Trevor Bearden said he wanted the ball against Silver Creek, and he delivered when he got it.
Bearden’s 311 yards on 34 carries with three touchdowns proved to be the difference as Live Oak took down Silver Creek 28-21 Friday night at Richert Field.
Bearden is now 128 yards away from matching the CCS career rushing record set more than 10 years ago.
Live Oak is now in full control of its own destiny. At 4-0 in Santa Teresa Division play, the Acorns share first place with 3-0 Lincoln, who defeated Evergreen Valley Friday night.
“We played a good game tonight,” said Live Oak coach Mike Gemo. “That’s a good team over there. They gave us a good battle.”
Live Oak and Lincoln will now square off next week with the winner likely needing to win out to lay claim to the division title.
The Acorns’ path will be easier after Lincoln, with Evergreen Valley and Gunderson left on the schedule — those two teams have a combined record of 1-12, with results of Gunderson’s game against Westmont not yet available. Lincoln, meanwhile, must still play Silver Creek before its road becomes easier.
On senior night, the Acorns’ No. 1 player delivered from the first play from scrimmage to the last.
“I knew I couldn’t be stopped, so I wanted the ball to be put in my hands,” Bearden said.
To open the game, Bearden caught a 35-yard pass from quarterback Erik Ornduff that set up a 13-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead.
Bearden wasted little time getting back into the end zone as he helped the Acorns march 80 yards, punching the ball in from 13 yards out again for a 14-0 lead.
In between, Live Oak’s defense made two stops in the red zone that denied Silver Creek points.
The Acorns nearly made it 21-0 in the second quarter following a Brandon Sorce interception that prompted Live Oak to go on a 89-yard drive. But the series stalled after Live Oak had first and goal from the Raider 9. The Acorns had third and goal from the 3, but ran for a loss setting up fourth and goal from the 6.
An incomplete pass turned the ball back over and set up Silver Creek’s first score of the game.
The Raiders when 94 yards on 11 plays with Steve Taylor going 1 yard for a score and cutting the Acorns’ lead in half at 14-7.
The TD was set up thanks to a 46-yard pass play from quarterback Donavon Ramirez to Marcus Millan that brought the Raiders to the Live Oak 16.
Ramirez hit a second big play, converting a fourth and 14 from the Acorn 20, hitting tight end Xavier Bernal for 19 yards and a first and goal from the 1.
The quarterback finished just shy of 200 yards on 9 of 23 passing for 195 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Live Oak responded with a 54-yard drive that ended with Ornduff hitting Mitch Crowley for a 23-yard strike and a 21-7 lead.
The Acorns went into a prevent defense with 1:09 to play in the half and the Raiders made two big plays to set up a 1-yard run from Ramirez to go into the half at 21-15 after a two-point conversion.
Coming out of the half, Live Oak’s defense held, allowing one first down on Silver Creek’s first series and the first of just two punts in the game.
“No team can drive on our defense. It’s only if they get big plays,” Bearden said. “In the second half, we really stepped it up.”
Live Oak then went 84 yards with Bearden going the final five for a touchdown and a 28-15 lead.
The drive was drastically helped along thanks to Silver Creek getting flagged for four unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the span of one play
Live Oak faced fourth and 18 from its own 30 after being flagged for a false start when the Acorns were trying to punt.
Silver Creek was then flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct before the referees set the ball, giving the Acorns fourth and three.
Paul Lomanto took a direct snap and ran it to the Silver Creek 37 when he was forced out of bounds. While out of bounds, a Raider defender suplexed him to the ground, drawing a flag and sparking a scrum along the Acorn sideline.
That drew a second flag on the Raiders pushing Live Oak to the Raiders’ 11. After the ball was marked off, the Silver Creek head coach took exception to the two calls on his team and was flagged himself for unsportsmanlike conduct after he vigorously argued that Live Oak should have been flagged as well.
That set up first and goal from the Acorn 6 and led to Bearden’s TD.
After Silver Creek punted on its ensuing possession, the Raiders immediately got the ball back when Gooch D’Aundre intercepted Ornduff and ran it back to the Live Oak 28.
Orndruff still finished with 127 yards on six of 10 passing with one interception and a touchdown.
But the defense rose to the challenge, as it bent as far as its own 2 but allowed no further as Chris Armstrong intercepted Ramirez in the end zone.
The Acorns couldn’t come away with any points and Silver Creek capitalized on a missed field goal to go 80 yards with Ramirez connecting with Sebastian Marin for a 25-yard score with 3:28 to play.
Trailing by a touchdown at 28-21, Silver Creek attempted an onside kick that Live Oak recovered and Bearden made the Raiders pay.
He carried the ball on six of seven plays that put the game on ice, including converting on fourth down with 40 seconds to play to clinch the win.
Live Oak will now gear up for three-straight road games to finish out the season.
First up will be Lincoln, who is 3-3 overall after winning three-straight Santa Teresa Division games. That game will be played in San Jose with kickoff scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Nov. 1.
