Emilio Martinez was the one man Live Oak couldn’t stop Friday night, forcing the Acorns to end their storied 2016 run with a 40-14 loss to Palma.
Live Oak concludes its season with a 9-3 overall record having advanced to the Central Coast Section semifinals for the first time since 2007.
“Nobody gave us a chance (to go) 9-3 this year with everybody we lost last year,” said coach Mike Gemo. “These kids just worked hard all off season and said ‘We’re going to do some special things this year,’ and they did.”
The Acorns finished with nine wins for the third time in the last four seasons, matching their best win total since going 10-1-1 in 1993.
Live Oak entered the season with many question marks because of the loss of some key components that led to three-straight playoff appearances in a run that saw the Acorns go 25-8.
“It all started in the summer when we were working out hard and being doubted. Everyone doubted us for losing all those seniors. The payoff in the end was huge,” said runningback Jacob Ryder.
Jonathan Singleton concluded his first year on varsity, throwing for more than 220 yards and a touchdown.
“He’s big time,” Gemo said. “He’s going to be great quarterback. The whole team runs around him right now and I can’t wait to see what he does in the future.”
Receiver Alex Cornejo ended his Live Oak tenure with 67 yards receiving, a touchdown and an interception.
Garrett Cardona had 60 yards receiving.
Tyler Souza in his final game as an Acorn got to punch the ball in from the 1-yard line in the final series for Live Oak, to put the game at 40-14.
Palma, meanwhile, proved too much up front with a lethal combination of a stout line and a shifty quick runningback.
The Chieftains sit at 10-2 overall and punched a ticket to take on Valley Christian in the Open Division III championship game next week.
Gemo said he was proud of his boys going up against a team of the caliber of Palma and not backing down despite the score.
“Our kids never gave up. They punched us in the mouth a little bit, but our kids at half time wanted to keep fighting and we did,” Gemo said.
Martinez ran for 302 yards on 16 carries and five touchdowns. He had 245 yards on eight carries and four touchdowns in the first half alone.
Martinez’s propensity for the big play was the death stroke for Live Oak.
Take away his four first half touchdown runs, and Martinez’s yardage goes from 302 to 90.
His first carry broke for a 38-yard touchdown, followed by scoring runs of 58, 77, 39 and three yards.
“That’s a special football player right there and that line does a good job,” Gemo said. “We were a little over matched, but our kids don’t back down from anybody.”
The rest of Palma’s offense was held to 133 yards and a touchdown.
Live Oak struggled to get a footing early, not crossing midfield until the second quarter when the Acorns started on the Palma 47.
The Acorns didn’t have a sustained drive until late in the second quarter, going 49 yards on 10 plays, but the series ended on a fluky interception. Palma’s Michael Zaragoza got his hands up on a blitz and tipped a pass at the line. He then caught his own tipped ball for the second of three interceptions on the day.
Live Oak’s defense had its own moments to shine, forcing an early stop on fourth down in the fourth quarter after the Acorns gave up an interception.
The defense held in the second quarter, forcing Palma to settle for a 39-yard field goal attempt, which went wide left.
The Chieftains’ kicker was 4-6 on PATs and 0-1 on field goals.
Cornejo later pulled down an interception at the start of the third quarter, which led to Live Oak’s first score of the game.
Four plays later, Cornejo found himself wide open in front of the end zone and Singleton floated a pass for him to bring the score to 26-7.
Cornejo was involved in a tense moment to close the first half when he went up for a pass deep in Palma territory that was well over his head.
A Palma defender hit Cornejo while he was still in the air, sending the Acorn flipping to the ground and landing on his head.
No penalty was called for a hit on a defenseless receiver, sending the Live Oak sideline into a fervor.
In the ensuing confusion, Live Oak was hit for two penalties, including an unsportsmanlike conduct call for use of foul language.
The Acorns threatened again after forcing Palma into a three and out, getting up to the Chieftain 30 where their drive stalled.
Palma turned that around into a 58-yard drive with Martinez rushing for the final three yards to put the Chieftains up 33-7 to effectively ice the game.
Palma capitalized on one final turnover from Live Oak, turning an interception into a 20-yard pass play from Zach Flores to Liam Short for a 40-7 lead.
Souza finished off the game by going the final yard of an 82-yard drive.
With the loss, Live Oak bade farewell to 16 seniors, including Cornejo, tight end Zach Heffernan and runningback Jacob Ryder.
Ryder finishes his career with just over 2,000 yards rushing in three seasons.
Heffernan finished with 494 yards and seven touchdowns. He also threw for two more TDs.
But for what Live Oak is losing, the Acorns should have plenty to be excited for going forward.
Sophomore quarterback Singleton threw for more yards by an Acorn going back to 2004 with 2,423. He bested Erik Ornduff’s mark of 2,074 yards.
“Props to that kid. He’s just going to get better and better. His work ethic shows. In practice he’s always working hard,” Ryder said.
Singleton threw 22 touchdowns against eight interceptions.
Junior runningback Cole Davis rushed for 661 yards in his full varsity debut.
“They stepped up big time for sure. The seniors made their plays, but we needed fill other spots and they filled it in well,” Ryder said.
