Sobrato football announced it will be moving down to the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s West Valley Division next year and that decision could mark the end of the city’s biggest rivalry game.
The BVAL is an equity league with the West Valley being the bottom tier of the three divisions. The Bulldogs are currently in the Santa Teresa Division.
Sobrato coach Tony Holmes said given the make up of the team over the next few years, it looked like the best fit to play less competitive teams.
But this could mean the end of the annual El Toro Bowl.
Live Oak confirmed it is looking for a new team to fill Sobrato’s slot on the schedule next year citing concerns that playing what is considered a C-league opponent will not help the Acorns for playoff positioning.
The Central Coast Section awards teams points for wins as well as points for strength of schedule. The more points accrued determine playoff seedings and can mean the difference between playing at home to start the playoffs or playing on the road.
If Sobrato is a C-league team, Live Oak wouldn’t get the bonus points it would for playing a B or an A league team.
“It does them no favors to play us,” said Sobrato coach Tony Holmes. “That’s a fact. I can respect that. If by chance the El Toro Bowl is off for next year or two, that’s understandable.”
The only thing that could change this would be if athletic directors over turn the decision to send Sobrato down. This would require a team appealing the decision to have Sobrato moving out of the Santa Teresa Division.
El Toro Bowl is a tradition that goes back to 2007 when the two teams met for the first time in the playoffs.
Ever since then, the two teams faced off in an annual rivalry game, with Live Oak holding a 9-1 series record.
The last two years, the Acorns have won by a combined 124-13.
It has become a popular game as players from the two teams used to be teammates on pop warner squads growing up and possibly went to the same junior high school before splitting up going to high school.
