As Coach Mike Gemo gathered his team following Live Oak’s 35-13 loss to Oak Grove, the attitude was not frustration over a loss, but a lifting up for a game well played.
The Acorns suffered their second loss of the season, falling to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in Mt. Hamilton Division play, but they came away feeling like it was a win after playing the defending Division II CCS champions well.
Live Oak trailed Oak Grove 7-6 at the half and 21-13 after three quarters.
In fact, the Acorns can point to three plays that directly swung the game: Not punching the ball in from the 1 in the second quarter, a fumble on the Eagles’ 10 and a pick 6 in the fourth quarter.
The fumble led to a touchdown for what amounted to a 28-point swing in the game.
As much as Live Oak wanted to pull the upset, the Acorns are riding high knowing that a home playoff game is still within their grasp and the schedule is favorable to running the table.
But just because the likes of Pioneer and Willow Glen are a combined 2-14 overall, doesn’t mean Live Oak will have wins gifted to it.
First up is the 0-8 Pioneer Mustangs who have been handed a series of tough-luck breaks from injuries to heartbreaking losses late in games.
After five games of being out scored 166-29, the Mustangs have lost their last three by a touchdown or less, all the while giving up 34 points in that stretch on defense.
“They play really good defense,” Gemo said. “They fly around to the football. They give other offenses problems. They keep a lot of their games close with a chance to win.”
Even then, Pioneer’s scoring average is right on track at just over 7 per game in that three-game stretch, which is slightly outpacing the season average of 6.5 points per game.
This is something that Live Oak can take advantage of, as the defense has surrendered 22.3 points per game, while out scoring opponents by almost 10 points per game.
Live Oak needs to win out to strengthen its chances at receiving a home game in the first round of the playoffs.
Should the Acorns win out, the question will become whether they will receive a 2, 3 or 4 seed.
Live Oak will get bumped down to a 3 if Palma wins out, thus claiming the MBL-Gabilan title. A loss against San Benito will push Palma down to the No. 4 spot and Live Oak to the No. 2.
If Live Oak wins out, it should top Monte Vista Christian for the No. 3 if Palma claims the second seed.
Loss to Oak Grove
Oak Grove’s first touchdown came on a trick play that involved a pass to a wide out along the OG sideline that turned into a 17-yard touchdown pass. The Live Oak sideline thought the first pass might have been a forward pass, thus negating the touchdown, but the play stood and was all the Eagles recorded in the first half.
Meanwhile in the first half, Live Oak’s defense had two take-a-ways with Josue Rodriguez ripping the ball out of Oak Grove running back Jarmar Julien’s hands and Connor Dietz stepping in front of a pass to deny the Eagles points off of a Live Oak interception.
The defense gave up two touchdowns on big plays. All the rest of the scores came on short fields not counting the pick 6.
Oak Grove’s firs two TDs came when the Eagles started on the Live Oak 29 and 16. The other two offensive touchdowns came on plays of 68 and 59 yards.
Meanwhile, Live Oak was the better team in terms of sustaining a drive.
The Acorns’ first touchdown was on a 72-yard drive in the second quarter that ended with Jonathan Singleton pushing it in from one yard out on fourth down.
Live Oak’s second drive in the quarter went for 38 yards on 12 plays which featured a touchdown called back on a holding penalty.
The Acorns then opened up the third quarter with a 67-yard drive that featured Alex Cornejo fighting for a 50/50 ball and coming down with a great catch for a 28-yard play.
Ultimately, it was the passing game—not the vaunted run game—that kept the Acorns in the game offensively.
Live Oak had a combined 50 yards on the ground, but threw for 252 yards in the air.
Singleton threw for 161 yards on 20 of 39 passing with two interceptions.
Zach Heffernan had two completions on as many attempts for 91 yards and a touchdown.
Heffernan took a reverse handoff and connected with Jacob Ryder for a 74-yard strike that answered Oak Grove’s two third quarter scores.
