MORGAN HILL After a scoreless first quarter, the Sobrato
Bulldogs football team went on a 37-point tear to defeat the Willow
Glen Rams and clinch their first-ever division title.
MORGAN HILL
After a scoreless first quarter, the Sobrato Bulldogs football team went on a 37-point tear to defeat the Willow Glen Rams and clinch their first-ever division title.
Looking for their first shut-out of the season, the Bulldogs held the Rams scoreless through three quarters, and almost through four, but gave up a touchdown with six seconds left in the game.
Junior running back Tony Zizzo started things off for Sobrato with a nine-yard touchdown run two-and-a-half minutes into the second quarter.
Sobrato junior quarterback Steven Sorce completed a pass to Jo Jo Anaya for the two-point conversion.
Five plays into the Rams’ ensuing drive, Anaya collected a Rams fumble at the Sobrato 33-yard line and returned it 67 yards, untouched, for the TD.
The Bulldogs tried for two again, but Sorce’s pass sailed out of bounds, just beyond the outstretched arms of senior tight end Jarom Warren’s hands.
The Bulldogs went into halftime up 14-0.
In the second half the Bulldogs maintained a relentless offensive attack led by Sorce.
On their first drive of the half, Sobrato burned four minutes off the clock on an eight-play drive.
Sorce hit senior tight end Robert Glew with an 18-yard pass up the middle for the TD to cap the drive.
It was Glew’s only reception of the game and the first TD of his career.
Sorce completed a pass to Zizzo for the two-point conversion giving the Bulldogs a 22-0 advantage.
With time ticking down in the third quarter, Sorce completed a 10-play drive on a four-yard quarterback sneak for the score.
Sophomore kicker and wide-receiver Adam Guerra completed the Bulldogs’ third two-point conversion, taking a hand off around the end and into the endzone.
On the ensuing kickoff Guerra “squibbed” the kick, which the Rams subsequently mishandled.
A squib kick is a low flying kick that takes unexpected bounces and can be hard for the receiving team to handle.
Guerra’s execution of the kick caused the Rams to mishandle the ball every time.
Struggling for an offensive kick start, the Rams were quickly forced to punt on their first possession of the fourth quarter, and again, the Bulldogs took full advantage of their balanced, high-powered offense.
Sobrato took to the air as Sorce connected with junior wide receiver Alex Meldrum, who sprinted down the side line for a 59-yard TD.
Opting for the extra point, Guerra’s kick sailed high through the goal posts, pushing Sobrato’s lead to 37-0.
On first down of Willow Glen’s ensuing possession, senior outside linebacker Shane Kendall intercepted a pass giving Sobrato another offensive opportunity with less than four minutes to play.
The Bulldogs drove the ball down to the Ram’s five-yard line, but were unable to score on fourth-and-goal.
Coach Dan Brown began bringing his defensive reserves into the game on the Rams’ final possession.
However, with a first-and-10 from the one-yard line the Rams offense marched 99 yards on 10 plays to score their only points of the game.
Despite giving up a TD, Brown was proud of his team’s relentless effort.
“We believed that with our depth we could ground and pound them,” Brown said. “But we’re big on being balanced, and I had confidence in Sorce.”
Sorce went 7-10 passing with 173 yards, two passing and one rushing TD.
Zizzo finished with 13 carries for 81 yards and a TD.
Meldrum displayed his versatility with three catches for 125 yards and one TD, and had 49 yards rushing on two carries.
Anaya had only four carries for 19 yards, but did all the little things for the Bulldogs.
Defensive coordinator Norm Brown said it will be hard to replace Anaya whom he described as the catalyst of the team.
“Jo Jo deserves a lot of credit for being such a mature young man,” Norm said. “He’s been through a lot and proven that he is a leader.”
Anaya referenced last year’s loss to the Rams as a reason for the uneven win.
“For my coaches the goal was to get a shutout,” Anaya said. “We played almost four full quarters of football, but regardless, this was a little payback from last year.”
“Our backup quarterback stepped it up,” Anaya said. “I got to give him props for his composure.
“Now it’s playoffs for Sobrato … we’re earning our respect and people know who we are.”
