The Dawgs are scratching at the gate ready to be let out. And they will finally get their chance tonight traveling to Overfelt.
Sobrato is itching to get off on a positive note after a disappointing 2-8 run a year ago under coach Tony Holmes.
But Holmes now has a full offseason under his belt with the boys, his team is working hard around him and there is just a positive vibe as Sobrato heads into Week 1.
“We’ve come quite a long ways and right now we have an opportunity to accomplish so much more because of that,” Holmes said.
Whether they are in league or not, Holmes said there is one goal for his boys this season and it’s a goal he expects will carry them toward the playoffs: Be aggressive in the trenches.
“We want to be the best up front. That’s what we want to be known for,” Holmes said. “We want to be physical.”
The goal defensively, he said, is to keep opponents to under 100 yards rushing. Conversely, Holmes said, is to rush for 150 yards per game.
At the helm of Holmes’ offense is John Bell who steps in after a solid year as the JV quarterback and seeing some time at the end of the year at varsity.
The coach has full confidence in Bell heading into this year, but Holmes wants to make sure he doesn’t demand too much out of Bell took quickly.
He said he wants to make sure Bell gets a good feel for the offense and in the game.
“Game 1 is not for John Bell. Game 1 is for the four weapons I have coming out of the back field and the guys up front to get that experience and to get that toughness,” Holmes said. “We want to get that confidence building. The expectation for Game 1 is to rush for 200 yards and that might be from a combination of athletes.”
There are four players vying for running time. Holmes said some of these boys, including Isaiah Ferandez and Riley Owen will see joint time as receiver and running back along with Jarod Jones and Ryan Monahan.
“They know the system. They understand the blocking scheme and how to attack the line of scrimmage,” Holmes said of his younger backs. “You’re going to see a lot of them too.”
Up front leading the charge will be a solid group of linemen, which is much deeper than Sobrato was last year.
“We’re going to see a lot more physicality up front,” Holmes said. “That’s going to be the biggest difference from last year to this year. Last year we were thin up front. We have some guys who will push the load.”
He said last year he wanted to run the football a lot more, but it was hard when the team was dealing with injuries up and down.
This year, Holmes said he expect the linemen to be deeper and get a little more physical up front.
“We tried to establish a good running game last year, but it was hard when you don’t have the guys up front to do it. This year we do. You will see us in a few new formations,” Holmes said. “You’ll see a few new things that you haven’t seen before when we attack the first game. From the very first game we plan on dominating up front.”
Leading that line will be Isaiah Fernandez, Max Duran and Lance Spagnolo.
All three are captains this year out of four captain spots on the team.
Holmes said there is a positive mix of seniors and juniors on this team that he will expect a lot out of this year. He said those boys are up for the challenge and ready to battle for each other.
“They have a really special bond and they appreciate and respect one another,” Holmes said. “They’re going to get it done this year.”
The first three weeks are set up for Sobrato to see success. Overfelt is a West Valley Division team that went 6-4 overall and just missed out on a league title.
Week 2 will be against Gilroy under the lights at Sobrato for the first time in school history. The Mustangs are likewise coming off of a disappoint season from a year ago and both teams will be looking to make a statement coming out of Week 1.
Finally, Week 3 is the all-important El Toro Bowl game.
This will be the 10th anniversary of the contest that is notorious for being tightly fought, hard-hitting and always unpredictable.
Last year’s 65-0 hurt laid on the Bulldogs by Live Oak not withstanding, of course.
Holmes said he wants his team moving in a positive direction out of the nonleague season. Even one loss along the way will not be the end of the world.
“Anybody can say they want to be 3-0, but you’ve got to be truthful to yourself and honest with yourself,” Holmes said. “We want to go into Live Oak 2-0 with the intention of having momentum. We cannot accomplish that goal going in 1-1 because we’ve just made that task harder. Right now the kids believe they can go in and get it done, so going into Live Oak 2-0 is going to be big for us.”
He said he wants to have a good feeling among the team as it heads into league play.
“Our focus is league. It was last year and definitely more this year,” Holmes said. “Preseason is preseason. It’s just helping us get the gears moving. But Game 4 when Mt. Pleasant comes here to the house, we have to make sure we’re running the ball effectively. Everything should be working fine tuned.”
Sobrato kicks off tonight at 7 p.m. at Overfelt. The Bulldogs will then return home on Sept. 2 for the first ever night game at Sobrato when the Bulldogs take on Gilroy.
