Temperatures exceeded 100-degrees throughout much of Northern
California on Sunday, and in at least three bay area towns, it was
Hollister youth football teams generating a lot of the heat.
Hollister teams visited Los Gatos, Santa Teresa and Morgan Hill,
and all came away winners for the first time this season. Two of
the games were close and two were routs.
Temperatures exceeded 100-degrees throughout much of Northern California on Sunday, and in at least three bay area towns, it was Hollister youth football teams generating a lot of the heat. Hollister teams visited Los Gatos, Santa Teresa and Morgan Hill, and all came away winners for the first time this season. Two of the games were close and two were routs.
Pee Wees –
Hollister Vikings 26,
Los Gatos 20
So much was at stake between these two teams with the winner acquiring first place in the Southern Division.
It didn’t look promising for the Vikings in the first period as the Los Gatos Panthers threw the ball all over the field, staking themselves to an early 14-0 lead.
The Vikings brought the Los Gatos attack under control by blitzing the quarterback.
Early in the second quarter, Hollister got on the board when the speedy Ryan Shorey broke loose for a 40-yard TD run.
On the Panther’s next possession, they were stopped cold on third down when Bryan Garza and Taylor Green smothered the Panthers QB before he could pass the ball.
The Vikings turned the game around in the third quarter, intercepting Los Gatos three times, once by Zachary Headley and twice by Evan McFadden.
McFadden returned his second INT to the Los Gatos one-yard line. Trevor Fabing scored two plays later as the third quarter ended, but the Vikings still trailed by two.
The Vikings took only four minutes to turn that deficit into a 12-point lead.
Garza promptly recovered a Panthers fumble.
Two plays later, Shorey wove through the Panther defense for a 49-yard touchdown scamper, and Hollister had taken the lead. Less than two minutes later, Shorey found himself in the end zone for the third time after picking off a Los Gatos aerial and returning it 55 yards.
Even with a 26-14 lead, the Vikings knew that the game wasn’t won because they were playing against an explosive offense. Los Gatos moved the ball well on the next drive, but was finally thwarted by two backfield tackles by Matt Martinez. On fourth and long, cornerback Mitchell Cook deflected a deep pass and Hollister fans started breathing again. Their relief was short-lived when the Vikings fumbled, and then Los Gatos scored on their very first play.
Trailing by six with two minutes remaining, the Panthers kicked onside, but Kyle Vallejo recovered to nail down the win for Hollister in a thriller.
Jr. Midgets –
Hollister Vikings 20,
Los Gatos Cougars 14
Fullback Al Reyes scored all three of the Vikings touchdowns as they upset Los Gatos 20-14. Like the Pee Wee game, this one went down to the final gun.
Los Gatos got off to an early lead, but the Vikings came back to tie the game when Reyes scored after great runs by Austin Schmidt had gotten the Vikings close. Los Gatos took the lead again a few minutes later, and kept it until late in the third quarter, when Guy Jackson recovered a fumbled punt deep in Los Gatos territory. Reyes crossed the goal line moments later. Schmidt added a two-point conversion kick to tie the game.
Vikings wide receiver Anthony Padilla was consistently getting open for passes from David DeMateo. As the fourth quarter began, the Vikings threatened to take the lead when Demateo hit Padilla for a 34-yard gain.
The Vikings got the ball back on the Los Gatos 40 with 4:06 to play and moved steadily downfield with DeMateo and Padilla connecting for several first down receptions. Finally Al Reyes punched it over with 45 seconds remaining for the winning TD.
The Cougars hit a long pass to give them a first down on the Vikings 19 with 19 seconds remaining. But Padilla and Reyes both made great plays to keep Los Gatos out of the end zone, and give their team its first victory.
Midgets –Â
Hollister Cowboys 40,
Santa Teresa Bulldogs 7
The Cowboys are used to playing their games on cool evenings at Andy Hardin Field, but coach Jeff Valenzuela found out that his team likes hot afternoons just fine as they walloped Santa Teresa in the searing heat for the team’s first win.
The Cowboys did most of their damage with a 33-point second quarter. Abel Jacquez broke a 30-yard run as the first quarter ended, then scored a few plays later on a 7-yard reverse.
Moments later, Anthony Flores recovered a fumble for Hollister.
Flores quickly recovered another fumble, and then on the next play, ran 25 yards to the Santa Teresa 10. Jamie Driskill ran for a touchdown on the next play.
Russell Czernek added a two-point conversion kick and the Cowboys had a 21-0 cushion.
A few minutes later, Nathan Hopkins made it 27-0 by stepping in front of a Bulldog pass and taking it 50 yards to the house. Driskill intercepted on the next Santa Teresa possession and the Cowboys pulled out most of their starters, not wanting to run up the score. But they got more points anyway, as Hayden Dean and Ryan Lesondak, neither of whom had carried the ball all year, got good yardage on several runs, paving the way for Lesondak’s 6-yard scoring run.
Hollister was content to sit on its lead for the second half, but they got one more score as the game ended when Driskill picked off a pass and raced 40-yards to paydirt on the game’s final play.
Jr. Pee Wees –
Hollister Vikings 27,
Morgan Hill Raiders 0
The Jr. Pee Wees Vikings played their fourth game on Sunday in Morgan Hill and registered their fourth consecutive shutout.
With Mikey Soto, Kristopher Sosa and Ryan Disalvo having big days on defense, he Raiders couldn’t get untracked.
The Vikings offense was in gear too, driving for a touchdown after the opening kickoff. The offensive line created big holes for Mark Neal and Nathan Castro, with Neal scoring on a 3-yard run to cap the drive.
Quarterback Joshua Greenwood, who threw several key blocks on the drive, completed a pass to his younger brother Chris to put Hollister up 7-0.
Early in the second quarter, Adolfo Davila broke loose to give the Vikings a first down deep in Hollister territory. Andre Cornell ran it in a couple plays later for 14-0 Vikes.
The Raiders took the second half kickoff, and it became evident that this would not be their day as Dustin Rovella, Ray Rueda and Justin Raine all forced big losses. The Vikings offense picked up where it left off, as Adrian Soto broke a long run, then took another handoff for the score.
In the fourth quarter, the Raiders finally got close, but Cornell made a touchdown saving tackle to preserve the Vikings scoreless string. Josh Greenwood added the coup de grace late in the fourth quarter running 21 yards for a score after good runs from Castro, Davila and Rafael Salcedo got them close.
The Mitey Mite Vikings played Los Gatos Sunday morning, and had difficulty moving the ball against a surprisingly strong Bearcat team. Marcus Sabatte provided several big moments for Hollister on both sides of the ball, forcing a loss on a Bearcat punt return with great coverage, and then making a great backfield tackle a few plays later for a seven yard loss. He also had a 22-yard run from scrimmage in the fourth quarter, the Vikings longest play of the day. Cody Cameron also had a 20-yard kick return in the fourth quarter, and Danny Buzzetta recovered the only Los Gatos fumble.
All Hollister teams visit Morgan Hill on Sunday except for the Junior Midgets, who will be at Santa Teresa.
