Sobrato took advantage of Overfelt’s turnovers and miscues in a 61-34 rout to stay undefeated in West Valley Division play.
The Bulldogs are one of two teams to remain undefeated in league play through three games and are proving to be the favorite to capture the title. Sobrato will put that record to the test this
Saturday when the Bulldogs host Evergreen Valley, who is the final team sporting a 3-0 record.
The Bulldogs scored 26 points off the Royals’ four fumbles. Two were forced by the Sobrato defense while the others came off miscues during snaps.
“All week we felt like we were the underdog so we just wanted to come out here and make a statement (and) prove we’re the real deal and I feel like we did that tonight,” quarterback John Bell said.
Sobrato’s defense forced the first fumble in Overfelt’s second play of the game and Garret Spriggs recovered the ball on the Royals’ 36-yard line. Four plays later Bell connected with Talon Ziraldo on a 31-yard pass to give the Bulldogs the early 6-0.
Bell took advantage of great field position after Harrison Zhang returned a punt to Overfelt’s 12-yard line and a recovered fumble during Overfelt’s snap to run in the next two touchdowns and take a 19-0 lead.
Bell had six carries for 35 yards.
The Bulldog defense forced a punt in the ensuing possession and again Zhang had a great return, this time to Overfelt’s 20-yard line. Two plays later Jared Jones ran it 3 yards to take 26-0 lead late in the first quarter.
Zhang also contributed with five catches for 39 yards.
“Every game (Zhang) is just a beast out there,” Bell said. “(he’s) all over the field. Special teams especially; punts, kickoffs, always getting us great field position.”
Jones had four touchdowns and 84 yards on 14 carries, including a 31-yard run to give the Bulldogs a 40-8 lead at the half.
“With them you have to be patient because they’re fast so you have to wait until the hole opens up and then you have to hit it hard,” Jones said.
He also added he gave “props” to his linemen for matching Overfelt’s D-line’s physicality.
Bell also finished his night with four touchdowns, his last one a 10-yard pass to Ryan Monahan after the Royals turned the ball over on downs on their own 33-yard line to extend the lead 54-8 in the third quarter.
Bell had 11 completions on 19 attempts for 155 yards.
Defensively, the Bulldogs contained the Royals until late in the third quarter. The only big play in the first half for Overfelt was Shalom Filoialii’s 85-yard touchdown run near the end of the first quarter to cut Sobrato’s lead 26-8 after the successful two-point conversion.
Filoialii scored again near the end of the third quarter on a 40-yard run. The Royals recovered an onside kick following the score, but the Bulldog defense forced them to turn the ball over on downs after Overfelt was inches short on a fourth-and-three attempt on Sobrato’s 41-yard line.
Despite the score, Overfelt kept giving the ball to Filoialii to make plays and he didn’t disappoint. He broke lose again near the end of the third quarter for an 82-yard touchdown run.
With four seconds left on the game clock, Filoialii got this fourth touchdown on a six-yard run.
Filoialii finished with 259 rushing yards.
“We knew it was going to be a physical matchup and I think that some of these leaders in the team took it all in and they kind of made sure that we stuck to the game plan,” coach Holmes said.
