Hollister Pop Warner had its homecoming day at Andy Hardin
Stadium on Saturday and treated the hometown crowd to wins in three
of their four contests.
The Junior Pee Wees and Midgets won blowout games, and the Pee
Wees turned the game around in the final quarter for a
come-from-behind win over Gilroy.
Hollister Pop Warner had its homecoming day at Andy Hardin Stadium on Saturday and treated the hometown crowd to wins in three of their four contests.
The Junior Pee Wees and Midgets won blowout games, and the Pee Wees turned the game around in the final quarter for a come-from-behind win over Gilroy.
Pee Wee Division
Hollister 22, Gilroy 14
Hollister’s defense was rock-solid to help the team remain undefeated. Michael Murphy and Bryan Garza made several big backfield tackles, and Justin Reynolds seemed to have the Browns’ fullback’s number on every short yardage run.
On the game’s first series, the Browns started it off with a big pass play to the Hollister 10-yard line.
Defenders Ryan Shorey and David Hitchman broke up passes on successive plays in the end zone.
Late in the first quarter, Shorey turned in a 37-yard run from scrimmage for a touchdown. Michael Murphy added the two-point kick, and Hollister led 8-0.
The Vikings defense dominated the second quarter completely, forcing two fumbles which were recovered by Evan McFadden and Nick Acosta.
The Browns evened the score on an 80-yard pass play.
Gilroy took the lead minutes later on a great fourth-down run by the halfback, but the Vikings scored after Shorey bolted 68-yards to a score on the kickoff, breaking at least five tackles. The Vikings could not convert the PAT, and the score remained tied.
Evan McFadden came up with a big play recovering an onside kick to keep the ball for the Vikings.
Three plays later, quarterback Trevor Fabing hit Brandon Pina on a bomb, and the Vikings had a 20-14 lead with 5:42 to play.
Shorey, who had been kicking unreturnable punts all day long, hit another one, and a Gilroy returner tried to retrieve it on the five-yard line. But Mitchell Cook shot down field and made an open field tackle to prevent any return.
Two plays later, Nick Acosta got to the Gilroy quarterback in the end zone for a safety with under a minute to play.
Jr. Pee Wee Division
Hollister 33, Gilroy 0
The undefeated Junior Pee Wee Vikings had a cakewalk in their tuneup for a showdown with undefeated West Bay next weekend in San Bruno.
Hollister romped over a team that had not won all year, allowing very little yardage throughout the contest.
Defensive heroes included Ray Rueda, who spearheaded the effort early on with a drive-stopping tackle and made several more key plays late in the contest.
Isaak Ramos and Conner Stevens beat Brown running backs to the hole more often than not, and Tyler Pina made three consecutive sacks late in the contest.
Ball-magnet Mikey Soto added two more interceptions to his total, and Dustin Rovella got a pick for the second consecutive week.
Offensively, the Vikings scored early and often. Mark Neal got the ball rolling for Hollister with several great runs, then Nathan Castro carried it in from the two-yard line to put Hollister up 6-0.
Midway through the second quarter, an incredibly hard hit by Stevens forced a fumble that was recovered by Jon Huaracha.
Huaracha ran into the end zone, but his runback was nullified by a holding penalty.
But the Vikings scored anyway on an Isaak Ramos run, and Soto added a conversion run to put the hometown favorites up 13-0.
Ramos sparked the offense in the third quarter with a 20-yard power burst up the middle. And Cornell swept into the end zone from 41 yards away on the next play.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Browns pushed the Vikings backwards, and Hollister faced a fourth-and-long on the Gilroy 49. But Cornell burst up the middle for another touchdown run and a 26-0 Hollister lead.
The defense forced another quick punt, and Adolfo Davila’s strong running gave the Vikings a first down near the goal line.
Tyler Decker bootlegged the final ten yards behind his line, and Mark Neal added the final point of the game with the conversion.
Jr. Midget Division
Gilroy 30, Hollister 8
The Junior Midgets left the unbeaten ranks despite a great defensive effort. Robby Sanchez made many good tackles to stop Gilroy drives, Bobby Dennehy had some good stops including some that got the ball back for his team.
And Devin Quintana and Michael Brigantino each registered numerous sacks.
But the defense was betrayed by Hollister turnovers, which led to most of Gilroy’s 30 points.
Trailing 24-0, the Vikings scored their lone touchdown on defense when Bobby Dennehy blocked a punt and raced 44 yards to paydirt.
Al Reyes added the conversion kick, and the Vikings trailed 24-8.
Hollister had several opportunities to get back in the game, but was unable to mount a sustained drive against an inspired Gilroy defense.
Midget Division
Hollister 29, SLV 0
The Midgets reversed their fortunes with a convincing win over SLV. The defense got the game off on the right foot by stopping the Cougars cold as Anthony Flores and George Luna made a big third down sack.
Jaime Driskill returned the ensuing punt 32 yards deep into SLV territory, but the Cowboys could not score.
The Cowboys defense swarmed all over the Cougars again, backing them up to their goal line.
Driskill returned that punt 38 yards for a touchdown, and Russell Czernek added the two-point kick to make it 8-0 Hollister.
The Hollister defense was unrelenting as Roman Miranda broke through to tackle the SLV punter on fourth down. Driskill got his second touchdown with a 30-yard run from scrimmage.
Holder Abel Jacquez converted a bad snap into a one-point conversion run and the Cowboys led 15-0. Moments later, Jacquez returned an interception 21 yards for six points, and Czernek again added a kick to make it 23-0.
Miles Sanchez recovered a fumble on the kickoff, and Chris Koroluk picked up 25 yards with a great run.
The Cowboys scored as the second half started on a 30-yard run by Driskill to give the Cowboys a 29-0 lead.
David Delacruz turned in the game’s last defensive gem with an interception in the fourth quarter, while Miranda, Luna and the Hollister line kept the Cougar offense in their backfield on most plays.
Mitey Mites Division
The Mighty Mites took on Gilroy Saturday morning, and had their hands full stopping Gilroy’s outside running attack early in the contest.
However, they put it together in the second half, as Jonathan Roach made several good tackles on the line, and Danny Buzzetta contained the Browns outside running game.
Tyler Fhurong and Austin Wahl made saving tackles the few times that a Brown runner was able to get past the linebackers.
Mark Ponte and John Hartshorn also had fumble recoveries in the second half. Taylor Dukes continued outrunning everybody on the field, reaching the end zone on runs of 58 and 24 yards.
Hollister Pop Warner has a full weekend coming up with cheer competitions on Saturday at Leavey Center at Santa Clara University beginning at 9 a.m. and football teams at West Bay (San Bruno) at Capuchino High School beginning at 8 a.m on Sunday morning.
Directions are available on www.eteamz.com/HollisterPop Warner.
