-days was down to one. For the second straight year, the team was without a true “Hell Week” because of a schedule conflict between Morgan Hill Unified School District and the governing body for prep athletics in the state. California Interscholastic Federation mandates the 2010 fall sports season begins Aug. 13, four days before the school year starts in Morgan Hill.
The team held two noncontact workouts Friday at Sobrato High School and two padded sessions Monday but nothing close to the amount of double-days Borello would prefer.
“They’ve been practicing almost every single week the whole summer, so it shouldn’t cost us too much. It’s more of a going-through-the-fire-together kind of thing we’re missing out on,” Borello said. “We planned a few events this summer to do some team-building … but the physical and mental pounding and learning to push yourselves that you get with two-a-days is kind of hard to replace.”
Sobrato managed well in 2009, finishing a program-best 8-3 while beating up on several ‘C’-league opponents. Now in a ‘B’ league and facing a tough nonconference schedule, this year’s group needs to mesh quickly during the next few weeks as full-contact practices resume after school.
That they coasted through the first few drills Friday is a tell-tale sign the Bulldogs are ready to move forward.
“The guys are ready to start hitting,” said Borello, who has 32 players on his roster. “They know all the plays. They know the defense, the offense. It’s time for them to combine physical and mental strength.
“The noncontact stuff is just theoretical football. Coaches want to see what they can do at full speed.”
Borello and his staff caught a glimpse of that in full-contact camps this summer. The Bulldogs got in about seven days in pads.
“There are times when we look good; there are times when we don’t look like we know what we’re doing,” offensive coordinator Rick Dukes said in July. “It’s not a great measuring stick, but it looks like we have a pretty good group.”
Leaders have emerged this offseason, including underclassmen like fullback Obi Mbonu and guard Skyler King — both juniors. Gustavo Ramirez, a 250-pound senior tackle, was a weight-room role model.
“They didn’t miss anything or at least rarely missed anything,” Borello said. “They made up for it when they did.
“We’re hoping for big things out of a lot of other guys these next few weeks.”
The team has little time to condition before scouting its first opponent. Sobrato will play Christopher, a first-year varsity program, Sept. 3 in Gilroy.
“Ask me again how we’re doing in a couple weeks. That’s when we’ll know for sure,” Borello said. “It might be a blessing in disguise we don’t have two-a-days. We should be healthy.”
