Acorns squander three-touchdown lead, lose homecoming game on
first night of Mount Hamilton Division play
MORGAN HILL — Old habits continue to die hard for Live Oak.
In a Mount Hamilton Division opener that felt eerily similar to the Acorns’ playoff loss to Terra Nova a year ago, Live Oak built a three-touchdown lead against Santa Teresa only to lose 35-28 on a string of late mishaps Friday at Richert Field.
The Saints (3-1 overall, 1-0 league) overcame a 21-0 deficit with four consecutive touchdowns and won it with D.J. Renteria’s 67-yard scoring strike to Andre McClelland in the final minute. Renteria finished 10-of-14 passing for 226 yards and three scores, and McClelland had 125 receiving yards.
It was not the picture-perfect ending for Live Oak High School’s homecoming game.
“It was like a punch to the gut,” Acorns coach Jon Michael Porras said. “This is a learning experience. We played our game at the start, but we have to be more consistent.
“We have to beat Pioneer (next Friday) and forget this game.”
Live Oak (2-2, 0-1) was in control the entire first half, covering 60 yards on its opening drive and 93 on its second.
Quarterback Dominic Bejarano scored the Acorns’ first touchdown on a 1-yard option keeper, and Live Oak pushed ahead with a 2-yard run by Blair Zerr and another touchdown run by Bejarano; that one from five yards out.
Santa Teresa scored late in the second quarter to make it 21-7 at halftime. The Saints struck again on the opening drive of the third period and tied it on their next possession.
The Acorns were in position to retake the lead but committed their first of two second-half fumbles in Santa Teresa territory, continuing a trend that cost LOHS dearly in several close games a year ago.
After the Saints went ahead 28-21, Live Oak pulled even when linebacker Nikki Weber recovered a fumbled hand-off and returned it 11 yards for a touchdown.
The Acorns got the ball again with about four minutes left. They were within five yards of kicker Jacob Montoya’s maximum range when a fumbled exchange gave possession back to Santa Teresa.
“It was a great game. That makes it even harder to lose,” said Porras, whose team squandered a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost 28-24 to Terra Nova in the first round of the 2009 Central Coast Section Division III playoffs. “I just don’t think I have our guys in the right mindset yet. We can’t afford to be complacent again.”
