Sobrato snapped out of an 11-day break from practice this week
with an up-tempo start to fall camp and the 2011 football season.
The Bulldogs were under the helmet and popping pads as early as
6:30 a.m. Monday and Tuesday at Sobrato High School, with the
entire squad taking part in blocking and tackling drills, followed
by run-throughs and agility stations
Sobrato snapped out of an 11-day break from practice this week with an up-tempo start to fall camp and the 2011 football season.
The Bulldogs were under the helmet and popping pads as early as 6:30 a.m. Monday and Tuesday at Sobrato High School, with the entire squad taking part in blocking and tackling drills, followed by run-throughs and agility stations. Afternoon practices followed the same schedule.
Conditioning was sprinkled in, though, players got in a good workout just at the pace practice moved. They looked drained walking off the field Tuesday evening.
“(Monday) we started off kind of slow, but we’ve been picking it up a lot,” incoming senior cornerback Erick Zepeda said. “The intensity was a lot higher today. We need to keep pushing ourselves out here.”
Sobrato coach Nick Borello wasn’t thrilled after Monday’s sessions, but he did like his team’s effort Tuesday.
“It was average to above-average for our first two days in pads,” he said. “We were coming off a pretty good layoff to let guys rest at the end of summer and get healthy. It’s been by no means great; the guys are a little tired and a little sore. But we had a good couple of practices today. Gotta crawl before you can walk.”
The fourth-year coach lauded the work of his new team captains – quarterback Jerry Jacob, fullback Obi Mbonu, wideout/cornerback Steven Villarreal, guard/defensive tackle Connor Porzio and halfback/cornerback Drew Glines, the lone underclassman in the group – whom Borello and his staff selected based on their effort in the offseason.
Naturally the captains’ positional groups have stood out thus far in camp.
“The linebackers are coming up and making some plays,” Borello said. “The linemen are playing well; DBs are in there, too.
“Our offense, not to single anyone out, but those four guys back there (Jacob, Mbonu, Glines, wingback Derrick Taylor); they run the ball so well every play even on scout (offense). Everybody’s doing their share.”
While the weather has been fair this week, a cloud has hung over the Bulldogs since mid-July when the Central Coast Section ruled all-league defensive lineman Skyler King, having completed one year of independent study and three years of high school, ineligible to participate in what would be his fourth year of prep sports.
The program had been braced for this decision for years, Borello said. Still it did not sit well.
“He’s being robbed of what every kid gets: four years of sports,” Borello said of the 5-foot-11, 245-pound King, who started at nose guard and center in 2010 and was being groomed for offensive tackle this season. “A player like that, you can’t replace him. We’re not going to find a guy who did the job he’s done. He spent the last couple years on varsity making all of his teammates better.”
The loss of King could prove devastating. Sobrato has a viable replacement nose guard/center in 250-pound incoming junior William Puna. But King’s absence will especially be felt at right tackle, where the Bulldogs are inexperienced and unhealthy. Their projected fill-in was Sebastian Carrillo, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound incoming junior who started a few games in 2010 – until Carrillo recently suffered a knee injury that required an MRI.
Tuesday Sobrato was breaking in varsity newcomers Darren McElvy and Justin O’Neil. Both received high marks from their peers.
“I think we can fill that one tackle spot pretty well,” Porzio said. “Skyler is someone to look up to and strive to be. He set an example a lot of times. We have people who are stepping up to do the same.”
Whether or not the Bulldogs can function as well without King remains to be seen. The linemen are at least moving forward with the right attitude.
“It’s tough, but we’re just going to have to deal with it and make the best,” Puna said. “Skyler brought like a tempo and a challenge for all of us each day. We all want to work harder now. We need to.”
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Sobrato has received some good news on the injury front with the return of defensive back Conor Havstad, who was on the fence about playing this fall after suffering a string of head injuries his junior year. Havstad started at safety in 2010 and made several key plays.
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As thin as the Bulldogs are up front, they are overflowing at the skill spots. Position battles are especially hot at linebacker between Zach Zhang, Tyler Lerma, Alex Hagiperos, Jake Sanchez and Vince Nguyen; and in the defensive backfield, where eight players took snaps with the first team Tuesday.
