The Hollister Vikings defeated the Coastside Raiders Sunday 26-8
to keep their perfect record.
The Hollister Vikings defeated the Coastside Raiders Sunday 26-8 to keep their perfect record.
The Vikings scored on the first play. Andre Cornell took the handoff and swept 62 yards to paydirt to give Hollister a 6-0 lead.
But moments later, Coastside took the lead, capitalizing on a rare Hollister defensive lapse. The fullback broke several tackles for a 56-yard scoring run. Coastside added the two-point conversion kick and led 8-6.
That lead held up for more than a quarter. A Viking fumble ended a long drive, and a string of dropped passes killed several other Hollister efforts. But late in the second quarter, quarterback Trevor Fabing hit tight end Isaak Ramos for a first down to spark the offense.
Two plays later, Fabing again dropped into the pocket and found Andre Cornell open on the left sideline. Cornell caught the ball on the 20-yard line and broke several tackles, breaking into the clear to score a touchdown just before halftime.
The Vikings went into the locker room with a 12-8 lead.
Hollister put the game away in the third quarter. Fabing completed two long passes. Both were caught by wideout Alex Alvarez for six points, the second one coming off a fake punt.
Leading by 18 in the fourth quarter, the Vikings turned to their ground attack. Michael Brautovich ate up yardage and clock time with grinding runs.
The Pee Wee defense didn’t have a single takeaway during the game but stopped Coastside three-and-out most of the time.
Adrian Soto and Justin Raine had several tackles. Conner Stevens, who was back after a month-long medical absence, also had some tackles
Joshua Greenwood broke up several pass plays when Coastside tried to go to the air.
Jr. Pee Wee
Hollister Vikings 29, Oak Grove Rage 0
The Hollister Vikings defeated the Rage for the second time this year. Their first meeting was in the jamboree.
The Hollister Junior Pee Wees showcased their incredible depth as many different players stepped up to make big plays throughout the game.
The defense, which has been scored on just three times this year, came up with another strong game.
Nathan Castro, Tyler Pina, Mikey Soto and Ken Salcedo all penetrated the Rage line, making big stops in the backfield.
Chris Greenwood contained Oak Grove’s outside running game, making good open-field tackles when the Rage tried a sweep. And Ryan Disalvo recovered a fumble for the Vikings.
Hollister scored early and often. Tight end Dustin Rovella caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Tanner Lomanto in the first quarter.
On the Vikings’ next possession, backup quarterback Gregory Vasquez hit another tight end, Austin Blake, on a 25-yard scoring pass.
Late in the second quarter, Taylor Dukes broke away on a 65-yard touchdown run to put Hollister up 21-0 at the half.
Picking up where they left off on the second half kickoff, Mark Neal ran 65 yards past Oak Grove defenders for yet another score.
Dukes kicked his second of two conversion kicks after that score.
Coach Gino Andrade said he was was proud of his defense that shut down the running game.
Most of the Vikings 35 players played defense at some point during the game, but Oak Grove couldn’t move the ball on any of them.
Andrade was excited about the development of the team’s passing game in but both offenses that the team runs.
Junior Midget
Santa Clara Wildcats 12, Hollister Vikings 6
Santa Clara scored a touchdown in the second quarter to win in a defensive contest.
After Santa Clara scored first, Hollister almost answered late in the first quarter. On fourth down, the Vikings faked a punt, and quarterback Ryan Shorey threw a pass to Josh Villegas for a first down.
The Vikings drove as far as the Santa Clara 11-yard line, but could not get into the Santa Clara end zone.
As the second quarter began, Santa Clara took over on downs deep in their own territory, but could not advance the ball for a first down.
They punted on fourth down, and Shorey received the punt on the Santa Clara 45-yard line, and raced into the end zone to tie the score at 6-6.
The Vikings’ extra point try was no good, so the score remained 6-6.
On the next possession for Santa Clara, Kyle Rhodas recovered a fumble in Santa Clara territory, but the Vikings could not advance the ball on offense.
With 3:16 left in the first half, Santa Clara scored on a pass play to make the score 12-6 as the first half came to a close. Shorey blocked the extra point try.
The rest of the game was scoreless, but there were several Vikings highlights during the second half. A fumble recovery by Michael Murphy early in the third quarter and a nice defensive stand by the Vikings late in the quarter gave the offense the ball back.
Late in the game, Shorey again faked a punt and tossed a pass to Mitchell Cook for a first down. But an interception ended that drive and the game.
Midget
Santa Clara Lions 41, Hollister Vikings 8
Defensive back Ethell Catherill led the Vikings in tackles on Sunday. That wasn’t a good sign for the Vikings, because DBs usually make tackles after a pass has been caught or a runner has blown past the first lines of defense.
Those things happened with clock-like regularity on Sunday as the Midget Vikings took on a Lions team that has only dropped one league contest in the past three years and had won two consecutive league championships.
Santa Clara showed why they are favored for a three-peat as they executed a precision attack both by land and air to cruise to a 41-8 victory.
Hollister had a few moments of glory in the otherwise lopsided affair.
Devin Quintana made a big tackle, and Anthony Flores recovered a fumble to stop Santa Clara’s first drive.
The Vikings also stopped the Lions on their first possession of the second half as Adrian Hernandez recovered a fumble.
The Vikings got their lone touchdown on a 60-yard run up the middle by Flores, who broke several tackles on his way to a score.
Mighty Mites
The Mighty Mites took their explosive running attack to Oak Grove on Sunday afternoon for a rematch against their jamboree opponents, the Ravens.
The offensive line of Conner Fabing, Austen Ledesma, Brody Benitez, Bryan Noble and Garrett Amidon did a great job for the “gold” offense.
The line created holes to sustain a long drive which culminated in a 33-yatd run to the goal line by Michael Inderbitzen on an outside sweep play.
Another long Hollister drive ended just inches short of the goal line as the half ended. Eddie Munoz dove over the goal line, but officials ruled that his helmet crossed the line but the ball did not.
In the third quarter, quarterback Garrett Avina had a 40-yard run, and Munoz took it into the end zone on the next play.
Austin Wahl continued to develop as a kicker with a 30-yard punt in the first half. Wahl also had an interception on defense.
The defense played well all day. Trevor Tresch, Tyler Fhurong and Mike Hayford disrupted the Raven backfield.
Isaac Beltran and John Canes also made many stops to contain the Oak Grove attack.
This weekend, the Hollister Vikings will be at home on Saturday taking on perennial championship contender Coyote Creek. Games begin at 11am at Andy Hardin Stadium.
Special to the Free Lance
