All three of Hollister’s playoff teams fell in the first round at Andy Hardin Stadium on Sunday, and in all three games, interceptions played a pivotal role in swinging the momentum of the game towards Hollister’s opponents.
The Viking teams was forced to go to the air early and often because they were all playing opponents who did not allow many big rushing plays.
While the Viking teams had some success with the pass, they each found that one pressured throw was all it took to unravel a successful drive.
Jr. Pee Wee
Oak Grove Rattlers 28
Hollister Vikings 0
The Rattlers took the lead early by breaking a 46 yard run for a touchdown on the third play of the game.
When Oak Grove recovered a fumble on the Vikings next possession, they had a chance to take a commanding lead early, but good tackles by Austin Blake and Marcus Sabatte halted that drive.
Nevertheless, Oak Grove made it 15-0 on its next possession with a scoring drive.
A fumble recovery by Darin Hopkins gave the Vikings offense a spark as Tanner Lomanto completed a pass to John Hartshorn. But the Rattlers were able to stop that drive, and preserve their shutout going into the locker room at halftime.
Down by two scores, the Viking defense worked valiantly to keep the game close as Adolfo Davila, Nathan Castro, Ryan Di Salvo, Tyler Pina and Mark Neal all made big plays to keep the Rattler offense at bay.
When quarterback Gregory Vasquez hit Chris Greenwood for a 17-yard gain after the defense had stopped Oak Grove, it looked like the Vikings would be able to climb back into the game.
But that was when Hollister was victimized by the interception, which ended that drive, and swung momentum back to the Rattlers.
The Vikings stiff defense kept the Rattlers from capitalizing on that turnover as Tyler Pina made a big backfield tackle to force fourth and long, and then Neal intercepted the Rattlers pass to get the ball back for Hollister.
But the Vikings could not capitalize on the takeaway, and moments later, the Rattlers running back broke free for another score to put the Rattlers up by 21.
The Vikings passing attack finally started to click as Vasquez hit Neal for 30 yards, and then Greenwood for 20, but a second interception killed that drive as well.
Oak Grove added an insurance score by breaking another long run, eliminating the Junior Pee Wee Vikings with a 28-0 victory.
Pee Wee
Coyote Creek Wildcats 26
Hollister Vikings 0
The Vikings hoped to throw the Wildcats off balance by launching an air attack right out the gate.
On the Vikings first play, quarterback Trevor Fabing connected with Andre Cornell for 15 yards and a first down. On the next play, he hit fullback Tyler Decker for a seven yard gain. On the Vikings third play from scrimmage, Fabing passed to Alex Alvarez for 15 yards and another first down deep in Wildcat territory.
On the fourth play, he was intercepted at the Coyote Creek 12, killing the drive.
Coyote Creek took command of the game on the very next play as their halfback broke an 88-yard run to give Coyote Creek the 8-0 lead that Hollister was hoping to have.
Early in the second quarter, a nice run by Cornell and a reverse by Alvarez got another drive going for the Vikings, but an interception killed that drive as well.
Coyote Creek capitalized on the turnover again, scoring another touchdown to go up 14-0.
The Vikings continued to throw the ball with limited success.
Cornell made another catch and run for 17 yards and a first down, and Fabing also connected with Ricky Rodriguez.
This time, the Vikings avoided the turnover, but the Wildcats stopped that drive with the blitz, sacking Fabing twice.
In the third quarter, Joshua Greenwood took over at quarterback and connected with Richard Sosa for a first down, but the Wildcats ferocious rush ended that drive as well.
The defense held Coyote Creek scoreless throughout most of the second half as Greenwood made several open-field tackles to smother outside runs, and Eddie Perez, Adrian Soto, Isaak Ramos and Justin Raine made several tackles each to shut down the Wildcats on inside runs.
Coyote Creek added two insurance scores in the last six minutes of the game to prevail by a 26-0 margin.
Junior Midget
East Bay Wolves 13
Hollister Vikings 0
The Junior Midget Vikings, who had only one once all year, were heavy underdogs playing a team that had only lost once all year, but the inspired Hollister squad was up to the challenge, holding their opponents scoreless in the first half.
Ryan Shorey sparked the team with a 35-yard return on the opening kickoff, but his first pass resulted in an interception, which required him to make a touchdown-saving tackle on the return.
After Armando Lerma recovered a fumble for Hollister on East Bay’s first possession, Shorey completed a perfect strike to Josh Villegas, but a fumble ended that drive.
Shorey also spearheaded the defensive effort by making several tackles behind the line as he run-blitzed from his linebacking position.
Chris Gonzales, Justin Reynolds and Michael Murphy joined him in turning in their best defensive performance of the year, as the Vikings systematically shut down a team that had averaged 27 points per game during the season.
Midway through the second quarter, Evan McFadden made a leaping catch of a 28-yard pass in heavy traffic to get the Vikings into East Bay territory.
But the Wolves defense stiffened and stopped the drive.
Unable to move the ball against Hollister throughout the first half, the East Bay coach decided to call for the bomb.
The first two tries were incomplete, but the third, early in the third quarter, found the wide receiver open by just a step.
Safety Luis Bradley tried to deflect the ball, but the receiver got under it, and beat two other defenders into the end zone, giving the Wolves a 6-0 lead.
The Vikings offense tried to gear up as Felix Cortez hit Anthony Munoz for a first down.
But East Bay stopped that drive as well, then finally embarked on a long drive against a tiring Hollister defense which resulted in another score early in the fourth quarter.
The Wolves defense stopped Hollister’s next possession and forced a punt, but the Vikings got a break when the muffed punt was recovered by Brandon Pina.
