The 2025 Sobrato football team made history. In the school’s 20th year of football, the Bulldogs reached the program’s first Central Coast Section final. Sobrato won two playoff games before falling 31-30 in overtime in the Division V title match last Saturday.
Additionally, this ended an eight-year streak of good seasons that fell short of the CCS playoffs. The last post-season participation came in 2017, and one must go back to 2012 to find Sobrato’s only previous playoff win.
This year’s Bulldog squad capped a 4-1 league slate with a playoff run for the ages. Sobrato opened by beating Santa Cruz 28-17 in a quarterfinal at home on Nov. 14. A week later, they topped Terra Nova 27-19 in a semifinal on campus.
In the title contest on a cool Saturday afternoon Nov. 29 at MacDonald High in Santa Clara, regulation play ended with a 24-24 deadlock. In overtime, with alternating possessions from the 10-yard line, Piedmont Hills scored first and kicked the extra point, while Sobrato scored but fell a yard short on a do-or-die two-point conversion.
“This game was a battle,” Sobrato running back Brady Lennon said. “We played our hardest. It didn’t turn out in our favor. But we had an amazing season.”
The offense had a strong foundation in an ever-improving offensive line. The ground game was paced by Lennon, who ran for more than 1,400 yards for the season. Quarterback Brayden Hughes provided a dual running and passing threat. Jacob Sorrentino led the receiving corps.
“Brady played extremely hard,” coach Joel Rueda said. “He knows one speed and one speed only. Our offensive line allowed us to put up numbers. And Brayden is awesome. People like that don’t come around often. He had a goal to be the starting quarterback, and he worked and worked, and you saw the product throughout this season.”
On defense, Sobrato featured a host of leaders, with linebacker Rayan Daneshvar often leading the team in tackles. Jace Aguilera, Braylen Belardes and many more made big contributions, and sophomore Nathan Faavae was a revelation.
“He (Faavae) makes big plays,” Rueda said. “He started off finding his way and he’s become the heart and soul of our team. He plays with a lot of energy and is a natural leader.”
The first test in the playoffs was Santa Cruz, champion of the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Santa Lucia Division. They were 7-2 and scoring 34.7 points per game. Sobrato trailed 17-14 at halftime but two third quarter rushing touchdowns from Lennon put them ahead and the defense held Santa Cruz scoreless after the break.
Terra Nova of Pacifica, champion of the Peninsula Athletic League, El Camino Division was unbeaten in five league outings, allowing a total of 28 points in those wins. But the Sobrato offensive line and Lennon’s running dominated the contest, with the junior back collecting 232 yards and three touchdowns.
The defense was stellar, picking off four interceptions. Michael Moore stole two and Sorrentino and Daneshvar each grabbed one interception.
A week later, Sobrato made its first appearance in a CCS final. Hughes threw a 13-yard scoring pass to Gabriel Yellowhorse Ruiz in the first half, which ended 10-7 in favor of the Pirates.
Faavae made a key play in the third quarter, picking up a fumble and rambling 38 yards into the red zone. Garren Atwood scored from the 13 on a jet sweep. Later, Hughes found Sorrentino for a 9-yard touchdown toss for a 24-17 lead, but the Pirates came back to tie.
In overtime, the Pirates scored on their possession and kicked the extra point for a 31-24 lead. Sobrato scored on a three-yard bootleg run by Hughes. On the conversion attempt, Lennon took a handoff and plowed into the line. It was jammed with players from both sides and he gained ground, but not quite enough.
“It was an option play,” Lennon said. “He handed me the ball but their middle linebacker blitzed. I think I got to the 1-yard line.”
In the early part of the season, Rueda intentionally scheduled big-time opponents and it was a rough go.
“From the first game, we challenged ourselves,” Rueda said. “I scheduled teams like Bellarmine. We challenged the guys and they responded. I scheduled tough because I wanted our team to be battle-tested. We got better because of it. We persevered and it set us up for a run like this.”
Earlier in the season, Sobrato lost to Bellarmine 6-0, Live Oak 56-21 and Branham 56-27, while routing Seaside 35-4.
“We started off a little shaky,” Lennon said. “Toward the second half of the season, our pass protection got better. Our line got better. And our receivers started catching more balls.”
The battle-hardened Bulldogs went 5-1 in league play. They outscored Piedmont Hills 40-30, beat Westmont 28-7, dominated Gilroy 42-7, ripped Gunderson 33-14 and topped Leland 21-14. In the regular season finale, they were edged by league champion Willow Glen 23-18.
Regular season highlights were plentiful. Lennon ran for 242 yards and three touchdowns on just 17 carries in the regular season game against Piedmont Hills. He picked up 171 yards and scored four times against Gunderson.
Hughes completed 10-of-12 passes on three separate occasions—against Seaside, Branham and Gilroy. He threw for three touchdowns against Westmont and produced 248 passing yards at Gilroy and 223 against Seaside.
As Rueda envisioned, the hard pre-season schedule launched Sobrato into a successful league campaign. And an unprecedented playoff run. Nonetheless, the Bulldogs players and fans felt disappointment after the loss to the Pirates.
“It was a great game,” Hughes said. “Piedmont Hills is a great team. We worked hard to win the first CCS championship in school history. Sobrato has a bright future.”
Perspective would come later. This team’s accomplishments stand at the top of Sobrato athletic history.
“This is not something that’s happened overnight,” Rueda said. “I was hired in May 2022 and this is my first four-year class. We’ve built up every single year. This team set the standard for future generations of Sobrato players. As an alum, I’m disappointed now but I’ll be proud looking back.”
