Sobrato upbeat for start of spring drills
MORGAN HILL — From his new coaching staff to his offense and new team motto, “tradition starts today,” Sobrato football coach Nick Borello is rebuilding his program from the ground up for 2009.
Roughly 40 kids went back to the assemble line this week for spring practice, ready to stamp out memories of the Bulldogs’ 2-8 finish a year ago.
“We’ve had a decent start, but they’re getting better each day,” Borello, now in his second year as head coach, said. “A lot of the guys from last year are getting after it. They want to start the new season right.”
Offensively, Sobrato is turning back the clock. The Bulldogs have supplanted their fly offense for a wing-T attack, ran by former San Benito offensive coordinator Rick Dukes.
“We’re excited to have Rick on staff,” Borello said. “He had great success at Hollister.”
A run-first attack, the wing T demands precise execution — and the Bulldogs are up to the challenge.
“It’s getting us excited,” junior wingback Drew Johnson said. “Coach Dukes has us excited to get better. We’re coming off a bad year; we definitely want to improve.”
Johnson and Marcus Patrick took plenty of carries Wednesday, working with their new quarterback, junior Patrick Bacciarelli.
“It’s fun being back under center — I haven’t played quarterback since Pop Warner,” said Bacciarelli, who played tight end and linebacker in 2008. “The new offense is fun. We’re getting it down. We should be fine with it this year, but it has to be perfect.”
Bacciarelli’s athleticism could bode well in the wing T, which has endless variations.
“It’s dictated by the athletes you have,” Dukes said. “If you have a running QB, you can run option in there on top of throwing. We have some good athletes here. Hopefully, we’ll be scoring a lot of points.”
