In a year of firsts for the Sobrato football team, the Bulldogs will enter the Central Coast Section playoffs for the second-consecutive season for the first time in the school history. And for the first time, Sobrato will be hosting the game.
The Bulldogs (7-3, 5-2 in the Blossom Valley Athletic League) enter the postseason for the fourth time since 2007 at 7 p.m. Saturday when they host West Catholic Athletic League opponent Archbishop Riordan (3-7, 0-7 in the WCAL) in the first round of the Division III playoffs.
After finishing in second place in the BVAL’s Mount Hamilton Division standings, the Bulldogs will play as the No. 2 seed – the school’s highest mark in its short history.
Despite all of the accomplishments entering Saturday’s game, the team is far from ready to end it’s season, head coach Nick Borello said.
“It’s been a long time building to this,” Borello said. “It definitely feels good to see it culminate to something as big as a high seed in the playoffs and a home game. We in the program are really proud of the work we’ve done and what we’ve been able to accomplish. But we want to get that first playoff win.”
After coming up short against Aragon a year ago in the playoff’s first round, the Bulldogs, led by returners Miguel Redmond, William Puna and brothers Nick and Isaiah Hardy, entered the 2012 season wanting to rid themselves of last year’s bad taste. After rolling through its first season in the Mount Hamilton Division with wins over long-time league powers like Willow Glen and Pioneer, the Bulldogs will get that chance Saturday.
“We have put all that work in last year and we had a bad taste in our mouth from that away game,” Nick Hardy said. “We don’t want that to happen again this year. This year is like a big stepping stone for our program. We’ve been doing a lot of things and breaking a lot records. This season has been great and we can make a lot of noise in the playoffs if we do our jobs like we are supposed to.”
The Bulldogs aren’t taking Riordan lightly, despite the Crusaders sub .500 record. With such a tough schedule, it’s difficult to see how good the Crusaders are. Regardless, the Bulldogs believe they are ready for the DIII No. 7 seed.
“”It’s going to be exiting,” said Redmond, who leads the Bulldogs with 1,135 yards rushing on 146 carries. “We are going to be ready. It’s going to be a nasty game.”
The Bulldogs will have to key on a the running combination of senior David Gunter (102 carries for 462 yards) and junior Zack Masoli (70 carries for 320 yards) to slow down the Crusaders. As a run-first team the Crusaders bring size challenges to the Bulldogs on both sides of the ball.
“They are big as all West Catholic teams are,” quarterback Michael Bocksnick said. “We just have to execute the little things especially in the playoffs. Offensively, We should be fine. On defense, if we tackle we should be good as well. They have a lot of talent. They are going to be good.”
The most important thing for the Bulldogs will be to score first and force the Crusaders to get away from the run game, Borello said.
“I think it’s going to be another good game,” he said. “I think if we can find a way to get some points on the board early and keep them out of their power eye clock soaking offense, I think we have a really good shot at winning. If our offense struggles early and they are soaking up the clock and adding points it could be a long day.”
A win, though, would be a tremendous accomplishment for the team, he said.
“There is literally 11 guys contributing on every snap – it isn’t just one guy,” he said. “It’s fun to see the end result. It’s fun to see some of the results after all the time and the blood sweat and tears.”
He continued: “I hope for their sake we get that first playoff win and a deep run into the playoffs here. This team is just as worthy of any team in the playoffs of a section title.”
