Saturday night in the BVAL-Mount Hamilton division, Sobrato edged Piedmont Hills 59-53 on Senior Night.
“This means a lot to me - we're going to the playoffs as a top four seed," said Sobrato fullback Miguel Redmond, “We worked our butts off to win, but I didn’t expect it to be this close.”
Sobrato will now meet Archbishop Riordan in the CCS playoffs on Saturday at Live Oak High.
Jalen Williams scored on a 2-yard run on Piedmont Hills' first possession. Sobrato immediately responded with a 60-yard run by quarterback Michael Bocksnick edging his team close to the end zone. Calvin Tipton capped the short drive with a 3-yard scoring run to make it 7-7.
Piedmont Hills (4-6, 3-4) ended up leading 13-7 at the end of the first quarter, after a 24-yard pass from Anthony McBride to Nate Lealao. The Pirates came into the game needing a win to clinch the fourth and final playoff spot from the BVAL-MH.
“(Piedmont Hills) came to play. They came to get their playoff spot, but we won. We overcame a slow start,” said Tipton, “We just have to go to practice next week and play harder, whoever our opponent.”
Sobrato (7-3, 5-2) came out hot in the second quarter with an immediate 39-yard touchdown run from Bocksnick. Miguel Redmond increased the Sobrato lead with a 12-yard touchdown pass.
But Piedmont Hills had the last strike of the half with a 95-yard touchdown run by Aaron Tillak. Sobrato led 23-19 heading into the break.
"It came down to whoever made the last mistake,” said Sobrato coach Nick Borello.
The second half went back and forth with touchdowns for both sides. Piedmont Hill’s Williams had a 26-yard scoring run. Then Piedmont Hills' AZ Dyer caught an 18-yard touchdown pass. Sobrato’s Isaiah Hardy scored with a 55-yard touchdown pass. Bocksnick ran one in from 81 yards. Then, to end the quarter, Sobrato’s Nick Hardy caught a 30-yard touchdown pass, putting his team up 45-39 lead at the end of the third quarter.
“We fought a good fight. I felt like we just fell apart,” Williams said. “I hope the best for my team next year.”
With Tillak and Dyer running in a touchdown each for Piedmont Hills, the lead went back and forth. Sobrato came out ahead after touchdowns by Redmond and Isaiah Hardy.
“We told them all week, 48 minutes until you earn another 48 minutes," Piedmont Hills coach Matt Kiesle said. "We just couldn’t do it. We made too many mistakes. We’re a young team, so we feel good about the future. But that’s a long ways away and we wanted the future to be now."
The defeat was a difficult one to take for the Pirates, considering how close they came to clinching a playoff spot.
"We had a few opportunities to stretch the lead out, but we couldn’t. I said all year that the team most likely to beat us, is us," Kiesle said. "We feel like we beat ourselves a lot and you can’t do that. We will go back to the drawing board and figure out how to do it next year.”
