Acorns totally defenseless in 59-14 loss to ninth-ranked Oak
Grove
SAN JOSE — Julio Aguayo took the hand-off and ran as fast as he could, away from defenders, away from the lopsided score showing in Phil Stearns Stadium. He just ran.
That’s all any of the Live Oak High School players wanted to do after Friday’s 59-14 loss to Oak Grove, the No. 9-ranked team in the county. Run as fast and as far away as possible.
Aguayo provided one of few bright spots for the Acorns with two minutes, 39 seconds left, when he rushed up the middle for a short gain and kept moving. The 5-foot-8, 155-pound running back carried two defenders through a network of would-be tackles, broke away temporarily inside Oak Grove’s 10-yard line and stretched the ball into the end zone as a defender brought him down to cap a stirring 43-yard touchdown run.
“I was thinking, ‘Don’t stop.’ I just wanted to score –- I had to,” the senior said, motioning to the scoreboard. “We needed it. You just got to play for pride.”
That was the only thing left to do after the mighty Eagles ruthlessly turned their homecoming game into the latest sign that they are back and ready to start a new dynasty in the Mount Hamilton Division.
Behind its mammoth offensive line, Oak Grove (5-2 overall, 3-1 league) pummeled Live Oak’s stretched-thin defense with 422 total yards, including 105 rushing yards by sophomore Jacari Carr, 92 by Cleveland Wallace and 88 by Kaelum Harvey. The Eagles scored on eight of their 10 drives –- the scoreless two ended both halves.
By the third quarter, Live Oak’s offense was adding to the rout. Tyrone Robinson returned an interception 84 yards for a touchdown, and Oak Grove collected a safety when the LOHS punt team yielded a safety on a bad snap that rolled out of the end zone.
It was the Acorns’ worst loss since the 2007 Central Coast Section Medium School Division final, a 59-14 defeat to Archbishop Riordan.
Last year’s 9-7 victory over Oak Grove felt like a distant memory for Live Oak (4-3, 2-2), which gained 192 yards.
“It’s bad. It’s really bad,” Acorns two-way lineman Isaac Camarillo said.
Were the Eagles that good, or did Live Oak play that poorly?
“I think it was both. No question,” Acorns receiver Jacob Montoya said.
The Acorns held Oak Grove to a 36-yard field goal by Jose Meneses on the Eagles’ opening drive but did not respond until Artie Valencia’s 47-yard touchdown pass to David Pelz on a trick play with 27 seconds left in the second quarter. That made it 29-7 Oak Grove.
In the first half, the Eagles scored on an 11-yard fly sweep by Wallace, a 15-yard dive by Carr, a 24-yard touchdown pass from Ray Rivera to Wallace on fourth-and-five –- Oak Grove ran the same play on the previous down -– and Harvey’s 14-yard run.
“We still felt like we had a chance at halftime, but we needed to play better,” Montoya said. “(The Eagles) have a lot of speed. Speed is everything.”
The Eagles padded their lead in the second half with a 9-yard touchdown run by Carr, and rushing scores of two and 43 yards by Harvey.
Aguayo rushed for 67 yards in five carries and caught a pass for 20. Live Oak quarterback Dominic Bejarano completed 6 of 12 for 51 yards and was intercepted three times, not that statistics mattered for the senior after the game. Bejarano was treated for what appeared to be a concussion.
Acorns linebacker T.J. Ornduff also injured his head while making seven tackles in the first quarter. It was a significant blow for a defense that was missing its other inside backer, Nikki Weber (leg injury), and now its best cornerback in Bejarano.
“We’re hurting right now,” Aguayo said.
The Acorns are limping into a stretch run that continues against No. 8 Piedmont Hills next Friday, Live Oak’s final regular-season home game. The Pirates beat Oak Grove two weeks ago.
A loss won’t bar the Acorns from placing in the top four and reaching the playoffs.
“Tomorrow, another week starts,” Camarillo said. “We’ve got to go back to work and forget about this. It’s over.”
