The Sobrato High football team wrapped up its summer session last Friday, and coach Tony Holmes felt most of the goals he had set for the program during this crucial period were met.
“We wanted to get guys acclimated to the hot weather, get them conditioned and make progress in the weight room,” said Holmes, who is entering his fourth season as the Sobrato coach. “We worked really hard to load up on the fundamentals and set a consistent routine in the gym to get ready for our in-season session.”
The summer session started on June 11 and involved non-padded workouts. The official first day of practice for all teams in the Central Coast Section begin on Aug. 3—that’s when players can put the pads on and start hitting. The summer session involved a healthy dose of 7 on 7 games/practices, and concluded with a scrimmage with Gilroy on July 18.
This was a chance for linemen to compete against each other, with a weightlifting session, sled, and footwork competition getting mixed in to break up the monotony.
“It made it fun and gave everyone a little break from the everyday grind,” Holmes said. “We got a chance to see other offenses and defenses.”
The Bulldogs are coming off a season in which they went 8-3 overall and 7-0 in league play to win the Blossom Valley League’s West Valley Division championship. If the Bulldogs are to repeat as division champions, they’ll have to grow up fast. With only four seniors—yes, four—on the roster, Sobrato’s returning players and the ones coming up from the junior varsity team must jell and develop from the outset.
Sobrato graduated 26 seniors off last year’s squad, which will nearly equal this year’s roster total (63 players came out for the summer session, and that number will be divided to make up the varsity and junior varsity programs).
Despite not having the numbers he wanted, Holmes is confident the team can defend its league title.
“I don’t want the guys to think for one minute that we can’t have a successful season,” he said. “A lot of our success last year was based off the 26 seniors that graduated. But I think we have the right kids in place now to be very competitive, and I’m looking forward to seeing them play the opening game.”
That occurs on Aug. 24 when Sobrato plays St. Francis of Watsonville at Santa Cruz High. Holmes mentioned six players—seniors Jonathan Sheets, Gunnar Vereyken, Nick Fernandez and juniors Jordan Sheets, Jesse Redmond and Isaiah Avery—who he expects to have a tremendous impact for the upcoming season.
Jonathan Sheets, a 6-foot-3, 231-pound defensive end/linebacker, is a three-year starter, very physical and one of the vocal leaders on the team.
“He’s one of those guys who lead by example,” Holmes said. “He’s very dedicated and it shows in his knowledge of the game.”
Holmes is expecting big things out of Vereyken, a 6-3, 180-pound defensive end who explodes off the ball and will be looked to get in the opposing team’s backfield often. Fernandez, a 5-10, 175-pound running back/slot receiver, is one of the fastest players on the team and has the potential to break off some big plays.
Redmond, a 5-9, 155-pound running back/free safety, has the potential to be “explosive” and bust off big gains or make an impact defensively. Jordan Sheets, a 6-4, 175-pound quarterback, has all the tools to be a solid starting signal-caller. Sheets played on the JV team a year ago, and he’ll be looked upon to make sound decisions.
“He’s very smart about getting the ball into the hands of receivers,” said Holmes, who expects the 6-2, 170-pound Avery to get reps at QB and push Sheets for the starting position. “Isaiah has a lot of talent, and the preseason will tell us a lot for all of our players. The preseason will set the pace for determining who is going to start for us as we move into the regular season.”
Coaches use the term preseason as the non-league games before league begins, and for Sobrato it has St. Francis, Monterey and San Lorenzo Valley on its schedule. Before that, the Bulldogs will be in the West Valley Division Jamboree on Aug. 17 at James Lick High.
Jonathan Sheets attended football camps at Montana State and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, and came away with the intent to impart what he learned to his teammates.
“I kept some kids after practice to teach them certain things to improve their game,” he said. “One of the things I taught them is the sideline never misses a tackle. If you have an opportunity to force them to the sideline, do it because it’ll always be a tackle.”
A 4.0 GPA student, Sheets plans on doing everything he did last season—only better. “I want to be faster, stronger and smarter on the field,” he said. “The team is looking good, the defense is looking solid, and we’ve still got things to improve on.”
Sheets didn’t need any added motivation but got it in the form of attending the camp at Montana State. Sheets went there hoping Montana State would express further interest only to receive humbling news.
“They said they were no longer interested in me as a prospect,” he said. “It motivates me.”
Sheets knows if he plays well in his senior season, there will be plenty of four-year schools that will be interested in him as a prospect. Talented and hungry, Sheets has a goal of leading Sobrato to another league title through improving his own skills, most notably a superior burst of speed and agility.
