Quiet confidence reigns at Live Oak camp
MORGAN HILL — Intensity was there. You just couldn’t hear or see it.
You felt it in the way the Acorns carried themselves through the padless first two practices of fall camp Friday at Live Oak High School. Drills were fluid. Plays were crisp. Coaches spoke. Teenagers listened. Work was done — it had to be.
For the second straight year, the team was without a true “Hell Week” because of a schedule conflict between Morgan Hill Unified School District and the governing body for prep athletics in the state. California Interscholastic Federation mandates the 2010 fall sports season begins Aug. 13, four days before the school year starts in Morgan Hill. Two-a-days feasibly can’t be done around classroom hours, so the Acorns had to squeeze in whatever practice they could.
They made the most of their time Friday.
“It did affect us last year, but we’re better prepared this time around,” LOHS Jon Michael Porras said. “I’m not worried about it. I like our guys’ determination. They’re very focused. They’ve been that way since spring.”
David Pelz had the best view, sitting out because his transcripts had not yet been approved. The senior quarterback should be ready to go this week.
“I see a lot of intensity out there, a lot more than we had at this time a year ago,” Pelz said. “Everyone was excited to get back out here and start playing again. We have really high expectations, and we know we can get there if we work hard enough.”
If there is any silver lining to the Acorns’ frustrating finish in 2009, when they blew a three-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter and lost 28-24 to top seed Terra Nova in the Division III playoffs, it’s hunger. The Live Oak players did not brood over that first-round loss this offseason, rather they kept it in the back of their minds — one more rep in the weight room, one more wind sprint at the end of practice.
“We can’t wait to get back to where we were,” senior linebacker T.J. Ornduff said during track and field season. “That’s all we’re thinking about.”
That includes many things, the first of which being an opening win against Gilroy on Sept. 3. Live Oak will begin scouting the rival Mustangs this week.
“We’re going to throw in a few things that they do,” Porras said. “We do a two-minute drill at the end of each practice to get ready for their offense; they use a no-huddle. We need our guys to read, react and get used to being comfortable in an uncomfortable situation.”
The Acorns don’t need to be as concerned with learning their own system — almost half of their 40-man roster returned from 2009. Veteran leaders, such as safety Cody Van Aken, running back Blair Zerr, two-way lineman Isaac Camarillo and Ornduff, are helping the younger players adjust to the varsity level.
“When a guy messes up, I usually take him a side to talk one on one, but the guys are doing that for me,” Porras said. “I really like the leadership on this team. That’s a very important thing to have.”
At this point in the 2010 season, and it is far too early to tell how any team will do, the Acorns are as mentally and physically primed as they should be. At this point in the 2010 season, and it is far too early to tell how any team will do, the Acorns are as mentally and physically primed as they should be.
There is no inflated emotion or overeagerness on the practice field — “No screamers out here,” Porras said — just focused intensity, quiet confidence and excitement for what lies ahead.
