Sobrato finally got to breathe a sigh of relief after picking up a 35-10 win over Monterey on Saturday ending a seven-game losing streak dating back to last September.
Jared Jones rushed for 257 yards and three touchdowns, out gaining Monterey by him self.
“It is always great to win, but especially after losing the first two games,” Jones said. “I think it is a great way to go into league. I think we’re going to be pumped up.”
Sobrato’s defense held the Toreadores to 186 of total offense, 83 of which came on one play. Monterey had five total yards in the first half, but an 83-yard touchdown run on the second play of the third quarter spoiled the shutout.
Meanwhile, quarterback John Bell threw for 149 yards and a touchdown, completing 9 of 14 passing with an interception.
Sobrato had 461 yards of total offense, including 312 yards on the ground.
“We talked weeks prior about us trying to establish a run game and try to find an identity,” said coach Tony Holmes. “We know that we can control the ball but we wanted to move forward and we wanted to establish a really good run game that opened up the passing and I think that is what made the win so special.”
All of it left Holmes ecstatic as he said he finally got four quarters of football out of his boys.
“We have to play four quarters of football regardless of the weather conditions and regardless of everything else,” Holmes said.
Jones helped Sobrato get out to a fast start, scoring touchdowns in the first quarter on a two-yard run and a 79-yard run for a 14-0 first half lead.
“I’ve got to give all the credit to the O linemen and the receivers and to coach for giving me a chance to have the ball in my hands,” Jones said.
Coming out of halftime, Jones was sitting on 123 yards rushing. He promised his offensive line if he broke 200 he would buy all of them In n Out Burger. He needed seven carries to gain the 77 yards needed to pay off the promise.
This was also a first glance at what Sobrato might be facing in the West Valley Division, which it will kickoff on Sept. 22 against Andrew Hill.
The Bulldogs battled two tough teams in Christopher—who has jumped out to a 3-0 record after knocking off Carmel—and Sacred Heart Prep.
“During the first two games we learned a lot. Honestly to comeback today after playing a team like Sacred Heart Prep—whose offensive line just gets off so fast—and you come back and you talk to your team and try to get them to understand that speed kills and the person who gets off the line the quickest wins. … I think the kids responded well.”
He said the game plan was simply to have the kids hustle to the ball, control the gaps and keep everything in front of them and it worked on Saturday.
Monterey is in the Monterey Bay League’s B division, but has hit a rough patch of late, losing seven in a row dating back to last season.
Holmes said he simplified the defense and it paid off as Sobrato continually harassed the quarterback and completely shut down the Monterey run game outside of one play.
“I think we were doing a little too much in the beginning and we just simplified the play calling and told our boys to get after it. Read and react. I think that was the concept and I think that made it a little easier,” Holmes said. “…Once we simplified a little bit on the defensive front, that allowed us to play with speed.”
Sobrato had three take aways in the game, including an interception by Harrison Zhang that led to a score and a fumble recovery by Gabriel Anaya.
Take away Azjani McGill’s 83-yard touchdown run and Monterey rushed for 15 yards total.
“That one play was a fluke. Period. We made a mistake. If we had been a little more greedy, it would have gone for a loss,” Holmes said. “But it ends up being an 83 yard gain. We’re going to talk about it, discuss it and work on ways to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Monterey converted six first downs for the game, including the long touchdown run.
But the defense overall held.
Monterey’s best drive came in the third quarter coming off of Bell’s lone interception of the game.
The Toreadores drove the ball 67 yards on 12 plays, but finally stalled inside of the 15. They settled for a 23-yard field goal to push to within 14-10.
While it appeared Monterey was right back in the game, in reality Sobrato holding on third down to force a field goal was the turning point of the game.
“Honestly I think the second half was ours because of our conditioning and our time in our weight room,” Holmes said. “That’s what made that second half significant.”
The Bulldogs answered with a six-play 69-yard drive with Bell running for five yards on an option play just shy of two minutes after Monterey’s field goal.
And once Sobrato tasted blood, it went for the throat.
The Bulldogs went on a 13-play, 55-yard drive that culminated in Bell hitting Marcos Ramirez for a 25-yard touchdown on fourth and goal.
Sobrato capped off the day with Jones breaking the 250-yard mark by rushing for 27 yards for a touchdown with 1:24 to play in the game.
The Bulldogs immediately got the ball back thanks to a fumble on the kickoff and they settled to run the clock out to get the win.
Sobrato will now enter its bye week gearing up to take on Hill to officially kick off West Valley play.
“I do wish we had a game (this week). I kind of don’t like having a bye week,” Jones said. “But we’ll prepare for Hill and we’ll be ready for them.”
