Bejarano’s two touchdowns, late pick help Live Oak prevail
MORGAN HILL — When it was over, Dominic Bejarano slipped away from a swarm of teammates and fans, threw his arms skyward and fell back onto the ragged turf.
He and the Live Oak Acorns could finally rest, having lifted the heaviest weight imaginable off their shoulders with Friday’s 21-14 victory over Sobrato before roughly 3,700 at Richert Field. The Acorns are back on top in the heated, cross-town football rivalry between Live Oak and Sobrato High School.
They laid it all out to get there.
The Bulldogs defended their first reign as El Toro Bowl champions with plenty of heart but could not hold down the Acorns and Bejarano, a lanky 6-foot-1 senior quarterback/cornerback whom LOHS coach Jon Michael Porras said has a “nose for making big plays.”
Bejarano rushed for 42 much-needed yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score on a 1-yard sneak with 1:23 remaining, and intercepted Jerry Jacob’s pass on Sobrato’s final drive to clinch it.
“We felt like it was our game to win,” said Bejarano, who also broke up four passes and converted a second-and-eight on the deciding drive by picking up a fumbled snap and rushing for 12 yards. “We just had to make it happen. It took every one of us tonight.
“This is an amazing win, a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
The win avenged last year’s 27-6 loss to Sobrato and pushed Live Oak ahead 3-1 in the all-time series. The home team has not lost.
The latest El Toro Bowl was also the closest. Undercut by penalties and turnovers apiece, three for LOHS and two for SHS, neither team could sustain momentum.
“They made some mistakes and had a few calls against them, too,” SHS coach Nick Borello said. “They outplayed us tonight.”
Live Oak (2-1 overall) fought through another slow start against Sobrato, rallying behind a collective effort by senior running backs Blair Zerr and Cody Van Aken and inside linebacker Nikki Weber, who was assigned to cover the Bulldogs’ 195-pound feature ball-carrier, Obi Mbonu.
Back at full strength for the first time since tearing cartilage in his rib cage, Zerr rushed for 98 yards in 13 attempts. Van Aken carried 13 times as well for 86 yards and had the longest play of the game, a 40-yard run that set up Bejarano’s late touchdown.
“We were thinking first down and a cloud of dust every play,” Zerr said.
“They’ve got some great running backs, no question,” Acorns guard Isaac Camarillo said. “But ours were big tonight, too. Blair and Cody carried us.”
Mbonu, a powerful junior fullback, rushed for a team-high 83 yards and a touchdown, pounding between the tackles. Sophomore tailback Drew Glines added a tying score late in the third quarter to go with 43 yards rushing.
“It’s a tough way to lose, but we’ll be back,” Mbonu said. “We fought until the end.”
Sobrato (2-1) drew first blood for the third time in El Toro Bowl history on Mbonu’s 3-yard dive eight minutes in.
“I wish he was a senior,” Porras said. “Obi’s a load. He’s tough to bring down. I think we limited him well for the most part.
“We had to withstand any storm they threw at us. Last year, they scored first, and things fell apart. This time, we didn’t get rattled. We just had more experience.”
Live Oak outgained the Bulldogs 306-146 but had issues early on, going three-and-out in its first two drives; the third one ended when Conor Havstad picked off David Pelz, Live Oak’s starter under center.
After Shawn Henner missed a 47-yard field goal, the Acorns drove 80 yards to pull even 7-7 on Bejarano’s 6-yard option-keeper in the second quarter.
Linebacker Austin Carvalho recovered a Glines fumble at midfield on the next play, and Van Aken plowed into the end zone from 5 yards out six plays later to make it 14-7.
“The difference was turnovers,” Glines said.
Live Oak’s go-ahead drive before halftime began in sobering fashion, as junior offensive lineman Danny Galli went down with a severely dislocated knee. He was taken off the field by ambulance.
“That definitely inspired us,” Acorns guard Isaac Camarillo said. “We wanted to win the game for him.”
Live Oak was in control until Jacob Montoya fumbled a punt 10 minutes into the third quarter. Marek Zhang smothered the ball at the LOHS 35-yard line, and Glines tied it 14-14 on a 6-yard sweep, capping a drive that featured two personal-foul calls against the Acorns.
Live Oak’s defense redeemed itself. Sobrato did not score again.
“We just kept thinking, ‘It’s not over until it’s over,'” Carvalho said.
Jacob, who completed 3 of 12 for a dozen yards passing in his first El Toro Bowl start, drove the Bulldogs to midfield on their final series, scrambling for 10 yards and throwing to wideout Steven Villarreal for a gain of eight.
With 45 seconds left, Jacob fired across field for Villarreal again — but Bejarano stepped in front of the pass and raced 20 yards down the sideline. The Live Oak crowd erupted in celebration.
It was still loud when Bejarano emerged from the overflowing sideline to take one last snap.
“The first touchdown I scored felt amazing, but that pick was like the greatest feeling I’ve ever had. … Taking a knee felt great, too,” Bejarano said. “I’ll never forget this.”
Both teams have two weeks off before their next game. The Acorns will host their first Mount Hamilton Division game Oct. 1 against Santa Teresa during homecoming week at LOHS, while Sobrato visits Independence in a key Santa Teresa Division opener.
“It’s a great way to go into league,” Porras said. “We’re kind of looking like a team destiny. You could see it in them tonight.”
