Jonathan Singleton had just busted off a 75-yard run before being tackled from behind and fumbling the ball in the process. What looked to be a sure-fire touchdown instead resulted in a turnover, and several of the Live Oak players could only bend over at the waist with looks of despair.
The Acorns, who were up by three touchdowns late in the third quarter, now found themselves in a situation they once thought unfathomable: defeat. Alisal High had the ball at its 4-yard line and needed to go 96 yards with 4 minutes, 55 seconds remaining to pull off a stunning comeback.
However, the Live Oak defense made a stand when it counted the most, allowing the Acorns to escape with a wild 38-34 home win in the season-opener for both teams Friday night. After surrendering a whopping 561 yards, the Live Oak defense did something it had failed to do throughout the game: make a stand.
“We made too many defensive mental mistakes,” Acorns coach Mike Gemo said. “Being young, we’re going to make those. But we fought for 48 minutes, so that was good.”
Indeed, Gemo was quick to point out in his postgame talk with his players that they played with “fire and passion.” However, Gemo and his coaching staff no doubt had plenty to analyze on video over the weekend.
“We’ve got to get the mental game down so we don’t make those mistakes again,” Gemo said. “Any time you can start 1-0, it’s a good way to go, but we’ve got a big game next (against Christopher) and got to get ready again.”
The Acorns produced 514 yards of total offense, with Singleton picking up right where he left off last season. The senior quarterback had touchdown runs of 70 and 28 yards and TD throws of 36 and 16 yards. Singleton completed 8 of 15 passes for 122 yards with no interceptions and rushed for a game-high 266 yards on 14 carries.
Averaging 19 yards per carry, Singleton was as electrifying as ever. Singleton and the Live Oak offense repeatedly gouged the Alisal defense on keepers, as 7 of his 14 runs were 12 yards or more. The game’s second play from scrimmage proved to be an indication of what was to come.
That’s when Singleton found a huge hole on a keeper before cutting across the field en route to a 70-yard TD run. Alisal’s defense had no answer for Singleton, who often gave himself extra time by sidestepping onrushing defenders as if he was in a video game.
“On that second play, it was just a run up the middle, there was a nice hole and I cut back over the safety, and there was no one on the backside,” Singleton said. “Their defense had a few I guess weak points on the outside for the option and read plays, and I guess the linebackers were flying over and I was able to cut up the field and hit a hole.”
The offensive line of Julian Mendoza, Logan Wiemann, Hunter Cousens, Nathan Zavaleta and Jovani Cruz helped spring Singleton for some huge gains on the ground. At times, however, it was Singleton simply improvising, backpedaling and eluding defenders that led to the big run or pass plays.
“It’s definitely an exciting feeling trying to make a play that is not there,” Singleton said. “A lot of the plays were on broken plays.”
Said Gemo: “Jonathan is a special young man. Sometimes you just have to put the ball in his hands to carry this team, and he did a great job tonight.”
Mosiah Saulala, a sophomore running back, totaled 83 yards on 11 carries, including a 21-yard TD run and 16-yard TD reception. Caleb Ojeda had three receptions for 57 yards, and Nick Lomanto had three catches for 37 yards. Ojeda also made a key play on defense, forcing a fumble that teammate Jered Brindle recovered as Alisal was driving deep in Live Oak territory.
The Acorns never trailed, building a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter on Connor Dietz’s 25-yard field goal. Live Oak eventually padded its lead to 31-12 with 4:38 left in the third quarter before Alisal scored 22 of the game’s final 29 points to make things a little too close for comfort at the end.
“I think we struggled a little bit, but I’m proud we kept on fighting,” Singleton said. “Now we know what we have to work on.”
Singleton sported a nice-sized gash on his right cheek after the game, a byproduct of his helmet digging into his face from a hard tackle early in the game. For good measure, Singleton even delivered a nice 40-yard punt with 2.7 seconds to go, sealing the outcome. The Acorns play at Christopher on Friday, a matchup that Gemo looks forward to because of his relationship with Cougars coach Tim Pierleoni and the fact the games are usually competitive.
“Coach P does a good job and him and I have become friends,” Gemo said. “I really like playing them, and it’s a game we’re going to play every year as long as he’s there. Last year’s game went to double overtime, so let’s see if we can have that excitement again.”
Game Box
Alisal 0 6 20 8—34
Live Oak 14 10 7 7—38
Scoring summary
L—Singleton 70 run (Dietz kick)
L—Ojeda 36 pass from Singleton (Dietz kick)
L—Dietz 25 FG
A—Renteria 1 run (kick failed)
L—Singleton 28 run (Dietz kick)
A—Segovia 3 run (run failed)
L—Saulala 33 pass from Singleton (Dietz kick)
A—Segovia 59 run (Segovia run)
A—Estrada 21 run (run failed)
L—Saulala 21 run (Ojeda kick)
A—Renteria 9 run (Segovia run)
RUSHING (carries-yards): ALISAL—Renteria 21-181, Segovia 13-120, Corona 10-135, Estrada 11-67, J. Hernandez 1-14, F. Hernandez 1-4. Totals 57-521. LIVE OAK—Singleton 14-266, Saulala 11-83, Lomanto 7-23, Cortez 1-12, Ojeda 1-5, Isais 1-3. Totals 35-392.
PASSING (comp-att-yds-td-int): ALISAL—Renteria 3-4-40-0-0. LIVE OAK—Singleton 8-15-122-2-0.
RECEIVING (catches-yards): ALISAL—Enriquez 1-22, Ibarra 1-9, Corona 1-9. Totals 3-40. LIVE OAK—Ojeda 3-57, Lomanto 3-37, Saulala 1-16, Cortez 1-12. Totals 8-122.
TOTAL OFFENSE (rush-pass-total): ALISAL 521-40-561. LIVE OAK 392-122-514.
