Acorns limp back to playoffs despite 41-0 rout at Leland
SAN JOSE
At this point, you have to wonder which feels better for the Live Oak Acorns: that they are heading to the Central Coast Section playoffs, where they might even get to be the bigger school, or that they’re done with Mount Hamilton Division play.
Both call for a big celebration. The fact they are still playing football today, having earned just enough points to grab the No. 7 seed in Division III (how big is that El Toro Bowl win now?), seems like a tremendous achievement. They survived a qualifying round against two teams ranked among the top 11 in CCS and a third that will likely play for the Division II title.
Live Oak (5-5 overall, 3-4 league) has been the “smaller” school every game this fall. Its enrollment is almost half that of Oak Grove, Piedmont Hills, Leland and Santa Teresa, Mount Hamilton teams that beat Live Oak by a combined 177-51.
And the Acorns are still here, injuries and all, ready to show what they’re made of against opponents their own size.
They play No. 2 Monterey (9-1, 6-0), Live Oak’s second oldest rival behind Gilroy, at 7 p.m. Friday at Monterey Peninsula College in the first round of a private-school less eight-team tournament.
You can’t say the Acorns haven’t earned it.
“It’s definitely refreshing,” Live Oak coach Jon Michael Porras said Sunday, two days after his team lost 41-0 to Leland. “Anytime you go against public schools, it feels like anybody can win. If you can get through the Mount Hamilton, you’re going to have a chance. That’s how we feel right now.”
The rest of the Blossom Valley Athletic League A conference? Eighth-ranked Oak Grove is seeded fourth in the Open Division. Piedmont Hills is No. 1 in Division I; Santa Teresa is No. 2. Leland is No. 3 in Division II.
Before the season, I said the Acorns had a legitimate shot to play for a section championship if they weathered the storm in league and stayed healthy. I still do. Live Oak received a favorable draw for a seventh seed and will not face a better team than it has seen this fall, including the 17th-ranked Toreadores on Friday.
The Monterey Bay Athletic League champs look identical to Live Oak, from school colors to their veer offenses. If the Acorns can pull off an upset, like they almost did against top-seeded Terra Nova a year ago, they will play No. 3 North Monterey County, a team the Toreadores beat in league, or No. 6 Burlingame next week.
It’s anyone’s guess which final team will emerge from the other side of the tournament, perhaps No. 1 Jefferson, No. 4 Terra Nova, No. 5 Aptos or No. 8 Del Mar. None of those teams are anywhere near the caliber of Oak Grove or Piedmont Hills.
The locals match up well with every team in the tournament, but I said the same thing about them and Leland. The Acorns’ play-makers looked on par with the Chargers’. There just weren’t enough of them. Live Oak’s passing game couldn’t get off the ground, and once Leland started loading the box, there was no hope. The Acorns gained 26 yards and one first down in the second half. Starting quarterback Dominic Bejarano was injured for most of it.
Jason Habash completed 13 of 23 for 186 and three touchdown passes, and Chris Santini rushed for 102 yards and a score for the Chargers (7-3, 6-1), who tied for third in league behind the co-champions, Oak Grove and Piedmont Hills.
“Leland did a lot of things extremely well. They’re a very good team,” Porras said. “Every time we had something going, we would dig ourselves a hole. That was the worst game we played all year.”
From this point forward, Live Oak’s success hinges on mental toughness. Porras said his players sounded upbeat this weekend, rejuvenated by their playoff berth.
“I think I got like 20 texts from the kids. Most of them thought that was their last game Friday,” Porras said.
Instead, the Acorns and their proud senior class get the opportunity they’ve been waiting for since last year’s loss to Terra Nova.
They’re banged up, but so is every team. Live Oak was the same way three years ago when it finished 4-3 in the Mount Hamilton and reached the Medium School Division final behind a fourth-string quarterback and a determined, no-quit senior class. I’ve spoken to several players and coaches from that 2007 unit, and they’ve said the same thing: “That was a special group.”
How special are these Acorns? We’ll have a better idea after Friday.
