Live Oak’s offense couldn’t get moving against Christopher, losing 28-8 Friday.
A week after amassing more than 700 yards of offense, the Acorns were held to 111 total yards.
Trevor Bearden, who exploded for almost 500 yards against Gilroy, was held to 30 on 15 carries, including just six in the first half.
The loss puts the Acorns at 1-1 in the young season.
Live Oak had two first downs in the first half, both coming on Christopher penalties.
“They were just better than us tonight,” said Live Oak coach Mike Gemo. “We will have to learn from this and get better as a team.”
Live Oak’s defense stood strong in the first half, utilizing a bend-but-don’t-break style that yielded two scores, including one field goal.
The defense also forced Christopher to turn the ball over on downs in two of its six first-half possessions.
Live Oak’s offense rewarded the defense’s effort in the third quarter.
After a third turnover on downs, Live Oak went on a 10-play, 47-yard drive that was capped with Mitch Crowley taking the ball in from just inside the 1 yard line.
The Acorns made it a one-score game when Erik Ornduff hit Cole Griffin wide open in the endzone on a two-point conversion.
But the Cougars (2-0) got their offense rolling, especially in the second half. They rode the effort of Rashon Mills, who had 199 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
That touchdown came on the heels of the Acorns pulling to within a score and put Christopher up 22-8.
Mills capped off the scoring on the Cougars’ next series, taking the ball in from 19 yards out to make the game 28-8 with 4:29 to play in the game.
Mills scored all four of Christopher’s touchdowns, running them in from 63 yards, 19 yards, 12 yards and 2 yards.
Raul Meza added a 24-yard boot, which put Christopher up 10-0 at half time.
Christopher caught a break at the start of the third quarter when it opted to avoid kicking to Bearden.
The short kick caught the Acorns off guard, allowing Christopher to recover the ball on the Live Oak 38.
That set up Mills three plays later, taking the ball 12 yards for a 16-0 lead after the point after was no good.
Christopher tried the same play on the ensuing kick off and got the ball back for a second time.
The Live Oak responded by forcing the Cougars to turn the ball over on downs setting up the Acorns’ only touchdown of the night.
The Cougars put the game on ice when Bryant Huynh intercepted Ornduff for the second time in the game, allowing them to run out the clock.
Live Oak will now have to regroup to take on Sobrato in the El Toro Bowl on Sept. 21. The Bulldogs (0-2) fell 28-0 in Gilroy.
NOTES: In Live Oak’s junior varsity game, Juan Megallames kicked a 52-yard field goal to give the Acorns a then 10-6 lead over Christopher. The Cougars went on, however, to win 24-17. The Acorns defense had three interceptions in the game.
