Morgan Hill
– The final score may have been ugly, but a strong second-half
defensive effort by the young Sobrato Bulldogs kept Saturday’s home
opener loss to Santa Clara from becoming a true laugher. Outmatched
from the opening whistle, the Bulldogs fell to the Bruins 48-6 in
their first-ever home varsity g
ame, played at Live Oak High’s Richert Field.
Morgan Hill – The final score may have been ugly, but a strong second-half defensive effort by the young Sobrato Bulldogs kept Saturday’s home opener loss to Santa Clara from becoming a true laugher.
Outmatched from the opening whistle, the Bulldogs fell to the Bruins 48-6 in their first-ever home varsity game, played at Live Oak High’s Richert Field.
Bulldog head coach Jeff Patterson said he knew coming into the game that the Bruins would be a tough assignment and was proud his team played hard until the very end.
“I’m happy that they just kept playing,” Patterson said. “We tell them to stay in there and just keep playing. We’re going to get better. ”
Patterson and several Sobrato players admitted that the Bulldog squad, which features no senior players, was physically overmatched. Sobrato’s starting center weighs less than 200 pounds and was matched up against a Santa Clara linebacker who could bench press 300 pounds.
Defensive end Darian Chatman said he was lined up against a 6-foot-3 offensive tackle whom he estimated weighed more than 300 pounds. Chatman said all he could was keep scrapping on every play despite the circumstances.
The physical mismatches were compounded by Bulldog mistakes, including four fumbles – all resulting in Bruin touchdowns.
By half time, the Bulldogs found themselves down 28-0, 21 of those points resulting from turnovers.
The first blow was struck during Santa Clara’s opening drive.
Despite three penalty setbacks, the Bruins still managed to drive 56 yards, punctuating the performance with a 21-yard touchdown reception by Nick Brodack for a quick 7-0 lead.
Later in the same quarter, with Sobrato backed up on the 1-yardline, Bulldog quarterback Matt Kellett opted for a surprise pooch punt which hit off a Bruin and was recovered by the Bulldogs.
However, just two plays later, Kellett coughed up the ball on a botched lateral that recovered by Santa Clara on the Sobrato 5-yardline. This set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Jacob Ratliff to make it 14-0.
Two fumbles later, Sobrato found themselves down by four touchdowns.
Opening the second half, the Bulldogs fumbled again. The ball was recovered by Santa Clara’s Brooks Tamone, who ran 35 yards for a touchdown and a 35-0 lead.
The next two Santa Clara touchdowns were earned by the Bruin offense.
After a potential touchdown off a Bruin fumble was overruled because of a defensive holding call on Sobrato, Santa Clara’s Terrance Blackman ran 45 yards for a touchdown. A botched snap on the extra point attempt meant the Bruins had to settle for a 41-0 lead.
The final Bruin touchdown came 16 seconds into the fourth quarter when Ratliff capped off a 35-yard drive with a 1-yard run into the endzone. After the extra point, Santa Clara led 48-0.
But when most teams would have thrown in the towel, Sobrato found a spark.
The Bulldogs needed just one play after the final Bruin touchdown to add one of their own when Erik Woodruff scampered 66 yards for a historically significant score.
Though the 2-point conversion failed, that run marked the first points Sobrato has ever put on the board as a varsity football team.
“It was all my coach’s plan,” Woodruff said after the game. “We worked on that play all week. And I knew during practice, that play was going to be a touchdown.”
After the touchdown, Sobrato’s defense was on fire.
They hit the Bruins harder than they had the entire game, forcing Santa Clara to punt twice. Still, all was not perfect – the Bulldogs continued to have trouble hanging on to the ball on those punt returns, leading to near total control of the ball by Santa Clara in the fourth quarter.
“We just got pumped (after the touchdown) and we were not going to give up,” Chatman said. “They thought they had us; they got cocky. We are not a big team, but next year we are going to be as good, if not better than that team.”
Patterson said Santa Clara will be one of the toughest teams Sobrato faces all year, but he said he had planned it this way.
“I knew these guys were going to be tough, that’s why I scheduled them,” Patterson said. “But we’ve got a couple games coming up that we should win.”
The Bulldogs will hit the road Friday when they take on Harker at 7:30pm in San Jose.
TCAL Roundup
Wilcox 27, San Benito 19
•The Haybalers (1-2) travel to San Jose and are handed their second loss of the season; revenge for Wilcox after CCS playoff loss to SBHS last year. Next up: WCAL power Bellarmine.
Gilroy 37, Watsonville 14
• Justin Sweeney’s (215 total yards) night over by third quarter as ’Stangs (3-0) romp past Wildcatz. Next up: Tough San Lorenzo Valley squad that beat WCAL’s St. Ignatius on Saturday.
ALSO:
• North Salinas 28, Greenfield 12
• Palma 28, Santa Cruz 7
• Salinas 52, Alvarez 0
