Piedmont Hills wins CCS D-V title as Sobrato’s gutsy play call falls short

SAN JOSE — It all came down to a decision in overtime. Do you kick a PAT to tie and send the game to a second overtime? Or do you go for broke, go for two and win or lose depending on the outcome of the play?

Sobrato coach Joel Rueda chose the daring, latter option.

After quarterback Braeden Hughes scored to shave Piedmont Hills’ lead to one in the Central Coast Section Division V championship game at 31-30, Rueda called the kicking team back and sent the offense on the field.

And the call was to run the most basic play of all, to run power, to send 1,000-yard rusher Brady Lennon straight up the middle. To go with what got them there.

Lennon’s forward progress was halted a half-yard or so short of the goal line. And that was a signal for the Piedmont Hills players and fans to let loose in celebration of the section title Saturday afternoon at MacDonald High.

“Nothing against our kicker,” Rueda said. “I thought we were the better team, put in the work in the offseason. Just wanted to do what got us here. I was confident the whole way until they signaled he wasn’t in.”

John Palomo’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Travis Linane with 5:20 left in the fourth quarter brought Piedmont Hills even at 24-24.

The Pirates had the ball first in overtime. Starting at the 10 in accordance with high school overtime rules, Palomo passed to Linane for 4, handed to Alijah Torres for a 2-yard gain, then hit Diego Arias in the flat, and Arias scored easily after the Sobrato defensive back slipped and fell.

Hughes threw incomplete on Sobrato’s first play. Lennon ripped off 8 yards down to the 2 and Hughes crossed the goal line on a keeper to set up the decision on the conversion.

The teams traded touchdowns early with Palomo passing to Linane on a 16-yard TD and Hughes connecting with Gabriel Yellohorse-Ruiz on a pass of 13 yards to bring Sobrato even. The Pirates had a 10-7 lead at halftime thanks to a 24-yard field goal by Cash Martinez.

Sobrato tied it on a 26-yard field goal by Kyle Gurney and took a 24-17 lead on a 9-yard pass from Hughes to Jacob Sorrentino.

This is the second CCS Division V championship in a row for Piedmont Hills coach Kelly King Jr., who won the D-V title last year as the coach at Leland

He learned a valuable lesson last year. After his Leland team beat Sequoia 27-21 in the CCS final, it got blown out in a NorCal game at Moreau Catholic, 42-11.

“We’re not finished,” King said. “I learned that last year with Leland when we were just happy to be there. Now we want to play two more rounds of football, win a NorCal title and a state title, something that has never happened before at Piedmont Hills. These guys are hungry and we’re looking for a lot of success next week and the week after.”

King was asked how this Piedmont Hills team compares with his Leland team from last year:

“Both teams are very senior heavy,” King said “We do it a little different here, we’ve got more skill on the outside. Last year we were a run-heavy team at Leland. Here we throw the ball a little more.”

Utilizing a short-passing game, Palomo completed 22 of 30 passes for 225 yards and four touchdowns. Linane had nine catches for 75 yards and two TDs, Torres and Arias had five catches and one touchdown apiece.

Sobrato defeated Piedmont Hills 40-30 on Oct. 4, rushing for over 400 yards. This time the Piedmont Hills defense did a much better job against the run, limiting the Bulldogs to 137 yards on the ground.. Lennon, who rushed for 242 yards the first time the two teams played, had 90 yards on 21 carries this time.

“They kind of stuck it to us and we knew it, so we put an emphasis on stopping (Lennon) and stuffing the box,” King said.

It was the first appearance in a section championship game for the Sobrato program.

“In every sense of the word they earned it,” Rueda said. “They set the standard for future generations of Sobrato players.”

It was the second CCS football title for Piedmont Hills, which won the Division I championship in 2010.

“We want to go all the way,” Linane said. “We want to go to state, make it to L.A.”