Against old rival, Live Oak overwhelmed in season-opening 36-13
loss
GILROY — Jon Michael Porras knew what he was getting into six months ago when he scheduled his Live Oak football team to begin its 2009 campaign against Gilroy, a two-time defending league champion coming off a run to the Open Division playoffs.
Upsetting their big blue adversaries from down Monterey Street seemed like a daunting task, but
Porras and the Acorns were thinking ahead — to their rival nouveau across town.
“We’re looking at everything through the lens of Sobrato,” Porras said in March.
True to his word, the third-year coach echoed that same phrase Friday night after the Acorns dropped their first meeting with Gilroy in four years, 36-13, at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
A loss to the Mustangs was once enough to mar an entire season, and, while this one did sting Live Oak’s players and coaches, they kept it in perspective. El Toro Bowl III is just around the corner.
“That’s why we scheduled these two games,” Porras said, alluding to this week’s home opener against heavyweight Salinas. “We’re going to be ready.”
Live Oak could have had a month longer to prepare and still might not have been ready for Gilroy. The Acorns were called offside five times and committed two of their four turnovers in the first half as the Mustangs opened up a 30-0 lead.
Behind dual-threat quarterback Nick Marra, Gilroy’s slippery spread offense showed shades of 2008 when it averaged close to 400 yards a game. The Mustangs outgained Live Oak 356-221 in yards of total offense, with most of the Acorns’ coming against reserves in the fourth quarter.
Live Oak senior Dominic Leach provided a late show when he hauled in two long touchdown passes from Dylan Frechette and David Pelz.
“The first half (the offense) was running perfect,” Gilroy first-year coach Greg Garcia said. “We started off like we wanted to.”
Marra covered 172 of his 212 all-purpose yards in the opening half as Gilroy scored on five of its first six possessions. After Ben Vega made a 23-yard field goal, Marra hooked up with running back Bryan Sanchez on a short slant that turned into a 26-yard touchdown connection.
For the Acorns, things fell apart quickly from there. Ben Torrcier recovered Michael Singleton’s fumble at Gilroy’s 42-yard line, and the Mustangs put together a 10-play coup de grâce. Marra found wideout Tommy Silva in the back of the end zone for a 20-yard strike on a fourth-and-15 play.
“Our offense really clicked,” said Marra, who finished 13-of-22 passing for 197 yards and four touchdowns. “We got into a groove and a rhythm in the first half.”
The Acorns went three and out on their next two drives, and the Mustangs struck again when Sanchez scored on a sweep from six yards out, capping another 10-play series.
“We had trouble adjusting to their offense,” said Singleton, who recovered a fumble and forced another while playing linebacker. “They weren’t better than we expected. We just didn’t execute.”
Gilroy got the ball back on the next play, when linebacker Logan Sweeney intercepted a Frechette pass at midfield and returned it 37 yards. After Live Oak’s front four jumped offside on a third-and-two at the 11-yard line, Marra threw to Jordan Mitchell for a 6-yard score with 29 seconds left before halftime.
“They capitalized off our mistakes,” said Frechette, who was picked off twice while completing 3 of 15 for 68 yards. “Their defense caused a lot of problems. We needed to adjust better. We have to work on that for next week and just move on.
“I think we’ll bounce back from this.”
Frechette’s counterpart, junior David Pelz, had an equally tough night despite finishing 5 for 9 for 98 yards passing. The two Live Oak quarterbacks were sacked five times combined.
Junior running back Blair Zerr was the Acorns’ leading rusher with nine carries for 33 yards.
“They just came after us,” Live Oak cornerback/Z-back Jacob Montoya said. “We couldn’t get anything going against their defense.”
The Acorns did not give up in the second half. They forced a turnover two plays into Gilroy’s opening drive, then went on a promising 13-play drive that included two fourth-down conversions. The third attempt, though, was not as charming; Gilroy linebacker Mark Salazar wrapped up Frechette 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage to turn the ball over on downs.
“Our defense has some swag,” Sweeney said. “Everyone has fun and they do their job. There was not one thing (Live Oak) did that we weren’t prepared for.”
The Acorns’ new pistol-fleer attack showed promise again on the next series only to be turned away on a fourth-and-five at Gilroy’s 35-yard line. Marra and fullback Eric Vegas connected for 59 yards on the next play, then went back to Mitchell for a 5-yard touchdown pass to make it 36-0.
With his team in danger of being shutout for the first time since Oct. 10, 2008, Frechette mustered his best throw of the night: a high-arcing pass that fell just beyond the reach of cornerback Justin Soares — and into Leach’s hands. The 6-foot-3 wideout sprinted down the sideline to complete the 52-yard touchdown strike with 10:54 remaining.
“It was just good to get a score in at the end and keep fighting,” Frechette said. “That pass felt great. The second it left my fingers, I knew it was perfect.”
Leach collected 29 of his 124 receiving yards when he streaked through coverage and snagged a pass from Pelz for a 29-yard score.
“When we can run a play right, and the linemen are doing their jobs correctly, they did some good things tonight,” Porras said. “We have to get tougher. We had too many mental mistakes tonight. We beat ourselves pretty good, and when you do that against a team as good as Gilroy, you’re in for a long night.”
The Acorns don’t necessarily have to beat any Open Division-caliber teams to make the playoffs this year, but Porras expects them to be up to the challenge. They will face another Tri County Athletic League program at 7 p.m. Friday in Salinas (0-1).
The Cowboys beat Live Oak 40-14 a year ago.
“They could be even better than Gilroy,” Montoya said. “We have a lot to work on this week.”
