Of the many debilitating injuries Live Oak suffered in 2010,
Nikki Weber’s easily hurt the most
MORGAN HILL
Of the many debilitating injuries Live Oak suffered in 2010, Nikki Weber’s easily hurt the most.
In one nasty collision Oct. 8, with the Acorns cruising to a 28-7 victory over Pioneer, Weber developed five hematomas in his right leg that forced him to miss the remainder of his junior season — six games total. And with that, Live Oak lost its best interior linebacker and the kingpin of of then-defensive coordinator Mike Gemo’s three-five-three alignment.
Having already lost another key inside backer, Isaiah Campos, to a season-ending knee injury in late August, the Acorns had no way to compensate without weakening on the outside.
“Nobody ran in the middle when Nikki was there,” Gemo said. “He was a shut-down guy on run. We wanted to move T.J. (Ornduff) to inside, but he was so valuable on the outside with his speed and strength. It was us trying to find the right mix when Nikki wasn’t there. He was a huge loss.”
Weber wouldn’t call his injury a blessing by any stretch, but it left him more determined to get the 2011 campaign started right.
“It definitely made me work harder this offseason in the gym,” Weber, now an even stouter 6-foot, 205-pound incoming senior, said Wednesday after Live Oak’s first seven-on-seven drill of spring camp. “This is the strongest I’ve been since the injury. I’m still not 100 percent, but it feels like everything’s coming together.
“Last year sucked, especially with us making the playoffs. I worked really hard, and the injury made it seem worthless. I just tried to help out as best I could as like a coach to the younger guys.”
Weber has done much of the same these past two weeks with his team learning on the fly under Gemo, who was promoted to head coach May 6. Aside from their offensive line (five returning starters), defensive line (two) and linebackers (two), the Acorns are mostly green at the varsity level. They are breaking in an entirely new secondary, a receiving corps and an offensive backfield — their most experienced ball-carrier is freshman Trevor Bearden, who had six carries for 26 yards in Live Oak’s 42-28 loss to Monterey in the first round of sectionals — plus a new mix of offensive schemes.
Gemo, now the offensive coordinator as well, wants to exploit Bearden (6-foot-1, 175 pounds) as the feature back in traditional veer and I formations. But he is also grooming his quarterback candidates to “throw the ball more” in 2011.
Quarterback duels are nothing new at Live Oak. This year’s edition includes three leading candidates in juniors Austin Carvalho and Matt Dariano and sophomore Taylor Turnipseed. Carvalho started at outside linebacker last year and will likely hold down the X receiver position if he doesn’t win the job under center. Dariano also saw time at linebacker and running back in 2010, while Turnipseed managed the junior varsity offense well, earning a Player of the Week award.
“We’re looking for a leader on this team; someone who can command the huddle,” Gemo said. “He needs to know the plays and be able to throw. We got to keep that other team off balance. They’re going to stack the line and try to stop us with Trevor, so we have to throw.”
At Z back, receivers coach Scott Matthews is rotating several standouts from the JV team (7-3 in 2010), including Joey Rodriguez and Kyle Quadros. Offensive/defensive linemen Tyler Geer and Jonathan Molina could also see time at Z to add muscle outside. For power sets, Live Oak may use Molina and Alec Webb, another versatile addition, as fullbacks.
“I think we’ll be really successful with these new formations,” said Molina, a 6-foot, 210-pound junior. “Trevor’s has the potential to be huge for the team for a few years and help us win games. He trains hard; he’s got good character, loves the game. He’s fun to block for.”
That the secondary has been completely overhauled doesn’t sound as daunting, considering the Acorns use three defensive backs. Bearden played safety Wednesday, flanked by combinations of Matt Bergantz, Dominic Maciel and Jerardo Caro, more JV standouts from last year, at the cornerback spots. All three intercepted passes in team drills Wednesday.
“They actually won’t have any pressure on them this season,” defensive tackle Derek Satterlee said. “It puts more pressure on us up front; we have to open things up for them and the linebackers to make plays, which they definitely can.”
And will, according to Weber.
“We’re all excited to be back on the field. We’re ready to go,” he said. “I know we’re small (about 30 varsity players practiced Wednesday), but we feel like we have a good thing going.”
Though Gemo does not think of himself as a “rah-rah” guy, his May 9 introductory meeting got the team fired up, according to players.
“I only said a few things,” Gemo said. “Basically, ‘See you at practice at 3:30. Let’s get to work.'”
