For the first time since 2014, Live Oak and Sobrato are in the same football league—the Blossom Valley Athletic League, Mt. Hamilton South Division. And in the annual El Toro Bowl on Oct. 16, the Acorns and the Bulldogs entered the game tied for first place at the top of the standings.
Morgan Hill Mayor Mark Turner joined captains and referees for the coin toss before the game, and it appeared that nearly every other city resident was at Richert Field on the Live Oak campus. The stands were overflowing, the bands and cheer teams were rocking and the parking lots were jammed beyond capacity.
On the field, the showdown turned into a green-and-gold showcase.
Live Oak led 20-0 at halftime on the way to a big 27-0 victory. LO’s ground-based attack dominated behind strong line play and their defense stifled the Bulldogs. Acorns tailback Gage Jones rushed 27 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns, with quarterback Justin Svoboda picking up 67 yards on 12 carries and also reaching paydirt twice.
“I am very grateful to go out this way,” said Jones, a senior. “I definitely want to thank everyone who came out for both teams. Even though we’re rivals, it felt great to experience this. I’ve been playing against some of their guys since I was 5 years old. The key was our guys up front.”
Live Oak excelled offensively with the interior line play of Royce Mendonca, Jacob Meininger, Santino DeSantiago, Caleb Elliott, Jacob Orta, Mikey Cantu and others. Jones and Svoboda ran hard behind the blocking, accelerated quickly through openings and powered forward against Sobrato tacklers.
“It was a fight,” Meininger said. “It was won in the trenches.”
Cantu added that the Acorns needed to match up with toughness and show physicality and they did.
“It was a team effort,” Orta said. “The key was our enthusiasm.”
On defense, the Acorns shut down the Sobrato rushing game early, forcing the Bulldogs to go to the pass, though that came with minimal results.
Live Oak’s physical play and gap-filling came from Oliver Blenn, Manny Mercardo, Clayton Kelso, Jaasiel Gutierrez, Ryan Brown, Josiah Delgado, Nathan Bergstrom and others. In the secondary, Ayden McGraw, Aiden Guzman, Praise God Ofubuike and others kept tight coverage on receivers all day.
“It was a great team victory,” Svoboda said. “A great effort by our defense.”
Sobrato running back Brady Lennon had little room to run, gaining 30 yards on nine carries. Quarterback Liam Hughes, often under pass rush pressure, found few open receivers, completing 11-of-29 passes for 104 yards.
“I am proud for everyone to see how good Morgan Hill football is,” Sobrato coach Joel Rueda said. “It’s one of the top three crowds in the history (of the Sobrato-Live Oak rivalry). They (Live Oak) are a tough team. They’re big and physical. They have guys that have been doing it for years.
“We are just getting our sea legs in this league and at this level. Those three guys for Live Oak—52 (Mendonca), 68 (Meininger) and 55 (DeSantiago) are just awesome football players.”
Jones capped possessions of 43 yards and 73 yards with scoring runs of three and two yards and it was 14-0 by the first minute of the second quarter. Svoboda led a 67-yard march later in the second period and finished it off with a 21-yard tackle-breaking touchdown.
The scoreboard read 20-0. Both teams played hard in a physical and emotional game between archrivals, but the Acorns stayed in control and the Bulldogs could not rally.
“The difference was our lines on both sides of the ball,” Live Oak coach Mike Gemo said. “Royce (Mendonca) and Josiah (Delgado) and others. We have a great offensive line and Gage ran well. And Justin ran the ball well too. We controlled the tempo of the game.”
Live Oak picked up 371 yards on the night, while holding Sobrato to 125. Acorn defense dominance was defined by five Sobrato drives that each netted just four yards or less.
At the beginning of the night, a look at season results to date appeared to point to a tight contest. Both teams were 1-0 in league, 4-2 overall, with similar results in close losses to North Salinas and one-sided wins over Pioneer.
League play opened a week earlier and Sobrato impressively smacked powerful Christopher 28-3. But on this night, Live Oak line play on both sides of the ball and the Acorns’ running game were the decisive factors.
“We were behind the sticks,” coach Rueda said. “It was often second and nine or ten. It’s tough to find a groove when you’re behind the sticks. This doesn’t necessarily define our season, though. There is still a lot to play for.”
Flag Football: Sobrato is Morgan Hill’s best
Sobrato’s flag football team has been stellar all season. Live Oak’s squad struggled early but began to jell. However, the Acorns have not reached the Bulldogs’ level and Sobrato won both El Toro Bowl games, 56-0 on Sept. 23 and 38-6 on Oct. 15.
The Bulldogs are 14-2 overall, 8-0 in BVAL, Santa Teresa Division play. Quarterback Gracie Marchan has been spectacular in leading the offense. Marchan has completed 280 of 384 passes for 3,043 yards and 32 touchdowns versus just seven interceptions.
Her top target is Sol’e Campos, who has 117 catches for 1,242 yards. Evee Vallejo has pulled in 72 for 685 yards and Lauren Crowell has caught 71 for 851 yards. Crowell leads the ground game with 102 rushes for 996 yards, a superb 9.8 yards-per-carry average. Vallejo is right there with her, with 94 carries for 878 yards.
The Sobrato defense is stifling. They have held 12 of 16 opponents to eight points or less. The top players in flag pulls have been Marchan, Crowell, Vallejo and Campos.
Sobrato’s only two defeats have come in non-league games by a combined total of seven points. In league competition, Sobrato shut down Evergreen Valley 6-0 and 20-0, defeated Oak Grove 20-7 and 36-6, pasted Mt. Pleasant 42-0 and Del Mar 32-0 and swept Sobrato.
In the first El Toro Bowl, Sobrato won 56-0 as Marchan completed 16-of-20 passes for 219 yards and four scores, two to Campos on her eight-catch, 110-yard day.
Crowell rushed seven times for 103 yards and two tallies, and caught three passes for 53 yards. Vallejo added five carries for 89 yards and a touchdown, along with four catches for 47 yards and a score.
Live Oak began the campaign just 1-5 but three wins in their last four have shown major progress and propelled them up to a tie for third in the six-team league.
The Acorns recently beat Oak Grove 21-7 and Mt. Pleasant 26-0, then avenged an earlier loss to Evergreen Valley with a 14-12 win.
