Leaving one big game and heading into another.
The Live Oak football team is 5-1 after knocking off arguably two of its toughest opponents in the past three weeks. Now the Acorns must suit up for another pressure-packed contest against yet another tough.
And Live Oak says just to bring it on.
“We know the target is on our back now and we’re ready to go,” said Live Oak coach Mike Gemo. “Every team has got to play us and every team is in our way of winning league.”
Live Oak’s journey toward avenging last season’s disappointment has not been easy, but the Acorns don’t want it to be.
Live Oak has had just one easy win this season and has survived three nail biters.
The last example came with a dramatic 21-14 win over Westmont to take one step closer to a league championship it’s coveted since missing the playoffs last year.
This week presents a misleading challenge.
On paper, the Raiders should be a push over. They started the season 0-3 and were outscored 130-13 in those games. Silver Creek has since gone 3-0 after starting Santa Teresa Division play.
In those wins, the Raiders’ opponents are 1-16 and they outscored those opponents 90-40.
But Live Oak coach Mike Gemo knows the Silver Creek that started the season is not the same Silver Creek that is taking the field now.
“It looks like they got some players back that weren’t there the first couple of games and they look like a better team than they were in the beginning of the year,” Gemo said.
Gemo and the Acorns are going to counter that with the weapon everyone in the section knows is coming at them — Trevor Bearden.
Bearden is 439 yards away from the 5,439-yard career mark, needing to average 109 yards to break it by the end of the season.
At his current pace of slightly less than 254 yards per game, Bearden will eclipse the mark at Lincoln on Nov. 1.
If Leigh and Westmont were crucial wins in the quest of a league championship —needing to beat the best to be the best — Silver Creek is going to be that emotional hurdle to get over toward a title.
Last year, Live Oak was 5-0 going into the Raiders game. The Acorns lost that game 41-14 and went on to finish the second half of the season 1-4 and missed the playoffs.
There were some off the field issues that highly contributed to that loss — mainly losing the Live Oak quarterback and a wide receiver.
Still, it was that game that started Live Oak’s decline and ultimately bumped the Acorns from the playoffs.
“We talked about how they won the second half last year and won the game and kept us out of the playoffs. We want to make sure that doesn’t happen again this year,” Gemo said.
If revenge wasn’t motivation enough for the Acorns, they have the knowledge they are the big dogs in the division and are getting better every week.
Live Oak has increasingly put up better games as the season has progressed.
The defense last week proved that with 14 yards yielded in the second half and held Westmont to zero first downs.
“Our defense is playing well right now, so they’re up for the challenge and we look forward to stopping what (Silver Creek) throws at us,” Gemo said.
Meanwhile, Bearden broke through with 327 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
That includes a game winning 97-yard score to put the Acorns up 21-14.
The defense was then pushed up against the wall when a kick off return put Westmont on the Acorn 32-yard line.
But the defense gave up just two yards and Mitch Crowley clinched the game with an interception on fourth down.
“Our kids believe they’re never out of a game and they believe they can win any game we’re in,” Gemo said. “It helps out with our belief that if we play all 48 minutes, hopefully we’ll come out as victors.”
Kickoff for tonight’s game is at 7 at Richert Field.
