Trevor Bearden made history Friday night at Lincoln and Jesse Martinez made sure he went out with a win.
The scoreboard read Live Oak 24 and Lincoln 21. But the win, itself a gigantic accomplishment for the Acorns, was overshadowed by a rushing performance for the record books and a field goal that tied it all together.
Bearden broke the CCS career rushing record with a 267-yard night pushing his four-year total to 5,591, eclipsing the previous mark of 5,439.
“It feels great, but it feels better to get the win, through,” Bearden said.
Bearden’s record breaking run came in the third quarter on the first play from scrimmage. He went 17 yards having needed just 13 to break the record.
When news went out on Twitter, the fans in the visitors’ stands let out a loud cheer and began chanting, “Fear the Bearden.”
“Oh yeah, they told me. I heard them,” Bearden said when asked if he heard the crowd cheer when he got the record.
He set his team up to win, scoring two touchdowns and converting a key fourth down with less than a minute to play.
“That is a helluva job by him,” said coach Mike Gemo. “He came out and wanted it. He also wanted it to will his football team to a victory. We talked about it after, but you know what, the main thing is, they still want the league title.”
Martinez made it all pay off when he trotted out on the field with 1 second left on the clock.
“I felt like it was a PAT, just an extra point, so I could just line it up,” Martinez said.
This was just his fourth attempt this year, having made one before his game-0winning boot.
“I know I haven’t made every single one, but I know this one mattered. I really didn’t have time to think about this one,” Martinez said.
From 25-yards away, Martinez put the ball through the uprights and was promptly mobbed by his teammates.
In defeating Lincoln (3-4, 3-1), Live Oak has improved to 5-0 in the Santa Teresa Division and is now in firm control if its own destiny for a BVAL title.
The Acorns are the only remaining undefeated team and they have two games remaining against two teams that are at the bottom of the division.
Live Oak had to earn every point, however and twice found itself down by 14 points, including by 21-7 after three quarters.
“We believe we’re a second half football team and we’ve proved that through out the year. We wanted to make sure we came out in the second half and do what we needed to do,” Gemo said.
But the Acorns’ luck shifted with an 80-yard drive that required one third down conversion. Fittingly, it was Bearden who converted the third down with an 11-yard run for a touchdown to pull the Acorns within a score.
The defense made it pay off when Lincoln was attempted to convert a third down of its own when Brandon Sorce intercepted Izaiah Gonzalez on the Lincoln 40 yard line.
“You know what, what a play by that kid,” Gemo said. “He did a great job and I’m glad he caught the ball.”
Bearden spearheaded an attack that included a fourth down conversion that brought the ball to the Lions 1.
After Bearden was pushed back on first down, quarterback Eric Ornduff faked to Bearden and ran a bootleg to the left for a two-yard touchdown and tied the game with 4:08 to play.
The Acorns defense forced a key three and out, forcing Lincoln to punt the ball back.
Bearden, Ornduff and Mitch Crowley marched the ball 45 yards, killing all but one second.
Bearden converted a key fourth down, rushing four yards to the 14. He brought the ball to the 3 two plays later and Ornduff put the ball between the hashes on the 8 giving Martinez a strong look for the game winning score.
“We asked what they wanted to do in the timeout. (Bearden) said he wanted it and he’d get it and did what we had to do to squeak this one out,” Gemo said of the fourth down conversion that set up the winning score.
Live Oak atoned in the fourth quarter for a first half that was largely frustrating and saw Lincoln hold the momentum.
The Lions took the opening drive 85 yards on eight plays capped off with Gonzalez throwing a screen pass to Nathaniel Azure for a 20-yard touchdown and a 7-0 early lead.
Live Oak was pinned on the ensuing kickoff on its own 1 and Bearden was stripped of the football for a rare fumble from the running back.
But the defense held strong.
Giving the ball to Lincoln on the Live Oak 16. The Lions only got as far as the 10 before they were forced to turn to ball over on downs.
“Our defense just played good and stopped them,” Gemo said. “It was nice. They had a little momentum right there when they got the turnover. Thank God our defense stepped up.”
From that point, neither side could sustain a drive until late in the second quarter when Lincoln went on a 91-yard drive capped off with Gonzalez throwing a 12-yard pass to Kurt Lojera for a 14-0 lead with 27 seconds left in the half.
To start the third quarter, Live Oak went 68 yards on seven plays with Bearden going the final six to cut the lead in half at 14-7.
Lincoln answered in kind going 73 yards with Gonzalez hitting Jacob Hoekstra for a 30-yard touchdown pass to reassert the 14-point margin at 21-7.
“It just shows we can win no matter what,” Bearden said. “We’re down 14-0 at half and we came back. It shows we can win.”
Live Oak will now gear up for its final two games of the regular season, needed to beat Gunderson and Evergreen Valley to clinch a perfect league season and likely needing both for an outright league title.
“It’s an exciting time for Live Oak football and we want to get it. We want two more, not one more. We want two more victories,” Gemo said.
Live Oak will next take on Gunderson in San Jose 7 p.m. Nov. 8. The Grizzlies have one win against winless Evergreen Valley and were playing winless San Jose Friday.
