The path to the Central Coast Section playoffs begins Friday.
Live Oak enters BVAL Santa Teresa Division play hosting Leigh who sports a 3-0 record after a solid non-league season.
“(Leigh is) the best team I’ve seen on film,” said coach Mike Gemo.
Leigh sports the best record among division teams out of the non-league schedule. Live Oak is tied with Westmont at 2-1. No one else has won a game.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Richert Field. It will follow the enshrinement of 10 former Acorns into the Hall of Fame, which will be held after the junior varsity game.
The Acorns are coming off a dramatic win against Sobrato in the El Toro Bowl and have had two weeks to prepare for this game.
“Bye week went great. We got a lot of work in, got an extra week to prepare for a good Leigh football team,” Gemo said.
Leigh will come at the Acorns with a fairly balanced attack. The Longhorns run about twice as much as they pass, but both aspects of the game are about as equally effective.
“This is probably one of the better (offenses) we’ll see in league,” Gemo said.
He said Christopher’s offense might have been more balanced, but he said he is taking the lessons learned from the Week 2 game to apply it to the start of the Blossom Valley Athletic League schedule.
Sean Cosentino will see the bulk of the carries, putting up 439 yards in three games. But the passing game isn’t far behind, totaling just over 500 yards.
Quarterback Spencer Barnes has three receivers he likes to target, going to them 71 percent of the time.
“Leigh plays very physical football upfront defensively. And offensively, they throw the ball around, so you have to keep up with their athletes,” Gemo said.
In contrast to Live Oak who has given up almost 30 points per game through the first three of the season, Leigh has given up 25 points total.
That includes a shutout against Branham.
The Longhorns also stymied a high-powered Santa Teresa offense that put up 44 and 42 points in its first two games before running into Leigh. In that game – Leigh’s last before a bye-week – Santa Teresa was held to seven points in a 30-7 loss.
“We just have to keep doing what we do and hope we can wear on them a little bit,” Gemo said.
It’s no secret to anyone that Live Oak is going to feature Trevor Bearden as its primary weapon.
One Branham wide receiver predicted if Leigh can halt Bearden, much like Christopher did in Week 2, it could be a breakout season for the Longhorns.
“If Leigh can contain Trevor Bearden they will be going 10-0 this year mark my words,” Tweeted Omar Elserogy on Sept. 21.
But containing Bearden hasn’t been that easy for teams.
Last year, Bearden ran for 284 yards in a 33-23 loss.
In Live Oak’s two wins this year, Bearden has busted out for more than 300 yards. In the loss, he was held to less than 50.
“He’s been working fine. Our line has been wanting to block for him and they couldn’t stop him last year and they’ll get a steady dose of him this year,” Gemo said.
Looking to complement Bearden is quarterback Erik Ornduff, who scored the game-clinching touchdown against Sobrato on Sept. 21.
“Our offense has been for years and years throw a little bit when we need to keep the defense off balance. He’s doing a good job controlling the offense right now and not throwing the turnovers.”
During the extra week, Gemo said Ornduff has been working as much as anyone on the team getting ready for the start of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
“He had a good game. It’s never perfect for him, so he’s looking for improvement and he’s working hard right now making sure he improves going forward,” Gemo said.
Follow Cheeto Barrera on Twitter @MHTCheeto. Also check out South Valley Newspapers on Instagram @Sovalleysports for pictures of area games.
