Defense produces goal-line stand in final minute to preserve
Live Oak win
Morgan Hill – The Live Oak High football team won’t have to worry about not being battle-tested.
For the second time in three weeks, the Acorns had a game go down to the wire, but this time they came out on the positive side with a gut-wrenching 31-25 win at home over Santa Clara on Friday.
“We had adversity against Saratoga and we didn’t respond very well,” Live Oak Coach Rick Booth said, referring to the team’s season-opening loss to the Falcons where the defense allowed 22 fourth-quarter points and lost the game in the final minute. “It’s nice to win, nice to be 2-1. (Santa Clara’s) a good team. They’re going to win games.”
After rallying from what was once a 25-17 deficit, the Acorns (2-1) nearly saw this one slip away.
With less than a minute to go, the Bruins (1-2) were facing a fourth-and-15 from the Live Oak 42-yard line. Santa Clara quarterback David Gurrola dropped back to pass and was under pressure. He scrambled out of the backfield and broke a pair of tackles as he worked his way down to the 1.
Booth called a time out to regroup the defense and the Acorns responded on the next play by stuffing running back Vince Pereira (14 carries, 80 yards) on a run up the middle. After Gurrola spiked the ball to stop the clock, the Bruins appeared to tie the game at 31 when Jacob Ratliff scored on a sweep play. But the play was sprung by a block in the back by a Santa Clara receiver and the flag was thrown, negating the score.
The ball was moved back to the 14, and a pass by Gurrola was caught out of bounds as the clock expired to give Live Oak the victory.
“It’s one of those games that you’re lucky to survive,” Booth said. “We survived and we’re not too banged up going into league.”
The Acorns host Piedmont Hills on Friday at 7pm in their first Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division game.
“It raises us up,” said senior running back and safety Victor Kalata, who had two touchdown runs in his five carries. “I think we’re going to work a lot harder because we can’t have these close games anymore. I think we’re going to step it up in practice so we can be a lot better in games.”
Senior offensive tackle Michael McHenry saw action on the defensive line and proved to be a major force. He recorded a sack and put a ton of pressure on the quarterback during his shifts on defense.
“I was having a blast. Defense is a fun position to play, especially on the D-line,” McHenry said. “I enjoy the fact that I can play both ways. I’ve just got to push hard in practice so I’m in shape so I can go both ways.”
Senior running back Kevin Abbott had another standout game with 20 carries for 147 yards and two touchdowns. He opened the scoring for Live Oak with a 53-yard run and his 13-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter proved to be the game-winner.
