Coming off a solid Spring Football session, the Live Oak Acorns are hitting the summer practice field hard, hoping to build on last year’s success.
The Acorns returned Monday following a brief interlude after its spring practice in May.
Head Coach Mike Gemo said numbers are still low, but he saw an uptick over last year.
“It seems to be building some momentum with kids around campus and we had a good turnout today on our first day,” Gemo said.
The third-year coach is seeing movement in a positive direction with the program since going 1-11 in his first year at the helm. Last year, the Acorns rattled off five wins to start the season before off-the-field issues sent the team to a 1-4 finish.
“I think the program is going in the right direction and kids are wanting to get more involved in it,” Gemo said. “Wins and losses take care of themselves. Hopefully we all learned a lesson from last year and kids seem to be fired up about getting back at it this year.”
From spring practice, Gemo said he saw the group gel together well and the players seem to be ready to get the season going again.
Conversely, he knows the team is going to be young in some key areas, especially wide receiver and defensive back.
“We’ve got some skilled guys coming up from the JV team last year that were very skilled. We’re hoping they just get up to speed on the varsity field,” Gemo said.
The biggest positive is Gemo will have nearly his entire offensive line back from last year, some of which were freshmen.
He said having a year under their belts will help in blocking schemes, especially trying to defend against teams stacking the box to eliminate the Trevor Bearden threat.
Running back Bearden is coming off a 2,176-yard season where teams exclusively focused on stopping him to stop Live Oak. The season earned Bearden the Junior of the Year in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Santa Teresa Division.
The line, along with the linebackers and the running backs, will be among the most experienced on the field this fall.
Bearden will lead that group of returning veterans, having put in some work over the break in preparation for his senior year.
“He worked out hard all off-season,” Gemo said. “He’s gotten a little taller, a little stronger (and) a little faster. He’s looking for big things out of himself and his team.”
At middle line backer, Kyle Quadros is going to be looked to for good things this summer as the leader of the defense.
Quadros is coming off being named Most Outstanding Linebacker for 2012 in the Santa Teresa Divison.
Also returning is his brother Ryan, who was named to the Second Team All League last year, will be playing both sides of the ball.
On the offensive line, Anthony Ditta is coming off Freshman of the Year honors at center and will now be looked to play both sides of the ball as well.
He is joined by fellow lineman Billy Bennett, who Gemo said has added a bit of weight in his return for his junior year.
There will be a few who will be asked to play both ways, but Gemo said there will be enough depth there that there will be plenty of players able to rotate into the game. This will be crucial as Live Oak works to replenish its ranks in other skill positions.
In the spring, Dante Spencer returned having worked over the off-season on his passing and is in a good competition with Cole Campi and Erik Ornduff for the starting job.
Spencer is looking to continue his role as QB after unexpectedly being called on to fill the spot mid season.
The freshmen are down a little bit, with 13 at practice compared to 18 last year. But this year, coach John Bennett said he has far more experienced players this year over last.
He said last year he only had three or four who had any football experience. This year, he said, there are only three or four who have not played before, meaning he’s able to better teach the system to get them ready for varsity.
