Just before halftime against Mt. Pleasant, Sobrato runningback Jared Jones broke lose for a 40-yard touchdown.
On the surface, Jones took a simple counter play where he followed his blockers that broke him loose for a 41-0 lead. But that 40-yard run put Jones into the record books.
It gave him 93 yards for the game and officially put him past Miguel Redmond for the most rushing yards in a single season at Sobrato.
Jones finished with 106 yards for the game to put his 2017 total up to 1,327 yards.
The broken record highlighted a night where Sobrato routed Mt, Pleasant 55-7 to officially clinch the West Valley Division title.
Jones’ three touchdowns on 106 yards highlighted a reoccurring theme of the night: Sobrato started with excellent field position.
Just one of the Bulldogs’ drives started in Sobrato territory.
John Bell had 86 yards passing with one touchdown and a rushing TD.
Ryan Monahan had a 37-yard rushing touchdown and a punt return of more than 40 yards.
After the clock rolled down to zeros and the teams had shaken hands, members of the football team grabbed a jug of water and doused coach Tony Holmes in celebration of the league title.
Despite the already wet conditions and the night getting cold, Holmes was in good spirits and even had tears in his eyes as he spoke about what his boys had just accomplished.
“I’m very thankful because I really do admire these young people,” Holmes said. “This senior class is probably one of my favorite groups of people I’ve worked with. Them winning tonight and achieving this goal we set forth at the beginning of the season to me was just great. To me, that ice bath was OK. It was alright.”
Now Sobrato can go for the sweep of the West Valley Division Friday night when the Bulldogs host Evergreen Valley in the final game of the regular season.
The Cougars have nothing but pride to play for as they will not be advancing to the playoffs with their 4-5 overall record.
Evergreen saw a resurgence once it got into league play, going from an 0-3 start to a 3-0 run to open the West Valley Division.
Sobrato was supposed to face the unbeaten Cougars on Oct. 13, but when the game was postponed due to smoke, the Bulldogs lost the chance to have a battle of 3-0 teams.
Subsequently, Evergreen fell to Overfelt and Andrew Hill which helped to clinch the league title for Sobrato before the Bulldogs entered the final.
Evergreen is led by twin backs Jorge Myers and Evan Sablan, who had 361 and 316 yards on the season, respectively. The Cougars aren’t a great passing team with just 405 yards in the air with three touchdowns against three interceptions.
Sobrato will be coming into the game with sights set on the looming playoffs and likely having to face either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in Division V.
This means the Bulldogs will need to minimize mistakes and play sound football against one of the top teams. And Evergreen will offer a great practice run at doing just that.
If Sobrato can play big up front and hold the run game in check, it should be a short night for the Bulldogs.
Meanwhile, the game is far from just one of preparation for the playoffs. Because not all teams are playing this week as not all games were cancelled on Oct. 13, Sobrato could in theory move up to the No. 5 or No. 6 seed from the No. 7. Carmel who sits at No. 5 is done and has 19 points. Sobrato could finish with 19.5 to over take Carmel.
From there it would be Menlo School No. 1, Soledad No. 2, Hillsdale No. 3, Jefferson No. 4 then Scotts Valley and Sobrato tied at No. 5. The No. 6 would see Hillsdale while No. 5 goes to Jefferson. This also doesn’t account for three teams that could force Carmel out and alter the seedings.
