With four 50-point losses, Sobrato focuses on changes for next
season Following the 67-0 loss to Sonoma Valley, the fourth
straight defeat of 50 points or more, the Sobrato varsity football
team is preparing for next season.
Following the 67-0 loss to Sonoma Valley, the fourth straight defeat of 50 points or more, the Sobrato varsity football team is preparing for next season.
Head coach Jeff Patterson said he is now trying out a new offense he hopes to use next year when Sobrato, along with Live Oak, join the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
“I wanted to see what everyone could do on the field,” Patterson said. “(The new offense) will take advantage of the lack of size but good speed on the offensive line for next year.”
Hindered by injuries to seven starters, including quarterback Matt Kellett and running back Eric Woodruff, both who suffered concussions, the Bulldogs were only able to convert two first downs, both in the second half.
However, Patterson said while his team was not gaining many yards on offense, it was not going backwards either – Sobrato had five plays result in a loss of 11 yards.
“We didn’t have many negative yardage plays,” Patterson said. “And all the negative yard plays are all things we can fix.”
The Bulldogs were held to a total of 50 yards on the night.
Sobrato also called up several junior varsity players, many of whom were still playing at that level last week.
One of the former JV players, Cody Vivian, came up big late in the second quarter, Patterson said.
A Dragon running back had the ball stripped from his hands and Vivian recovered the fumble, running it back about 30 yards.
“He did very well,” said linebacker Darian Chatman. “He was playing with heart. (The whole defense) was playing with a lot of energy. Nobody is going to out work us.”
With only 18 seconds to play in the half, the Bulldogs ran out of time to convert the turnover into points.
Sobrato initially started out strong forcing the Dragons of Sonoma to fumble inside the Bulldog 10-yard-line.
However, back-up quarterback Chris Montoya dropped the ball in his own endzone that was scooped up by Wayne Wood.
Turnovers would continue to plague the young Bulldogs.
Sobrato turned the ball over five times, four resulting in touchdowns for the Dragons, including an interception in the third quarter that was run back more than 40 yards for a Sonoma touchdown.
The Dragons extended their lead, at that point to 53-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, Sobrato watched as the ball bounced around on the field close to the sideline. Sonoma Valley fell on the loose pig skin.
Four plays and 42 yards later, the score was extended to 60-0.
But not all of the points were the result of Bulldog mistakes.
In the first quarter, Sonoma unleashed its speed with Ian Albrecht and Casey Moll who streaked down the sideline, beating their defenders for 59-yard and 50-yard touchdowns, respectively.
Patterson said the Bulldogs will have a chance next week when they take on Mission Prep from San Luis Obispo for the final home game of the season.
He said Mission Prep is in a similar situation to his boys, so the game should be interesting. But he added that, at least this season, Sobrato is out there to get experience on the varsity level.
“We are just playing for ourselves,” Patterson said. “We are not playing for anything else except for ourselves to get better.”
Running back Juvenial Rodrigues shared a similar sentiment when he noted that the Dragons were simply a bigger and faster team than they were.
“I knew everything they were going to run,” Rodrigues said. “They were just more physical than us.”
