How tough had the first three weeks of the season been for
Sobrato’s injured quarterback Erick Levell?
How tough had the first three weeks of the season been for Sobrato’s injured quarterback Erick Levell?
“Pretty hard,” Levell said. “Because I trained with these guys, I love ’em, they’re like brothers.”
Hard, because while Levell had been nursing a broken thumb on his right throwing hand that he suffered in Sobrato’s preseason scrimmage, the Bulldogs were off to an 0-2-1 start. A couple of those games, in particular the 7-7 tie against Cupertino to start the season, were ones that Sobrato felt it had the opportunity to win.
“We believe that we should have more than one victory,” coach Dan Brown said after Sobrato’s 28-12 win over San Jose on Friday. “We’ve played like we’ve won a couple of ballgames.”
While Friday’s win, which makes Sobrato 1-0 in Blossom Valley Athletic League West Valley Division play, was an all-around solid team effort, Levell’s spark was evident from the beginning.
His first action came out of the backfield and he gained 11 yards on his initial carry.
But midway through the scoreless and Levell trotted out under center. The first play, a bootleg around the left end for a 19-yard gain, gave Sobrato life.
It also may have had an even bigger impact as San Jose’s star running back Rogelio Villa tackled Levell on the play and came up holding his groin. Villa ended up gutting through a 20-carry, 98-yard effort, but didn’t appear to be his normal self, which also was a big credit to the stout Sobrato defense.
“I think it’s pretty big for me but I think it’s bigger for the team,” Levell said of his return. “All the way down the line, without the rest of the team, one guy is nothing. So I think it was more of a team win than one person.”
Brown was certainly happy to be able to plug the multi-talented Levell, who gained 72 yards on 11 carries and was 2-of-5 passing for 20 yards, back into the lineup.
“It was nice to get Mr. Levell back in action,” he said. “You could see what he could do. And he’s still rusty. He can do some things.”
Levell’s return certainly makes Sobrato a much different team and based on his impact Friday, it could make the Bulldogs a contender.
“I’m looking forward to (the rest of) the season,” Levell said. “I’m looking forward to the team getting better and coming together as a family and hopefully coming away with a BVAL title.”
