LO enters TCAL play with perfect 5-0 record after rout of
Monterey
LO enters TCAL play with perfect 5-0 record after rout of Monterey
n nathan mixter Sports writer
After a convincing 34-18 victory at Monterey Friday night, the Live Oak High football team may finally have earned some respect to go along with its perfect 5-0 non-league record.
It’s been six years since Live Oak had such an impressive start to a season, according to Coach Glen Webb. In 1998, the Acorns started at 6-0 before losing to Palma.
Live Oak was dominant on both sides of the ball during most of Friday’s game, and it was only toward the end that Monterey figured out how to score.
Webb credited a strong game from Acorn senior quarterback David Iseman and Live Oak’s talented corps of running backs for the offensive success. Iseman completed 8 of 11 passes for 112 yards and had two touchdowns. He did have one interception, but it came on a “Hail Mary” pass before halftime.
“It was his best game of the season so far,” Webb said. “He is steadily improving each game. He is an intellectual player, and things are starting to make more sense to him now. He gets more confident each week. The running backs all ran well. We found many different ways to move the ball.”
Having a strong offensive line doesn’t hurt either. The Acorns are outhustling their opponents and creating big holes like the one Kevin Abbott found for a 74-yard touchdown run Friday.
Even without injured right tackle John Pedersen in the lineup, the Acorns have still been strong up front. Defensive lineman Sam Martinez has been filling in for Patterson while the latter is out.
Meanwhile, the Live Oak defense focused on stopping Monterey’s main weapon, senior trackster Markus McFolling, who showed an ability to run players over and slip right through tackles.
“We focused on stopping No. 32 (McFolling),” Webb said. “Sometimes it took 11 guys to do it. But we knew where the ball was.”
In the past, Live Oak sometimes appeared to long for halftime and forget about everything else. Not this year. Not this team.
This year’s team is a lot more confident than the team of last year and the year before. That attitude showed Friday before halftime. Rather than run out the clock like in the past, the Acorns aggressively took a shot at increasing the lead.
Live Oak had two chances to score with under a minute left before the half. After Iseman was picked, the Live Oak defense forced a three-and-out and got the ball back with 26.6 seconds left.
Shaun Standridge completed a 30-yard option pass to Doug Porras. After a timeout, Live Oak had to go the end zone, but the ball was batted away.
As Tri-County Athletic League play begins, with Live Oak hosting North Salinas for Homecoming on Friday at 7:30pm, Webb said the Acorns will be presented with a whole new challenge in a tough league, especially if the team has aspirations of making the Central Coast Section playoffs this season.
“We have to win at least a couple (league) games,” Webb said. “I am not sure there is such a thing as a weak team in this league. Just when you start thinking that, you end up getting sacked.”
