Excitement will be in the air at Live Oak High on Friday as the
perfect 5-0 Acorns open Tri-County Athletic League play against
North Salinas.
Excitement will be in the air at Live Oak High on Friday as the perfect 5-0 Acorns open Tri-County Athletic League play against North Salinas. The atmosphere will be especially charged because Friday will also be Homecoming.
Keeping his players focused is the main task for Live Oak coach Glen Webb.
“I’m going to try to keep them focused on the game and not just Homecoming,” Webb said. “They need to understand winning the game is the most important job of the night.”
With the start of league play, Webb said it is time for his players, as well as himself, to step their game up a notch in preparation for stiff competition in TCAL.
“Myself and my players know we need to ratchet up our performance starting Friday,” Webb said.
The Acorn’s first league opponent, the Vikings, have stumbled out of the blocks, winning only one of their five non-league games a season after making the Central Coast Section playoffs. In three of those five games, the Vikings have scored three points or less.
North Salinas is coming off of a 21-3 loss to Alisal, which lost to Live Oak 27-10.
Last year, the Vikings routed the Acorns 56-28, thanks mainly to star running back Ronnie Drummer, who set a single-season school rushing record with more than 1,500 yards last season. But Drummer has since graduated, along with several other players whose absence has been reflected in the team’s performance thus far this season.
But Webb said he will not take the Vikings lightly, despite their record. He said his team will need to contain what he called a creative passing game. North Salinas has shown an even mix of passing and rushing so far this season, with 353 of their 774 yards coming by way of the pass.
But Live Oak will also need to contain one man: North Salinas senior Andrew Quinones, the Vikings’ top rusher. Quinones has rushed for 372 yards with four touchdowns. North Salinas only has five touchdowns for the season. Quinones was responsible for all the scoring during the Vikings’ lone win this season, a 21-0 victory over Gonzales.
Viking quarterback Orlando Johnson, a sophomore, has thrown for 288 yards and one touchdown, but has also been intercepted three times.
In addition to containing the Viking offense, Webb said he will be preparing his team for a defense they haven’t seen for a few weeks.
“They will play a defense more common in our league,” Webb said.
While he said he is excited that his team is taking a 5-0 record into league play, there are still some goals the team is looking to meet.
“(The record) helps; I hope we can maintain our momentum,” Webb said. “There is still a whole lot of things we have to achieve, like a perfect game where we are not making any mistakes. We are looking to cross a few more things off our list.”
