Coming off a loss in their first game, Sobrato looks forward to
Saturday
After a tough start in the opener last week in its first ever varsity game, Sobrato’s fledgling varsity team hopes to rebound in its “home” opener Saturday at Live Oak High’s Richert Field.
But things don’t get easier for the young Bulldogs this week against Santa Clara, which has a good chance for contending for the El Camino League title this year.
“I think we will come back and play much better,” said Sobrato coach Jeff Patterson. “I feel much better about the stuff we want to do this week. We just can’t let their size intimidate us. Santa Clara is probably one of best teams we’ll play, but I knew that when we scheduled them. It’s not going to easy, but I expect the guys to be able to execute some things.”
Santa Clara is coming off a 9-7 victory over Santa Teresa and an 18-13 victory over Leland in their opener. Last week, Santa Clara kicked a field goal in the first quarter and then scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Bruins did most of their damage on the ground, rushing for almost 300 yards. All five of their passing attempts were incomplete in last week’s outing. The Bruins, who have attempted only nine passes this season, have just one six-yard completion.
Though they’ve struggled in the air, Santa Clara has proven they can move the chains on the ground. Bruins junior Justice Patterson leads the team with 251 rushing yards, averaging more than eight yards per carry. The Bruins also have other potentially explosive rushers in Nick Brodack (179 yards) and Jacob Ratliff (77 yards). Both players are averaging about five yards per carry.
On the other hand, Sobrato struggled in its 22-0 loss at Cupertino last week. Mistakes and turnovers proved to be costly for Bull dogs, but Patterson isn’t concerned with the past – he’s too busy thinking about the future
“We gave up only 22 points,” Patterson said. “Our offense put the defense in bad spots to begin with. We made some good hits. It was a matter of making the hits sooner. If the defense comes out and reacts like in practice, we should be fine.”
The players were a little down early in the week, but have regained their drive, according to Patterson.
“The first day back was kind of a rough one,” Patterson said. “Maybe we should have given them the first day off. I think everyone was a little frustrated. We are just going to try to do what we can do best and not worry about what they do. Both I and the players made some mistakes. We just have to learn from them. We’re just going to try not to overcoach.”
Patterson said he plans on changing the look of the rushing game this week to give some more looks to players like Russ Tirey, Eric Woodruff and Ramon Watkins coming out from the backfield.
Nathan Mixter is a staff writer. Reach him at nm*****@************ch.com
