New league and new opportunities await Live Oak as it prepares
to kick off the football season this afternoon against Saratoga
Morgan Hill – Today marks the beginning of another season of Live Oak High football and the Acorns hope to maintain the success they’ve experienced over the years.
“I just want the kids to go out and compete,” Live Oak head coach Rick Booth said. “We’ve done that throughout the years here and hopefully we can do that.”
The Acorns shared the Tri-County Athletic League title with San Benito and Palma last season. This year they’ve switched to the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Mt. Hamilton Division – the top division of a three-tiered league – and open the year on the road today against Saratoga at 3pm.
“The offense is getting it together. The defense is looking good. I think we’ll be real prepared,” senior quarterback Chris Nicholls said. “But we also have to come to play and play our best against Saratoga. Saratoga’s a good team. We’ll have to be perfect to win.”
The running game should be a key for Live Oak, which has all-league running back Kevin Abbott returning for his senior year.
Despite sharing the load with Dustin Muhn, the league’s most valuable utility player, Abbott was still fifth in the TCAL with 1,048 yards and scored 15 touchdowns and he expects to be a big part of the offense.
“I’m excited about it but we’re still going to be using a lot of other players on the team,” Abbott said. “We’re not a one-player team.”
Victor Kalata is among those that Booth expects to get some carries and the senior, who also plays strong safety, is ready to strap it up against another team.
“I can’t wait to hit another person,” Kalata said. “We’ve been practicing all season for this.”
The offensive line will be important to the Acorns success running the ball and 6-foot-4, 225-pound offensive tackle Michael McHenry will help anchor that line.
McHenry said the team knows that how it practices will determine how well it does during games.
“If we practice hard, we’ll play good,” McHenry said. “We’re not setting any high goals. We’re just trying to go through the season and do as best as we can, practice as hard as we can.”
While Dustin Muhn, who racked up 1,467 yards and 18 touchdowns last year, is gone, the Acorns will not be without a Muhn on their roster. Younger brothers, Nic, a junior, and Alex, a sophomore, are both on the Acorns roster and should see some carries.
“They’re their own running back. They have their own style,” Booth said. “Dustin was Dustin. That’s a lot to ask of a junior and a sophomore to live up to their brother.”
Live Oak’s defense took a bit of a hit when junior cornerback Matt Cummins suffered an injury to his calf muscle during the Acorns’ scrimmage on Aug. 25.
Cummins, who was also slated to see time at wide receiver, was the team’s backup punter and played on most special teams, is expected to miss the season and he was forced to have surgery.
The loss will be particularly felt this week when Live Oak will try to match up with Saratoga’s dynamic receiver Alex Lagemann.
“He’s awfully good,” Booth said of Lagemann. “We’ll always be aware of where’s he’s lined up.”
After a summer of practicing, Booth said the team is excited to get into the competition of the season.
“We’re just happy to be playing against somebody else,” Booth said. “You get tired of banging on yourself. We just hope that we can come out and play hard.”
