Sobrato suffered three key injuries in the first half on its way
to a 50-0 loss to El Molino High School Saturday at Live Oak
’s Richert Field. The Bulldogs, who fall to 2-5 for the season,
gave up 20 points in the first quarter alone with seven more added
in less than 15 seconds into the second.
Sobrato suffered three key injuries in the first half on its way to a 50-0 loss to El Molino High School Saturday at Live Oak’s Richert Field.
The Bulldogs, who fall to 2-5 for the season, gave up 20 points in the first quarter alone with seven more added in less than 15 seconds into the second.
The Lions racked up 43 points in the first half, scoring on every drive except the final one of the second quarter where they took a knee.
Sobrato was physically outmatched by El Molino whose players towered over the young Bulldog team and a few out weighed them by about 75 pounds or more.
Two of the points came from a safety in the second quarter when Steven Gutierrez recovered a fumble in his own endzone and was quickly brought down by a pride of Lions.
Head coach Jeff Patterson said his team is young and still learning and his eyes are on next season where he hopes the boys can use the experience gained through the loses.
“We still found competitive teams to play (after pulling out of the TCAL) and we are still going to try to get better,” Patterson said. “I take responsibility (for the loss). I have got to get the team ready. They are going to get better.”
Patterson cited several new teams when they first formed a varsity squad took their lumps in the inaugural season only to finish 8-2 the following year and play in the playoffs.
But the young Bulldog team — which is playing without any seniors — suffered its third shutout loss in as many games where their opponent outscored them by 40 points or more.
On the first play from scrimmage, Lions’ running back Travis Lopez ran for 46 yards, nearly uncontested, for the score.
The auspicious start was only the beginning.
On the ensuing kickoff, Erik Woodruff and Adrian Alcantara both suffered injuries that sent them to the hospital. Woodruff suffered a concussion and was transported by ambulance. Alcantara had a leg injury.
Late in the second quarter, Mike Wilson also went down with an injury on another kick off return.
Lineman Tommy Broome said the early injuries hurt the team both physically and mentally. When the team learned both Woodruff and Alcantara were OK, he said the Bulldogs played the rest of the game for them.
Without their key running back Woodruff, the Bulldogs were denied a first down the entire first half.
Sobrato did manage to finish with four first downs, one coming on a El Molino penalty and all from the same series in the third quarter.
The entire first half, the Lions started in Bulldog territory, except for their last possession where they started on their own 35-yard-line.
El Molino ran all over the Bulldogs — in more ways than one. The Lions ran 38 of their 43 plays from scrimmage for more than 300 yards and six touchdowns.
Broome said in order to keep games closer, the Bulldogs need to work on containment and eliminate the long runs.
“We have to keep (opponents) to short yardage,” Broome said. “The 50-yard-run plays give them all the momentum.”
The Lions scored one touchdown in the second half which was their longest drive of the game covering 78 yards in about nine minutes capped off with a 12-yard pass from backup quarterback Lucas Golden to tight end Randall Packard.
Sobrato will take on Sonoma Valley at Live Oak on Friday at 7:30pm.
Sonoma Valley is 1-6 overall, with its lone win coming over El Molino in a game where one El Molino coach said they were beaten by “one touchdown that they got lucky on.”
Genaro Redmond said the team needs to work hard this week in practice and cut down on the errors during games.
“It was all mental errors,” Redmond said. “Penalties really cost us too. We need to play hard at practice this week.”
JV Team Struggles Against El Molino
Sobrato High’s JV football team didn’t beat El Molino High on Saturday, but they did score two touchdowns in the 35-12 loss, their third of the season.
Quarterback Alex Meldrum threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver John Cuevas for the first score in the second half of the game, then Eric Lavelle ran 30 yards to put the second six points on the board for the JV Bulldogs. Although the defense struggled, Ronnie Pollard had six tackles and Cody Vivian racked up four.
