KING CITY
— Injuries may have hindered the Sobrato football team Friday
night in King City, but turnovers absolutely killed them in the
54-0 loss. Without a few key starters, including quarterback Matt
Kellett who was injured in last week’s game against Alisal, the
Bulldogs were simply outmatched.
KING CITY — Injuries may have hindered the Sobrato football team Friday night in King City, but turnovers absolutely killed them in the 54-0 loss.
Without a few key starters, including quarterback Matt Kellett who was injured in last week’s game against Alisal, the Bulldogs were simply outmatched.
Head Coach Jeff Patterson said his team played hard, except with certain players out sidelined, plays that have worked in previous games couldn’t be run.
“We weren’t able to operate like we wanted to,” Patterson said. “We were able to do some things in the start of the game, but with all the injuries it was very hard.”
Patterson said the turnovers also exposed an area that the team needs to work on.
“We need to do better with the sudden change on defense and on offense,” he said.
In the first quarter, the Sobrato defense kept the Mustangs corralled, allowing three first downs in as many drives and recovered a fumble.
The second quarter, however, the Bulldogs began making mistakes, giving King City excellent field position.
During the first quarter of play, the Mustangs were contained to their own side of the field — their average starting position their own 37-yard-line — but turnovers deep in Bulldog territory gave King City the chance they needed to capitalize.
“We made a lot of mistakes,” said linebacker Juvenal Rodriguez. “We need to work a lot on offense. (But) there has been a lot of improvement — we are really coming together.”
Less than 20 seconds into the second quarter, the Bulldogs fumbled a snap that King City recovered on the 32-yard-line.
The Mustangs responded with eight plays, three for 10 yards or more, ending with a 10-yard run by Juan Mendoza to the endzone and a 6-0 lead.
After going three and out, Sobrato seemed to respond to King City’s touchdown when Eric Woodruff intercepted a pass.
But three players later, Chris Montoya returned the favor by throwing an interception of his own.
The Mustangs needed just two plays to go 40 yards with Mendoza rushing for 37 yards to the endzone. A two-point conversion later, King City led 14-0.
Then things went from bad to worse.
On the kickoff following the touchdown, the ball bounced off a Bulldog receiver and rolled about 15 yards before being smothered by the Mustangs.
While Sobrato initially pushed King City backwards, quarterback Aaron Gomez connected with Lopez for a 28-yard touchdown pass and a 21-0 lead with 1:37 to play in the half.
Lighting may not strike the same place twice, but it came within a few yards when Steven Gutierrez lost control of the ball during the kickoff return and King City recovered.
Then on third down, after a penalty on King City and an incomplete pass, Gomez connected with Lopez again for a 23-yard score and a 28-0 lead.
With less than 30 second to play in the half, Sobrato fumbled a snap that was recovered by King City. And as time expired, Eric Valladarez ran for five yards and the touchdown.
Down 35-0 going into the second half, the Bulldogs returned to their first quarter form and kept the Mustangs out of the endzone and, thanks to Josh Cuevas’ interception forcing the turnover.
Cuevas said the interception was made possible by the defense that played tight and put pressure on the quarterback.
“The only reason why (the quarterback) threw there was because there was good coverage on our part,” Cuevas said. “And God gave me the opportunity to have the ball put in my hands.”
However, in the first play of the fourth quarter — capping off a 60-yard drive which started in the third — Mendoza ran 15 yards for the touchdown and a 41-0 lead.
King City scored twice more in the fourth, once on a Valladarez 27-yard run and later with Brian Lima rushing for a 13-yard score, but none off of Sobrato turnovers.
