With all due respect to the Live Oak High football team
’s first two victories of the season, important wins both,
Friday night’s conquest of Seaside at Richert Field was a whole
different ballgame for the Acorns.
With all due respect to the Live Oak High football team’s first two victories of the season, important wins both, Friday night’s conquest of Seaside at Richert Field was a whole different ballgame for the Acorns.
After beating visiting Alvarez to bust up a 24-game winless streak in the opener, then going on the road to defeat defending Monterey Bay League co-champion Alisal in Game 2, Live Oak found itself tested in more ways than one against highly regarded Seaside last week.
For one thing, the Acorns were facing a team that had earned a Top 10 Central Coast Section ranking by blasting its two previous opponents by a total score of 61-6. Unlike the Acorns’ first two opponents, Seaside was a talented, confident team on a roll, not a young squad still trying to find itself and prone to being victimized by a few big plays.
And, the Spartans proved their resilience and toughness during the game, capitalizing on Live Oak’s missed opportunities to take a second-half lead — the first time the Acorns had actually trailed this season — and testing the home squad’s determination.
But in the end, it was Live Oak (3-0) that came through with the clutch plays, proving its mettle against top-notch competition en route to a hard-fought 24-14 victory.
Live Oak coach Glen Webb said he was pleased with the poise his team showed in the well-earned win.
“That part of their performance (coming back) shows me that they’re developing a confidence that you like to see,” Webb said. “We want to continue to build on that confidence.”
In the first half, the two teams battled to a 7-7 tie but only a late scoring drive engineered by explosive Seaside quarterback Jermaine Carter managed the deadlock.
Live Oak had taken the lead midway through the first quarter after an interception by Acorn safety Jared Koblis set his team up at the Seaside 36, and on the next play sophomore running back Kevin Abbott, an emerging star, burst up the middle for a 36-yard touchdown.
And, the Acorn defense had held the Seaside offense, which was missing star senior fullback Henry Utumapu, in check on its first four possessions of the first half. (Live Oak’s defense contained Carter’s scrambling ability for much of the game, holding him to a total of zero yards on nine carries, with a sack and four fumbles.)
But after pinning Seaside deep in its own end of the field, at the four-yard-line, with just 1:11 left in the first half, the Acorn “D” relaxed just enough to give Carter and the Spartans the opening they needed.
Backed by a 17-yard Carter scramble, a key pass interference penalty and a 54-yard scoring strike from Carter to David Ducoeur, Seaside tied the game and grabbed the momentum heading into the locker room.
But LO’s defense came out fired-up for the second half and immediately re-imposed its will on the game, forcing Seaside into three straight negative-yardage plays including a 14-yard loss on a sack of Carter by AJ Avellar and Sam Martinez.
Pushed back to its own 10, Seaside was forced to punt, and Avellar broke through to block the kick. The only thing that prevented an Acorn TD was the Spartan punter, who batted the ball out of the end zone for a safety. Score, 9-7 Live Oak.
On the ensuing kickoff, Seaside incurred an illegal procedure penalty and had to kick from its own 15. Live Oak returned the kick to the Spartan 35, and it looked as if the Acorns were poised to ride the momentum into the end zone and into control of the game.
But a penalty on the return pushed Live Oak back to its own 45, the Acorns lost a fumble three plays later and Seaside quickly capitalized. The Spartans capped off a five-play drive with a 35-yard scoring toss from Carter to Michael Avila to take the lead. Score, 14-9 Seaside.
“This was the kind of team (Seaside) that had that who knows what could happen next feel to it,” Webb said. “This is the kind of game we would have lost in the past few years.”
Not this season.
Live Oak turned a fumble by Carter early in the fourth quarter into a seven-play, 35-yard scoring drive capped off by sophomore running back Victor Kalata’s two-yard run. A two=point conversion on a pass from quarterback David Iseman to Dustin Muhn made the score 17-14 Acorns.
After the Acorn “D” held Seaside on its next possession, Live Oak caught another break. Stopped on downs, the Acorns were forced to punt, but the boot bounced into a Seaside player and Live Oak recovered. Four plays later, Kevin Abbott raced 39 yards for his second TD and a 24-14 lead with just 1:33 left to play.
But perhaps the biggest play in the drive came on third-and-11 at the Acorn 46. The safe play would have been a dive or a sweep, or even a quick pass out in the flat. If you don’t make the first down, you play defense.
But Coach Webb wasn’t going to play it safe with Seaside’s Carter waiting for a shot.
So, the Acorns ran a delayed screen for receiver Eduardo Arias. Iseman faded back, back, waited with Spartan linemen converging, and then hit Arias over the middle for 15 yards to move the chains. Kevin Abbott scored on the next play.
Notes: Sophomore duo Kevin Abbott and Kalata have combined for six TDs in three games, a key contribution considering that senior back Doug Porras has been sidelined for the past two games with a badly sprained ankle. Abbott, whose brother Tim plays tight end for the Acorns, has rushed for 244 yards in those three games, including a season-high 116 in Friday’s victory.
In junior varsity action, Live Oak dropped a 31-16 decision to Seaside. After starting out the season with a 12-8 victory over Alvarez, the Acorn JV (1-2) has now lost two straight, including a 42-0 loss at Alisal.
In frosh-soph play, Sobrato High shut out Alvarez 24-0 to improve to 2-1 overall this season. The Bulldogs were led by Russ Tirey, who scored two TDs, and Brandon Duggan and Brian Hornstra, who added scores. Hornstra’s TD came on an interception return. Sobrato’s only loss so far came against Seaside by a score of 21-6.
