SALINAS
– Once again Live Oak looked good in the second half, but missed
opportunities killed all hopes as North Salinas routed the Acorns
56-28 Friday night.
SALINAS – Once again Live Oak looked good in the second half, but missed opportunities killed all hopes as North Salinas routed the Acorns 56-28 Friday night.
The game was dominated by big plays and missed opportunities that went both for and against Live Oak.
“Sometimes the ball bounces funny,” head coach Glen Webb said. “We had chances to make big plays. Sometimes we didn’t make them, other times we did.”
This loss continues the Acorn’s season woes as they fall to 0-6-1 overall.
The mantra leading up to the game was stop ping Ronnie Drummer, said to be one of the fastest runners in California. Drummer had other plans as he had long run after long run.
“That guy is fast,” defensive back Miguel Ayala said. “He’s a great athlete. We tried to contain him, but we couldn’t. North Salinas is a big play team.”
The Acorns knew that their offense would have to go stride for stride with the Vikings’ if they would be able to come away victorious.
“We knew that we would have to out score them,” said running back Cody Welch said. “Our offense is better than their defense. We just couldn’t do it.”
Live Oak’s defense sometimes had trouble making tackles. Runs that should have ended after two yards were turned into 20 plus yard drives.
On one occasion, the Vikings handed off the ball and the Acorn defense had the receiver running backwards, but they couldn’t bring him down. 35 yards later, the runner was finally brought down.
Two yards and two plays later, North Salinas had put seven more points on the board.
The night continued to go like that for the Acorns.
Despite a 65-yard drive that was capped off by a two-yard touchdown run by running back Dustin Muhn, the first half was dominated by the Vikings.
After the Acorn touchdown, North Salinas scored on every drive for the rest of the half making the score 25-6 at halftime.
The Acorns came out swinging to start the third quarter with an onside kick recovery. This was followed by a reverse/pass to Adam Reza. But on the next play, quarterback Steve Conner was intercepted on the five yard line. Conner threw an other interception that would lead to another touchdown.
The Vikings wasted no time capitalizing on the turnover by handing off to Drummer who ran all the way for a 95-yard touchdown.
Live Oak seemed to wake up after the run and began to play well.
They answered the Viking touchdown, with a 79-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jeff Schroedter.
The defense matched the offense’s success by stopping the Vikings quickly.
The offense then pulled out a play from their bag of tricks and converted a first down on a fake punt. Two plays later, Conner connected with receiver Shaun Standridge for a 17-yard touchdown pass.
“Our special teams played very good,” said Ayala. “Special teams kept us in the game.”
The Vikings were on their heals, but the Live Oak defense was unable to stop them.
At the moment when the Acorns needed one more stop, they missed key tackles, and North Salinas was able to deliver the knockout blow with a touchdown, making the score 39-20.
Before the night was done, the Vikings would add two more touchdowns and a field goal.
Live Oak’s final score came on a 63-yard drive that was capped off by a pass thrown by Welch to receiver Eduardo Arias.
The Acorns would have one more chance to put points on the board after a fumble recovery, but time ran out leaving the score at 56-28.
Live Oak’s next game will be against Salinas at Live Oak on Friday.
