Mount Pleasant tips Sobrato 21-14 in showdown between West
Valley unbeatens
MORGAN HILL — Complete with their new star fullback, Mount Pleasant is the last undefeated team standing in the West Valley Division.
Leon Miller sparked the Cardinals’ offense with 102 rushing yards in his first game of the season, David Ramirez threw one touchdown pass and rushed for another score as Mount Pleasant rallied from a two-touchdown deficit to beat the Sobrato Bulldogs 21-14 in a crucial matchup between the league’s last unbeaten teams.
Saturday’s victory at Richert Field gave the Cardinals (4-2 overall, 3-0 league) sole possession of first place and an inside track to the division’s lone automatic playoff berth. They sit a game ahead of the Bulldogs (4-2, 2-1), James Lick and Silver Creek — who visit Mount Pleasant this week and next.
“This is one of the best teams we’ve seen this year, and they gave us everything they had,” Cardinals coach Frank Lopez Jr. said. “After the way we started, it was theirs to lose.”
Ramirez found Devaughn Hopkins in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard scoring strike with 30 seconds left in the first half. The junior quarterback tied the game with a 1-yard sneak in the third quarter, capping a momentum-changing 16-play drive.
Wingback Joseph Fernandez dove into the end zone from a yard out to push Mount Pleasant ahead with 1:38 remaining.
“I think we got too comfortable,” Sobrato wide receiver Joe Snyder said. “We moved the ball well in the first half. They backed off in the second half, but we didn’t execute.”
Ramirez finished 3-for-8 passing for 56 yards, but the big story was Miller, who paced the Cardinals’ wing T attack with 13 bruising runs between the tackles.
“He was definitely a catalyst,” Sobrato coach Nick Borello said. “We weren’t ready for him. We have never even seen him in film.”
That’s because Miller sat out the previous five games for academic reasons.
“He wasn’t up to standards earlier this season,” Lopez Jr. said. “We set up a plan for him to get back on track academically, and he’s followed it every step. He put a lot of work in to be able to play tonight.”
Miller wasn’t expecting to see that much action Friday.
“It felt good getting back out there,” the 6-foot-2 165-pound senior said. “It felt like we were giving up early on. We needed something to get us going.”
The Bulldogs controlled every facet of the game in the first half. They outgained the Cardinals 173-115 in yards of total offense and forced two takeaways — an interception by Ralph Jackson and a fumble recovery by Marcus Patrick.
After the Cardinals’ first drive ended with a turnover on downs, Sobrato orchestrated a pristine four-play series capped by Jackson’s 1-yard touchdown dive. Snyder set up the score with a 47-yard catch-and-run off a seam pass from Patrick Bacciarelli.
Mount Pleasant went three and out on its next drive, and the Bulldogs looked ready to break the game wide open. They went ahead 14-0 with their most exciting play of the day. Bacciarelli turned upfield for three yards, then pitched the ball to tailback Obi Mbonu who raced down the sideline to complete a 47-yard touchdown run.
Patrick recovered a fumble on the ensuing kick-off, but Sobrato couldn’t capitalize.
Bacciarelli rushed for 42 yards and completed 6 of 14 for 98 yards passing and one interception. Mbonu gained 57 yards on four carries.
“It’s a game of momentum,” Borello said. “We had it in the first half, then they started rolling — and kept on rolling.”
After Jackson’s interception, the Bulldogs drove to the Mount Pleasant 2-yard line. But Bacciarelli fumbled an exchange, and Justin Holscher grabbed the loose ball to put the Cardinals’ offense back on the field with 2:51 remaining in the second quarter.
Mount Pleasant covered 96 yards in nine plays, including a 30-yard run by Miller, before Ramirez connected with Hopkins.
“We didn’t play our best football,” Sobrato linebacker Ryan Brewer said. “It’s a hard loss. We felt like we should have won this game.”
Following a Cardinals three and out, the Bulldogs got the ball with 9:48 left to play and the score tied. After a series of short runs, they dialed a fade pass to wideout Chris Bradley — but the ball caromed off Bradley’s hands and into the arms of Mount Pleasant’s Gilbert Rositas.
Fernandez scored the decisive touchdown eight plays later.
“It’s a tough one to lose,” said Borello, whose team will host Del Mar next Friday. “There’s still a lot of football left to be played, and a lot of things can still happen. We’re still having a great season. We just have to go back to work next week and keep playing.”
