Patrick Bacciarelli amassed 196 all-purpose yards and three
touchdowns, Chris Bradley had three catches for 102 yards and two
scores, and the Sobrato Bulldogs played inspired defense to beat
cross-town rival Live Oak 27-6 Friday at Richert Field
MORGAN HILL — With their fans chanting their names midway through the third quarter, Sobrato seniors Chris Bradley and Patrick Bacciarelli shook hands on the sideline and admired the scoreboard.
“I got faith in you, man,” Bradley said to his brawny quarterback, who had just tallied his third touchdown of El Toro Bowl III.
Bacciarelli popped his helmet and smiled.
“We got this,” he said.
Because of their heroics and the inspired play of Sobrato’s defense, the unfastened Bulldogs faithful had another chant to savor as the final seconds ticked away at Richert Field: four powerful words that stung their ears the past two football seasons.
“This is our town.”
To say the outnumbered and unfavored Bulldogs of the Blossom Valley Athletic League ‘C’ division pulled off an upset Friday by beating the rival Live Oak Acorns, 27-6, for the first time in history would be an understatement. To say they are floating on cloud nine above Morgan Hill would not.
“I’m speechless, totally speechless,” said Bacciarelli, who passed for 145 yards and rushed for 51. “It’s the best feeling right now. It feels like we’re on top of the world.”
That they were throttled by equally large margins in the past two meetings with the ‘A’-league Acorns only sweetened the victory, which came before a frenzied Texas-sized crowd of at least 4,000 fans. In 2007, Sobrato had its only Central Coast Section-playoff run to date shortened by a first-round loss, 22-7, to the Acorns. Last year, the Bulldogs were blanked 27-0 in the season opener for both teams.
“The win feels fantastic,” said two-way lineman Mandeep Bains, whose fumble recovery in the first quarter gave Sobrato the momentum for good. “It’s a blissful feeling.”
Blissful, but not shocking.
“I know we weren’t supposed to win this game and a lot of people expected them to beat us,” Sobrato second-year coach Nick Borello said. “But this group has worked so hard. I can’t say I’m surprised we won; they worked their rears off this summer.
After three nonleague contests, the Bulldogs (2-1) have matched their win total from a year ago and are in high spirits heading into this week’s West Valley Division opener at Silver Creek.
“I picture the same thing for these guys as before this game,” Borello said. “We’ve hit one of our goals; one of our goals was to win the El Toro Bowl. Our next goal is to win the league, and our next goal is to win CCS.”
Opponents standing in the way know about Sobrato’s rushing attack but they also have an aerial threat to deal with, as the Acorns found out Friday. Bacciarelli completed 5-of-6 passing, including three long fades to Bradley who had 102 yards receiving.
“Bacciarelli is a good player, and Bradley is a good athlete,” Live Oak coach Jon Michael Porras said. “We just had a couple times they beat us for big yards. Bacciarelli is the heart and soul of that team. He did a good job tonight.”
Live Oak struck first in the second quarter on Taylor Alonzo’s 25-yard sweep that capped an imposing 12-play drive. Bacciarelli and Bradley responded with a 46-yard touchdown pass that shook the Acorns’ swagger.
“Patrick made some great throws, and we just went up and got them,” said Bradley, who is playing his first season of varsity football. “We were moving the ball real well.”
Live Oak’s run-first offense flashed its potential in the first half, but lost traction as the Bulldogs pressed on. Acorns running backs Julio Aguayo and Blair Zerr carried nine times apiece for 52 and 42 yards, respectively, and Alonzo rushed for 38 yards and had two catches for 23 before leaving the game with an injury two minutes into the fourth quarter.
Playing as the away team, Live Oak (0-3) was outgained 369-193 in yards of total offense and committed two turnovers that led to touchdowns. Early in the fourth quarter, Acorns linebacker Jeff Stine recovered a fumble that yielded five plays and a punt.
“We’re completely down,” said Acorns junior David Pelz, who finished 7 of 13 for 39 yards passing in his first start under center. “They shut down our run, and we couldn’t get anything going.
“This is a big loss, but we have to put behind us. 0-3 is embarrassing; losing to Sobrato. We’re a better team than this.”
Live Oak went three and out after Bradley’s go-ahead score, and Bacciarelli struck again with a 25-yard play-action fade to tight end Vincent Alfonseca.
The Acorns fumbled the exchange on their next offensive play, and, after Bains’ recovery at Live Oak’s 28-yard line, Bacciarelli and Bradley connected for an unusual score. Bacciarelli was about to cross the goal line on an option keeper when he lost possession at the 2. Bradley fell on the loose ball in the end zone, though, completing a 13-yard touchdown run that put the Bulldogs ahead 21-6 at halftime.
“We had some huge things go our way. There was some luck involved,” Borello said. “We capitalized. I think we did a better job capitalizing than they did.”
Bleeding resumed for the Acorns on the second play of the third quarter. They coughed up the ball on a run play, and Sobrato safety Daniel Puna smothered it at the Acorns’ 30.
“It’s the same story it’s been all season: Mistakes killed us,” Porras said. “We had too many penalties and we couldn’t hold on to the ball. They made us hurt.”
Bacciarelli threaded a 29-yard strike to Bradley through defensive backs Rich Martinez and Nick Sosebee, then scored the final touchdown on a bruising 5-yard keeper with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.
“Turnovers fired us up,” Bains said. “The defense executed, and we scored, and we scored and we scored; it upped the tempo.”
Having to rely on an ineffective passing approach, the Acorns gained 93 yards in the second half. They punted on their final offensive play, a fourth-and-22 from their own 10.
Bacciarelli took a knee eight plays later, and the Sobrato fans poured into the south end zone. The Acorns left their home field with haste.
“Their guys were big and aggressive. But we’ve been busting our (butts) all summer for this,” Sobrato center/nose guard Joel Rueda said. “Our hard work has finally paid off.”
The Acorns, meanwhile, have work to do before this Friday’s Mount Hamilton Division opener against Pioneer — ranked No. 11 in the section by the San Jose Mercury News. Pioneer beat them 49-18 a year ago.
“It’s hard to say what direction the guys are going to go in,” Porras said. “We still feel like we have some things here we can do. But it’s going to be hard. We’re not really used to being in this situation.”
NOTE: The venue for Live Oak’s next game versus Pioneer is incorrect in Tuesday’s print edition. Pioneer is hosting the Acorns at 7 p.m. Friday.
