Sobrato’s offseason progress is exceeding coach’s
expectation
MORGAN HILL — Sitting in his office before the start of Wednesday’s practice, Nick Borello went through the tell-tale numbers in his head: 25 players on varsity, 50 on junior varsity.
With drab color, those figures paint the contemporary history of Sobrato football, a crestfallen program that is showing signs of recovery. For the second straight summer since Borello became the Bulldogs’ head man in the wake of a nasty coaching divorce, Sobrato has yielded a small turnout in varsity players.
An upturn, however, appears on the way.
“It’s still remnants of the past we’re dealing with,” Borello said earnestly. “Some people just don’t want to play football here and, hey, if they don’t want to play, they’re not going to be any help to anybody. … If there were more upperclassmen that wanted to play and were willing to put in the commitment, we’d take them.
“With 50 JV guys, the future looks bright. As promising as it is, though, we just don’t have much depth.”
That places the Bulldogs in a bit of a paradox this summer, as they practice — on eggshells — through a high-impact offseason. They recently took part in a full-contact Competitive Edge Camp and plan to visit another one at the end of this month.
“The drive is there, absolutely. We’re just praying for no injuries,” Borello said. “The real football players, they thrive on being back in gear and hitting.”
Borello likes what he sees in his team’s new wing-T offense, a run-first attack that puts the ball in the hands of Sobrato’s biggest weapons — from center Joel Rueda to quarterback Patrick Bacciarelli to running backs Ralph Jackson, Marcus Patrick and Drew Johnson.
“The new offense looks good,” Borello said. “We’ve seen good progress, but we also saw a lot of things that need to be worked on. The guys have a good enough grip on the offense to where they know, basically, what they’re supposed to do, but they don’t know how to adjust to the defense. That will come with reps.”
Defensively, the Bulldogs are further along than Borello thought they would be.
“We’re happy, overall,” the former defensive coordinator said. “We’re pleasantly surprised, but we still have a lot of work to do.
“We have good players; they’re all good players, all 25 of them. I’m comfortable putting any of them in the game at anytime, but a few injuries here or there (and) we’re in trouble.”
That may not be the case come September. Sobrato has some promising young talent in the works, including sophomores Skylar King, Obi Mbonu and Jerry Jacob Jr. King is physically gifted enough to be a varsity offensive and defensive lineman, and Jacob looks to be the future at quarterback, Borello said.
Mbonu, a cornerback, became an instant highlight machine at the Competitive Edge Camp.
“I know it’s going to sound crazy, but he had — not exaggerating — six interceptions on the first day,” Borello said. “It was like, wow.”
Joe Snyder, a junior wideout/defensive back, is another blossoming addition.
“He’s catching everything that comes his way,” Borello said. “He’s still picking it up defensively, but he tends to be in the right place at the right time.”
Big things can be expected down the road for Sobrato, but Borello’s focus stops at the upcoming season. He is already projecting a good showing in the West Valley Division, which the Bulldogs won two years ago under Dan Brown before jumping to the Santa Teresa Division. Their 2-8 finish in 2008 dropped them back down.
Sobrato fared well against some of its new division foes at the Competitive Edge Camp.
“We’re rebuilding, but I think we have to be considered one of the favorites to win it,” Borello said. “I know we’re going to put a competitive team on the field. Even though it’s a small group, it’s a good group of kids. They want to play and get better. They just need to stay healthy.”
And with that, Borello knocked on his wooden desk and made his way out to practice.
