After winning its first postseason game Saturday against Archbishop Riordan, things only get tougher for the Bulldogs, as they will play another West Catholic Athletic League opponent – Valley Christian – in Saturday’s Division III semifinals.
The No. 3 ranked Warriors (5-6) will come to Morgan Hill at 7 p.m. Saturday having defeated Burlingame 56-14 in the Central Coast Section Division III first round.
Despite their sub-.500 record, the Warriors possess an explosive offense that has scored at least 21 points in every game this year. Sobrato, though, enters winning five of its past six games.
Valley Christian, which struggled inside the WCAL to finish with a 2-5 record, has played well against non-league opponents. It’s only non-league loss came against Vacaville in the season’s first game.
The Warriors use a heavy run game to control the clock against Sobrato. Rushing for more than 330 yards per game, Valley Christian has used 18 different runners in the 11 game season.
Senior Ryan Severson (134 carries and 1,744 yards) and sophomore Kirk Johnson (131 carries and 1,047 yards) carry the load for the Warriors.
Against Burlingame in round one, Severson was dominant, taking only six carries for 196 yards and four touchdowns. As a team, the Warriors ran for 338 yards. They did not attempt a pass in the blowout win.
The Bulldogs, though, enter with plenty of momentum as well, running away from WCAL opponent Riordan in Saturday’s 40-17 victory.
Quarterback Michael Bocksnick lit up the Riordan defense, throwing for 146 yards and rushing for an additional 120. He accounted for four Bulldog touchdowns in the win.
Miguel Redmond also ran for 64 yards and receiver JoJo Nunn scored three touchdowns to propel the Bulldogs. Against Valley Christian, Sobrato will need more from its important players on both offense and defense.
And the players knew that as soon as the game ended last week. Head coach Nick Borello said they’ll need to clean up penalties and turnovers to have a shot against Valley Christian after Saturday’s win.
“We made some mistakes, and some penalties,” he said Saturday. “We have to clean that stuff up. If we play the same game next week we may get 40 put they will put 60 on us. They will take advantage of those mistakes. They play hard. They hit hard. They tackle.”
The winner of Saturday’s game will play in the Division III championship game against the winner of Aptos and Monterey.
