By Greg Perkins Holbrook lost to San Tan Charter, 42-15 on Friday night but despite the loss, the home team Roadrunners played with emotion, had some good plays and had some stand out moments during the game. San Tan Charter’s freshmen quarterback Zayden Neill came in with a big reputation and a big arm, and certainly lived up to both. He controlled their spread attack well, hooking up numerous times with 6-foot 4-inch receiver Jared NeVille, with many deep pass routes building a 30-7 halftime lead. The freshmen standout added two more scoring tosses in the second half. For Holbrook, senior John O’Brien had a solid game, ending the night with 71 rushing yards on 14 attempts. He also scored a touchdown picking off a San Tan Roadrunner aerial and returned it 10 yards for the score. Quentin Thomas booted the point after, giving Holbrook their first seven points. Holbrook’s offensive line opened some holes at times for O’Brien and other times they protected back-up quarterback Thomas enough for him to complete 10 of 18 passes for 116 yards with a touchdown. That scoring pass came on an exceptional play by Izzy Ramos, who battled two San Tan defenders for a ball thrown near the goal line. Ramos out-reached and basically just took the ball away from a defender before falling into the endzone for Holbrook’s second score of the night. Holbrook finished the night with 156 yards on the ground. Along with O’Brien’s 71, Kyle Smith gained 36 yards on two runs. Daniel Montijo carried 13 times, picking up 27 yards. Quentin Thomas had one 11-yard run, Marcus Oberriter carried twice for 10 yards and Izzy Ramos had a 1-yard run. Montijo was the favored receiving target with six receptions for 74 yards. Ramos had two catches for 28 yards, including the touchdown. Kyle Smith had one 11-yard catch and O’Brien had a short 3-yard reception. O’Brien not only led the offense he also led the defensive unit with 8 tackles. Izzy Ramos, Mauricio Baca, and Caden Tom each had 6 stops. Caden Tom recovered a fumble and Thomas made an incredible interception. With the loss, Holbrook drops to 0-3 on the season. Friday night they will travel to Miami to face the Vandals on their home field. Miami is 2-1 on the season and coming off a 28-16 win over Arete Prep two weeks ago. Their game with St. Johns scheduled for last Friday was cancelled due to COVID issues in St. Johns, giving them an extra week’s rest to prepare for Holbrook.
