Sobrato coach Albert King could only kick his hat.
His team kneeled in the end zone of Santa Teresa’s field dripping with sweat and fighting to catch its collective breath from the battle of the day — a battle that came one throw away from ending in the Bulldog’s first win of the season.
Their heads hung low, more players wincing with the pain suffered during the game and at least one battling the cobwebs in his head and their opponents weren’t feeling much better.
The scoreboard above Sobrato’s heads read Santa Teresa 18, Sobrato 13, but no one was feeling like winners after this game.
The injuries on both sides mounted on already devastated squads.
Linemen, running backs, line backers, none were immune from the brutality of the game that snapped the Saints’ four-game losing streak and extended Sobrato’s winless stretch to seven games.
“When you get two teams that are hungry and want to get off the bad side of things, it works out that two teams battle,” said Santa Teresa Coach Nick Alfano. “I felt like if they win, they deserve to. We both had a lot of injuries today that were brutal. There were some sticky situations on both sides that we had to take chances.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, Sobrato scored on an Andrew Mesa one-yard carry to pull the Bulldogs to within five at 18-13.
Santa Teresa took to the ground in an attempt to chew up clock, but got bogged down in Sobrato territory.
The Saints had one play to extend their drive and further ruin Sobrato’s hopes. But they couldn’t covert on fourth and three from the Bulldog 28, getting stopped inches from the marker.
The combination of Nick Sicolo and Matthew Bolino led the Bulldogs on a 47-yard drive to the Santa Teresa 17.
“Anybody who sees the game understands every game we grow. We are just a team that is continually doing the right things, we just haven’t got ourselves to a position — in my opinion — where we’ve worked hard enough to get those breaks. I’ve said it before, I don’t believe in luck; luck is one of those things that is the product of hard work.”
But on third and nine with 25 seconds to play, Corey Garcia picked up his second interception of the game ending the game.
“I think we handled them exactly as we were supposed to, we just spotted them (12) points and we decided for some reason we just didn’t want to get on the bus,” King said.
The win was the Saints’ first since Sept. 14.
“I’m a huge fan of any team that works hard and does things the right way and perseveres. I know they’re going through a tough time just like we are and I give all the credit to them to just battle every week. You watch them on film and they’re battling every week.
“I’m a huge fan of any team that works hard and does things the right way and perseveres,” Alfano said. “I know they’re going through a tough time just like we are and I give all the credit to them to just battle every week. You watch them on film and they’re battling every week.”
The game started as if Santa Teresa was going to route Sobrato.
On the second play from scrimmage, Garcia caught a 75-yard pass from Eddie Montes on the second play from scrimmage for an early 6-0 lead.
Sobrato’s first play was a lost fumble on its own 34.
Montes and Garcia hooked up a second time on a deep pass that made the game 12-0 when 1:21 had elapsed in the game.
The Saints then recovered an onside kick, threatening to make it a three-score game in the first two minutes of the game.
But that’s when Sobrato started to battle.
The Bulldogs forced a three-and-out and the ensuing punt pinned them on their own 1-yard line.
That led to punts from and a Santa Teresa turning the ball over on downs.
Sobrato’s ensuing possession resulted in a fumble — the second of four turnovers in the game.
That allowed Santa Teresa to march the ball 34 yards on four plays with Jayme Chavez punching it in from six yards out and the Saints’ final score of the game.
The rest of the game degenerated into a battle of injuries and penalties.
As Sobrato’s players fell to injury — which left the sideline wondering who was going to play guard on offense — Santa Teresa suffered injures and had mental breakdowns.
The Saints had three personal foul calls in the span of four minutes that left coach Alfano calling timeout and getting his entire team in a huddle to calm them down.
Mesa had his best game, rushing for 119 yards on 23 carries.
For Santa Teresa, Montes threw for 133 yards on 5 of 13 passing with two touchdowns. He had 109 of those yards on his first two passes.
Sobrato will remain on the road, traveling to Pioneer 7 p.m. Nov. 1
