If Live Oak learned one thing from this season its that the team knows how to win close games.
Half of the Acorns games were decided by a touchdown or less and two others were decided by fewer than two touchdowns.
As Live Oak enters the CCS Division IV playoffs with a No. 2, knowing how to win a close game could prove necessary on the road to a championship.
The Acorns return to the playoffs Friday for the first time since 2010 and will play their first home playoff game since 2007.
“That’s what we’ve worked for all year was getting that home playoff game and now that we got it, we’re pretty excited about it,” said coach Mike Gemo.
Their opponent is a team that was one win away from the No. 3 seed in the playoffs — Pacific Grove.
The Breakers enter the game 9-1 and are fresh off having their nine-game winning streak snapped by 10-0 Carmel last Friday.
Pacific Grove cruised through its first seven games of the season, blowing out teams by a 367-105 margin. The most points the Breakers yielded in that stretch were 28 in a 63-28 win and the closest game was a 35-21 in Week 3 against Monterey.
However, in the last two games, Pacific Grove has given up at least 40 points, including a 42-41 squeaker of a win against King City. The next week, PG lost 40-35 to Carmel.
While Pacific Grove is just getting acquainted with the close game, Live Oak is hoping its knowledge of a narrow win will help.
“They played two opponents that are pretty good football teams,” Gemo said. “They played them tough and, you know what, we’re going to try to do the same thing.”
But if Live Oak is going to win a close game, it will need to a) score a lot of points or b) hold the Breakers’ one-two combination at bay.
PG will come at Live Oak with a passer and a runner who both eclipsed 1,000 yards this season.
“They’re a good football team,” Gemo said. “They’re quick. They stay on their blocks. They’re well coached. They’re going to give us one heck of a game. I know they won’t back down, but neither will we.”
On the ground, Jason Leach will look to burn the Acorns entering the contest with 1,249 yards and 12 touchdowns. The only games he didn’t break 100 yards were games Pacific Grove had well in hand, except for the game against Monterey.
His partner in crime Luke Lowell is a 1,829-yard passer who has 28 touchdowns against five interceptions. He’s strictly a pocket passer, as he only has 169 yards running this season.
Lowell will spread the ball around, but his favorite target this season has been Jake Speed, who’s caught 38 passes for 855 yards and 12 touchdowns. Though he has fewer targets than Speed, Dylan Chesney will also get looks as he has pulled down 30 receptions for 474 yards.
“They’re a lot like the Leigh football team,” Gemo said. “They’ll spread you out, they’ll throw it and they have a lot of good weapons. We just got to bring our A game.”
Gemo said the team is going to need to be sure tacklers and stay disciplined in its assignments. It will be a challenge for the defense led by the Quadros brothers, Kyle and Ryan, who have accounted for almost a third of Live Oak’s tackles this year.
Live Oak will counter with its bread and butter and an emerging passing offense.
Trevor Bearden has been barreling over defenses this entire year, save one, which proved to be Live Oak’s only loss.
He captured the CCS career rushing record three weeks ago against Lincoln and is closing in on the single season record, needing 404 yards to break Justin Ewing’s record set last year for Capuchino.
“It’s the cherry on top of the season,” Gemo said. “It’s just another thing these guys have worked for and it’s another thing that they’re going to be part of. They’re making history right now for Live Oak and for the area and for himself. They’re making history that all these guys in the locker room will be part of.”
While Bearden has been the focus of defenses this entire year, Erik Ornduff quietly is approaching 1,000 yards passing, coming alive in the last four games with very consistent numbers, including a 14 of 17 for 170 passing against Gunderson.
“We didn’t expect that when he decided to be the quarterback and try for it. He’s just worked very hard to develop his skills,” Gemo said. “He’s going to be one heck of a guy the next couple of years.”
That dynamic is going to be crucial against PG this week as Live Oak is going to need to put up points and keep its defense off the field.
“They’ll pressure on both (sides of the ball),” Gemo said. “We’ve got to make some stops and offensively, we need to make sure we stay on the field and sustain some drives this week.”
That defense, however, has taken pride in stopping offenses since giving up 42 against Gilroy and 28 against Christopher in its only defeat.
“They team wants to keep going every week and we’re going to do our best to get after it,” Gemo said.
