In the Central Coast Section Division III semifinals Saturday, the Sobrato football team proved its season-long tenacity was no fluke, but against Valley Christian a 19-0 deficit was too much for the Bulldogs to overcome.
Instead of another come-from-behind win, Sobrato was eliminated from postseason play, falling to the Warriors 52-42 in a shootout in Morgan Hill.
A slow offensive start doomed the No. 2 Bulldogs (8-4) against the West Catholic Athletic League power Valley Christian (6-6) on Saturday, as the Warriors scored on three of its first four drives. Meanwhile, the Sobrato couldn’t find its footing, gaining only 20 yards through the first quarter and a half. But trailing by three scores, the Bulldogs rediscovered its quick-strike offense, as brothers Nick and Isaiah Hardy started to make their mark.
After Valley Christian senior Nick Severson put the Warriors up 19-0 with a little less than five minutes left in the first half, Sobrato’s offense final awoke.
Behind the arm of Michael Bocksnick, who finish going 9-for 17 with 262 yards passing and three touchdowns, Sobrato needed only a minute to respond to the Warriors.
Through the final two quarters, Sobrato matched Valley Christian nearly big play for big play, scoring on four of its six second-half possessions.
“They played inspired tonight,” Sobrato head coach Nick Borello said. “A lot of passion. They knew what was on the line – give everything you have or you’ll go home with nothing but regret. They did everything that they could.”
Sobrato got on the board on a 68-yard strike from Bocksnick to Isaiah Hardy. On a simple slant route across the middle of the field, Hardy caught the ball and bounced off a would-be-tackler to race 50-yards for the score.
The play was just the beginning for Isaiah Hardy, who finished with six catches for 181 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw a 58-yard pass to brother Nick Hardy in the third quarter on a trick play. He also forced a fumble late in the fourth quarter.
The Hardy brothers were dominating at times for Sobrato, combining for four touchdowns and all 320 yards through the air.
“They were awesome.” Borello said. “They were awesome tonight on both sides of the ball. They are a special talent. That type of talent doesn’t come around every day so we hope, they have done enough to get attention and you should see them playing on Saturday.”
The pair not only brought a big play threat Saturday, but also a much needed spark for the Bulldogs.
“We just had to keep moving and keep fighting,” said Nick Hardy, who finished with four catches for 139 yards and two scores. “We never game up. We just wanted to go out in the field and play without any regrets. We wanted to keep pushing. My brother and I wanted to put the team on our back. We got together and we kept fighting.”
After Sobrato’s first score, Valley Christian needed only two plays to answer back, as Jay MacIntyre (3-for-3 for 102 yards) hit Severson for a 50-yard pass to build a 25-7 lead.
Sobrato, though, needed only five plays to pull closer again. Bocksnick hit Nick Hardy for 42 yards to pull within striking, and scored on a seven-yard scramble with only 20 seconds left in the half.
The Bulldogs carried that same momentum in to the third quarter, as the offense started to find holes in the Warrior pass defense. To start the second half, Bocksnick and Miguel Redmond (18 carries for 82 yards) combined for 55 yards on only five plays to pull the Bulldogs to the one-yard line. Redmond then scored to bring Sobrato to within four points at 25-21.
That quick Sobrato score was only a precursor of things to come, as both teams traded scores for the remainder of the game, scoring on their first four drives of the half.
“We knew we could score on them,” Borello said. “We didn’t know if we could keep up with them. We knew we could score. We knew they could score. It was just who was going to get a couple more possession. Both defense struggled tonight obviously.”
He continued: “You have to hand it to them. They have some awesome players. When we thought we had them pinned their guys made individual plays that were pretty awesome.”
Sobrato could never find an answer for junior Kirk Johnson, who finished with 243 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries. The Bulldogs could never bring Johnson down on initial contact throughout the night.
“They were rally hard to bring down,” Isaiah Hardy said. “They were big guys.”
Both teams responded with scores with even bigger plays. After Valley Christian scored again to extend their lead to 31-21, Sobrato answered back with a trick play between the Hardy brothers.
After a backward pass from Bocksnick, Isaiah Hardy fired a 58-yard pass to a wide-open Nick Hardy to bring the Bulldogs to within three points. On the play, Warriors swarmed to Isaiah Hardy, while Nick Hardy ran open by more than 20 yards.
“We were running it all week so I was ready for it,” Isaiah Hardy said. “I didn’t think he would be that wide open. I thought I would have to throw threw a window but it was fine. It was a good throw. “
The excitement didn’t last long as Johnson extended the Warriors lead back to 10 points on the next play, rumbling 64-yards for a touchdown to take a 38-28 lead.
The teams continued to trade scores until – with a 52-42 lead – Valley Christian intercepted a deflected Bocksnick pass with a little more than two minutes left in the game.
Sobrato, though, finished with 448 yards of offense in the loss. The Warriors finished a tad better with 549 yards as Sobrato stopped Valley Christian only three times during the night– one punt and two fumbles.
The loss ended a Sobrato season that included its first ever-postseason win and a second place finish in its debut season in the Blossom Valley’s Mount Hamilton Division. The success should be only a building block for the returning players, Borello said.
“We had a great work ethic,” Borello said. “It was the wiliness to sacrifice to build themselves to a team like that – winning tight games and fighting from behind. This has been the best group I’ve had here. This group has worked harder than any group before them.”
He continued: “The thing is, they keep on trying to top themselves. We hope to move forwards and next year’s group tries to top this one. Hopefully they do because that puts us in the CCS championship game.”
