Abbott’s 162 yards rushing not enough as Saratoga scores 22
points in fourth quarter to win
Saratoga – When Live Oak senior running back Kevin Abbott broke free for a 50-yard touchdown run to give the Acorns a 21-7 lead with just more than eight minutes remaining in their season-opener Friday at Saratoga, it appeared to be the final blow to spark a Live Oak victory.
Throw in a fumble by the Falcons on the ensuing kickoff recovered by the Acorns, and the game certainly looked to be in the bag.
But Saratoga wasn’t finished. Quarterback Kevin Sieczkarek was spectacular down the stretch, throwing for two touchdowns in the final three minutes and keeping the ball on an option play to complete the two-point conversion with 43.2 seconds left and give the Falcons a 22-21 victory.
“Hopefully, we’ll learn from it,” Live Oak coach Rick Booth said. “I think we might’ve gotten tired. I don’t know. Maybe we’re not running them enough. I thought we were.”
Saratoga gained 151 of its 298 yards in the fourth quarter, which began with the Falcons trailing 14-0. Sieczkarek, who gained a team-high 82 yards rushing on 14 carries, opened the quarter with a 15-yard touchdown run and was excited to get the call to go for two after Saratoga scoring what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.
“You never really know. You get it and you’re golden, you don’t get it and you’re screwed,” Sieczkarek said. “But I loved (the call).”
The late-game rally by the Falcons spoiled what had been a terrific effort by Live Oak. The Acorns received the opening kickoff and proceeded to quickly march down the field.
Senior running back Victor Kalata took charge on a third-and-10 play by running over defenders for a 19-yard pick up and a first down. Abbott bursted 27 yards on the next play to reach the 1-yard line and took the handoff again a play later and scored the touchdown.
Defense proved to be the theme the rest of the half. Saratoga went three-and-out on each of its first two drives before mounting its first threat.
With the ball at their own 35, the Falcons’ Jeff Fredrickson barrelled up the middle on his way toward the end zone. Live Oak’s Jeff Mounteer chased him down and made a touchdown-saving tackle at the Live Oak 28 and Saratoga eventually turned the ball over on downs.
The score stayed 7-0 until the third quarter. After forcing the Falcons to punt, the Acorns 58 yards in 11 plays and took 6 minutes, 29 seconds off the clock before quarterback Chris Nicholls threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Abbott for a 14-0 lead.
The team’s exchanged possessions before Saratoga first got on the board with Sieczkarek’s touchdown run. The Falcons made it 21-14 with 2:52 left on a 14-yard catch-and-run by Cal-bound wide receiver Alex Lageman and Danny Miroyan recovered the onside kick for Saratoga to set up Sieczkarek’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Keon Ghafouri.
Live Oak attempted to mount a last-minute comeback. Nicholls found Mounteer for a 27-yard gain to move to the Saratoga 27. Nicholls was sacked on the next play and after an incompletion made it third-and-14, Nicholls attempted to scramble and the ball popped loose and the Falcons recovered with six seconds left to seal it.
“It’s going to be real hard to overcome,” Nichols said. “But we’ve got to just come out (Saturday) and get ready for the next game.”
The running game was productive for most of the afternoon, gaining 253 yards on 40 carries. Abbott led the way with 163 yards on 22 carries and Kalata chipped in with 10 carries for 79 yards.
“It was good but it was shaky at times. A lot of mistakes,” Abbott said. “It was hard mentally because we were up half the game, the last quarter, and just couldn’t get (the win).”
