Two of three competitive teams lose to Lions; both Mitey Mite
teams win for first time
HOLLISTER
The Hollister Vikings were literally thrown into the Lions den on Saturday as Santa Clara brought its bruising, straight-ahead style of football to Hollister, and were able to defeat two of the Vikings’ three competitive teams.
On a brighter note, the Pee Wees secured a first-round bye with their win over Santa Clara, and for the first time this year, both Hollister Mitey Mite teams won their contests, both by shutout scores.
Junior Midget
Santa Clara Wildcats 20
Hollister Vikings 16
Tied for first place with the Santa Clara Wildcats going into the game, the Hollister Junior Midgets came up short and fell to 5-2 in league. It was their first loss since their league opener, and puts their first-round playoff bye in jeopardy.
“I really was hoping to win our last two league games and secure our bye in the first week of playoffs,” head coach Eddie Tobia said. “It didn’t work out that way, but in a way this will make us a stronger team for playoffs. We’ll learn from this and use it to build on. We did a lot of things right, but penalties hurt us tonight.”
The Vikings looked to be in control in the first half, driving down into Wildcat territory on the strength of their running game, but penalties took away big plays. The biggest play, a 46-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Austin Wahl to fullback Zack Hicks, was called back because the Vikings did not have enough players on the line of scrimmage.
“Our receiver asked the official if he was on the line. Usually officials in Pop Warner will tell you to scoot up or back off, but this time the official just held his arm out, as they do in college,” explained offensive coordinator Rick Dukes. “Our receiver didn’t know what that meant, and he didn’t move up. It really hurt as we lost that touchdown.”
The Vikings did score on their next possession, utilizing five running backs as they drove 76 yards to the end zone. Facing a third-and-10, the crisscross counter play ran by wingback Angel Pasillas took the ball to the Santa Clara 25-yard line. Following a lead block by fullback Damien Botelho and a great downfield block by wide receiver Darius Medina, halfback Cody Cameron raced 25 yards for the first score of the night. Pasillas converted the point-after attempt, and the Vikings were up, 8-0.
Santa Clara responded with a long drive of their own, punishing the Vikings’ defensive line with runs up the middle and off-tackle, finally scoring after bouncing outside on a long run off-tackle. The snap on the point-after was high, and the holder was tackled, leaving the score 8-6 at halftime.
The Wildcats received the kickoff to start the second half, and drove 57 yards for a touchdown, scoring on a fourth-and-five run around the right side. Once again the point-after failed, making the score 12-8, Santa Clara.
Hollister’s defense, which had been seemingly invincible the past few weeks, now found itself struggling to shore up its line and adjust to the speed of the Wildcats’ running backs.
“We certainly didn’t expect them to be this fast, based on the film we had. They looked like a totally different team,” Tobia said. “[Defensive coordinator] Mike Hicks made some adjustments, and they worked, but we just didn’t get them in soon enough.”
The Vikings seemed poised and confident of their ability to come back, despite trailing the Wildcats, with the defense making the necessary adjustments and forcing the Wildcats to punt. The offense was ready to take over, but then with 34 seconds left in the third quarter, the Wildcats’ punt attempt was botched and the punter, who is also the Santa Clara running back, took off down the sidelines, making several Vikings miss tackles. The Vikings could not keep up with the punter’s speed, and the punt attempt turned into an unexpected 75-yard touchdown run for the Wildcats.
This time the point-after was good, and the Wildcats led, 20-8.
“That really, really hurt us. We had guys who didn’t know what to do, and were just a second too late in responding,” Dukes said. “That put the pressure on, because we didn’t have much time left.”
The Viking offense was not ready to give up, however, and feeling a sense of urgency, responded with a long drive starting at the Santa Clara 27-yard line. Because of the time constraints, the Vikings went to the air more often.
A 13-yard pass completion to fullback Zack Hicks was followed by two quarterback sacks, putting the Vikings at third-and-15. Fullback Damien Botelho took off down the middle of the line, picking up 10 yards. On fourth-and-15, Wahl found Cameron for an 11-yard completion, short of the first down. But a 15-yard facemask penalty on the Wildcats gave the Vikings a first down and renewed hope.
After two incomplete passes, Botelho once again ran up the middle for 20 yards on third down. Wahl then threw a long ball to the end zone for Medina, who was unable to come down with the pass but drew a pass interference call. The ball was then spotted on the Santa Clara 10-yard line, and Wahl again threw to the end zone, with wide receiver Bryson Hill as the intended receiver. But because he was bumped by the defender just before the ball reached him, pass interference was called again and the ball was spotted on the 5-yard line. Botelho muscled his way for four yards, and then Wahl scored on a quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line. John Canes did the honors on the point-after, putting the score at Santa Clara 20, Hollister 16.
The Vikings attempted an onside kick, but it was recovered by the Wildcats, thus effectively ending the game.
“We have always had good field position,” Dukes said, “and this game we didn’t. We had long drives that ate up a lot of clock. We only had five offensive possessions the whole game, and we scored on two of them. We actually had more rushing yards this game (191) than in our past games. But they also had long drives, and the penalties hurt us. I’m looking forward to meeting them again in the playoffs.”
The leading rushers for Hollister were Pasillas with 52 yards on 10 carries, Cameron with 50 yards on five carries, and Botelho with 48 yards on four carries. Zack Hicks and Damon Perez had the most tackles for the Viking defense.
“This was a tough loss for us, but I was happy with the way our boys responded,” line coach Richard “Radar” Canes said. “They kept up their intensity and didn’t give up. That shows a lot of character. That’s what we want, and that’ll help us as we get ready for playoffs.”
Pee Wee
Hollister Vikings 19
Santa Clara Panthers 8
The Hollister Viking Pee Wees earned their sixth victory in seven games by beating the Santa Clara Panthers 19-8 at Andy Hardin Stadium on Saturday. Along the way, they virtually secured a lock for a first-round playoff bye.
Chris Cook broke loose on a 27-yard run on the first play from scrimmage and after a four-yard run by Brandon Olivares and an 18-yard pass from Tyler Fhurong to Cody Freitas, Olivares had another four-yard scamper before Cook punched it in from the 5 to put Hollister up 6-0.
When Santa Clara got the ball, Jordan Goldstein, Freitas and Josh George had tackles before Freitas pounced on a fumble to give the ball back to the Vikings.
On third-and-long, Fhurong hit Cook on an 85-yard touchdown pass to put Hollister up 12-0 with under three minutes left in the quarter.
Manuel Zuniga’s tackle set up third down for the Panthers on their next possession and quarterback pressure by Kenny Lee forced an incomplete pass and a subsequent punt by Santa Clara.
Hollister’s offense slowed on the next drive, but after a long punt by Freitas was touched by a Santa Clara receiver, Cook recovered the ball for Hollister on the 16-yard-line to set up another scoring chance.
Freitas, Dylan Yamasaki, and Fhurong ran the ball to set up third-and-goal on the 2, but a Santa Clara defender stepped in front of a pass and returned the ball 97 yards for a score. The successful two-point conversion narrowed the Vikings’ lead to 12-8 with 6:40 left in the half.
Cook’s 28-yard kickoff return set up another drive, but Hollister punted to put the defense back on the field. Freitas had a tackle for no gain, Tyler Biersdorff stopped a one-yard run and Lee had a tackle to end the Panther’s final drive in the first half.
The teams traded punts to start the second half, but Hollister’s defense came up big time after time, as Freitas, Goldstein, Lee and Olivares had multiple tackles to keep the Panthers in check and force a turnover on downs.
Cook broke off two runs totaling 17 yards then weaved his way to paydirt from the 19. Hollister then went up 19-8 after Fhurong ran in the one-point conversion.
Phillip Castro and Brian Noble contributed tackles on the next Santa Clara drive, which ended when Goldstein and Biersdorff stopped the runner on fourth-and-four, giving the ball back to the Vikings, who ran out the clock on another win.
Junior Pee Wee
Santa Clara Thundercats 30
Hollister Vikings 0
Hollister began the game with great promise as Matthew Rabago forced and recovered a fumble the first time the Vikings were on defense. Hollister could not move the ball against the tough Santa Clara defense, but two good punts by Ezzie Lovato pinned Santa Clara back deep, and the defense continued to hold the Thundercats in check with big tackles by Lovato, Jose Rodriguez, Andrew Huaracha and Clay Schwall.
But in the second quarter, the T-cats struck quickly, scoring on a short plunge after a long breakaway run gave them a first-and-goal. Danny Perez had made a touchdown-saving tackle on the run, but the reprieve proved to be short-lived.
On their next possession, Santa Clara scored again after a long run, and took a 16-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Hollister’s defense re-asserted itself early in the second half as big tackles by Tommy Ford, Rabago, Rodriguez and RJ Clark forced a quick T-cat punt. But Santa Clara’s defense proved to be even stingier, and finally the Thundercats offense began to move the ball against a worn-down Hollister defense.
One more score put the game effectively out of reach; the Vikings had one last big play, an interception by Andrew Sotelo, but the T-cat defense never let up and secured a hard-earned shutout win.
The loss puts the playoff chances for the Junior Pee Wee Vikings in jeopardy. Depending on what one other team does, a win next weekend could still give them the eighth and final playoff seed.
Mitey Mite Purple
Hollister Vikings 18
Salinas Cardinal 0
The Purple Mitey Mite Vikings got its first win since the Jamboree as both the defensive and offensive line dominated play to earn an 18-0 shutout win.
The Cardinal appeared to move the ball well for the first few plays of the game, but a big tackle by Joey DiMaggio in the backfield stopped that first drive and set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Vikings’ blocking improved considerably for this game as the white line of Michael Gutierrez, Matthew Delatorre, Christopher Pritchett, Nick Perez, Bobby Vivian and Jonathan Preciado began opening up holes for fullback Tristan Wahl. That drive was stopped short of a score by Salinas, but the defense stepped it up again as a big rush by Nico Lopez forced an errant Cardinal throw on fourth down, giving the ball back to Hollister.
In the second quarter, the purple offense took over, and the offensive line manned by Jeremy Wilson, Tanner Sexton, Josh Jennings, Joey DiMaggio, Diego Quintero and Perez took control of the game, blowing open holes that were exploited by quarterback Nathan Fhurong and halfback Andres Soto for big gains.
Fhurong scored on an 18-yard scamper midway through the second quarter, and Soto intercepted a pass to stop Salinas’ last drive of the first half, returning the pick 20 yards. The defense, spearheaded by Perez, smothered Salinas’ every effort to run the ball as the second half began.
Salinas turned to the pass, and the Vikings took advantage of the opportunity as Darius Parks intercepted a pass and ran it back 20 yards for the Vikings second touchdown. Soto scored on a 48-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter to make the score 18-0 and put the game out of reach.
Mitey Mite Gold
Hollister Vikings 18
Santa Clara Mitey Cats 0
Hollister’s Mitey Mite Gold team won its third consecutive game and the defense registered its second consecutive shutout. The Vikings took the lead just one minute into the game when Dylan Olivares raced 46 yards to paydirt with a punt return, thanks to a crucial block by Jacob Ryder.
The Hollister defense continued to assert its authority as successive tackles by Adrian Alvarez, Michael Zaragoza and Olivares smothered the Cats for little or no gain. Hollister’s offense moved well again with good runs by Ryder, but a fumble prevented them from scoring again.
A well-timed tackle by Gonzalez on fourth down gave the ball back to the Vikings on the Santa Clara 20-yard line. Several good runs by quarterback Tanner Wiggins gave Hollister a first-and-goal, but penalties and a fumbled snap ended their scoring opportunity.
The Vikings scored again after receiving the second half kickoff when Zaragoza opened the third quarter with zig-zagging 40-yard run to the Santa Clara 24 on Hollister’s first play from scrimmage. Another good run by Ryder brought the Vikings a first-and-goal at the 8, and two plays later, Olivares found his way into the end zone to make the score 12-0 Hollister.
Olivares and Ryder conspired defensively on the next series, forcing big losses with tackles to get the ball back for the Vikings. Ryder ran 25 yards to the end zone for Hollister’s third and final touchdown.
Tiny Mites
Hollister’s Tiny Mites also played on Saturday morning against a Salinas team. The young Vikings continued to show improvement as the offensive line of Anthony Sanchez, Chris Soto, Diego Ramirez, Isaias Rivera, Ethan Mendoza, Bobby Viramontes and Joshua Moreno opened up holes for big gains early in the game for quarterbacks Javier Valdez, Nathan Parra and Matthew Hernandez.
Valdez contributed a tackle to force a big loss early in the game, and Hernandez, Rivera and Joseph Frank also made timely tackles to keep the Salinas offense in check.
Hollister’s home season has concluded, and the final regular season games will be played next Saturday. Hollister teams travel to Newark, Salinas and Gilroy to close out the season.
Playoffs will begin the following week, and at least two Hollister teams have already secured playoff berths.
