One team is 2-0 and has outscored its two opponents 84-20.
The other team is 0-2 and has scored a combined 18 points in those two games.
One team has scored 70 points in the first half. The other has just seven.
But when Live Oak and Sobrato meet up on Saturday for the ninth annual El Toro Bowl, it doesn’t matter which team is which: It’s going to be a battle of two teams who want it equally as bad.
“We’re going to make it a football game, for sure. That’s our game plan,” said Sobrato coach Tony Holmes. His team is the one that has struggled in two games, but Holmes has no doubt the boys will be up for the game.
These two teams know each other as well as anyone. And their respective records when they meet don’t matter.
Last year, the two teams played to a 7-6 decision. The year before that—when Live Oak went 9-2 and Sobrato was 0-10—the Acorns escaped with a 27-19 win. That was after Sobrato scored the game’s first touchdown and Live Oak clung to a 20-19 lead until late in the fourth quarter.
The number that perhaps does matter is 7-1. That’s Live Oak’s overall record against Sobrato heading into the contest.
But this year could be a wild card.
This will be the first year Sobrato will host the game at its high school.
Because Sobrato didn’t have facilities that could accommodate football until last year, El Toro Bowl games were held at Live Oak. If Sobrato was the home team, it merely took the home sideline, but it still defended a field with its opponent’s colors.
When the ball is kicked off at 1:45 p.m., the Bulldogs will have a field where the scoreboard bares its colors, the 50-yard-line has a giant S and the sign out front reads “Sobrato.”
The excitement of the rivalry game that is already there will be compounded by the fact this is the first time the two teams have squared off at Sobrato.
“Honestly, the men (my players) are the ones that keep me focused,” Holmes said. “I think they understand what needs to be done and not get ourselves wrapped around the big rival portion of it.
“I think the focus here is just to get better and I think they understand that. It’s not about wins or losses. It’s not about who we’re facing; it’s about us. It’s about us getting better.”

Acorns look to start 3-0

For all accouterments the day will provide, Live Oak has a singular focus, one is hasn’t had for three years: A South County championship.
“We want to be South County Champs this year. That’s the goal to be 3-0 against these three schools.”
After blowing out both Gilroy teams, Live Oak is one win away from claiming the unofficial crown.
All four South Santa Clara County high schools play each other in a round-robin.
The last two years has gone to Christopher. Live Oak last won it in 2012 when the Acorns started the season 5-0.
“We’re starting off the season really well right now and it’s giving us a little bit of momentum going into league,” Gemo said.
To this point, Live Oak has won its games by playing its way and that’s exactly what the Acorns expect to do against Sobrato.
“We don’t focus on the other team. We focus on doing what’s right for us,” Gemo said. “We have to take care of ourselves and we never overlook an opponent. We treat them all the same.”
Live Oak is coming off a definitive win against Christopher that saw everyone one do a little of everything for the team.
“We knew we had a lot of playmakers on this team and it’s good to see that we’re not a one-man team anymore and we can spread the ball around,” Gemo said.
Runningback Paul Lomanto had a Pick-6. Quarterback Erik Ornduff threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more. Jacob Ryder went for 106 yards and a touchdown.
And Zach Heffernan came up big with a blocked field goal and two receiving touchdowns.

Sobrato hopes to clean up the little things

The Bulldogs came out of their Week 1 loss to Christopher with a renewed focus in practice. They came prepared for Gilroy, but found the little mistakes pile up.
Holmes said those little things start at practice. He said the boys need to keep their heads in the game early in the week so they can keep their heads in the game at the end of the week.
“We haven’t exposed our full potential yet. Offensively, we do have some weapons,” Holmes said. “As you can tell out here at practice, there are just some small things that are hindering us from breaking out of that bubble.”
Against Gilroy, Sobrato had plenty of good things happen on offense, but ill-timed penalties took the Bulldogs out of the game.
In a game where the defense held the Mustangs to 14 points, the offense was held back by penalties that took away touchdowns on two occasions and miscues that led to turnovers on downs in the red zone.
“Our focus has to be on staying away from the things take us out of our mental state of being good at what we do. The good thing about these guys is they are still motivated about playing football. And they still have hopes that we can go in and compete.”
Sobrato hopes that the return of some key linemen will also help. The Bulldogs were beat up going into Week 1, and lost more players against Christopher, particularly on defense.
“One of our key receivers is coming back. We’ve got two linemen coming back. So it’s going to help us up front,” Holmes said.
The returning players will be key if Sobrato hopes to execute its strategy of controlling the tempo of the game as well as time of possession.
“We have to keep their offense off the field and we have to come up with a way to get consecutive first downs and first down drives going,” Holmes said. “We have to eat that clock and keep them off the field.”