The San Lorenzo Valley High varsity football team looks to bounce back from a 35-21 loss to Hayward High with a second consecutive Friday night game, this time at Andrew Hill High at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, in San Jose.
Andrew Hill comes into the game off a bye week. Hill fell to San Benito High, 17-7, in its opener Sept. 4.
In that game, running back Arturo Rodriguez got the bulk of the carries and quarterback David Floris completed 16 of 22 passes while throwing one touchdown and two interceptions.
SLV battled Hayward High on Sept. 11 before falling in the fourth quarter. Kyle Todd scored three more rushing touchdowns, putting his total at six after two games.
The Cougars tied the game at 21 with 10 minutes, 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter on a touchdown run by Todd and a two-point conversion pass from quarterback Trevor Romele to receiver Patrick Salibi. However on the ensuing kickoff, speedy Hayward running back Carl Yates ran the kick back 99 yards for a touchdown.
The Cougars never recovered. Hayward tacked on an insurance touchdown midway through the quarter, and SLV failed to muster a scoring drive through the air.
“We felt like we were in control,” SLV coach Doug Morris said, noting the success on the ground with Todd. “That kickoff return was a real backbreaker, and we didn’t have the time to recover from it.”
The Andrew Hill running backs gave the Cougar defense problems for much of the game.
“They definitely had some stud players,” Todd said. “Even with great speed, if we take correct angles, we can corral them.”
The San Lorenzo passing game was effective at times, but it could not muster much in the fourth quarter, even as junior Zach Newberry went into the game as quarterback and Romele split out wide as a receiver.
Luke Roberts, who caught a long fourth-down pass to keep a drive going late in the game, was motivated after the loss.
“I think we take a lot from this game,” Roberts said. “A game like this makes us want to prepare for next week so much more.”
