Morgan Hill – The Saratoga Falcons swooped down upon Richert
Field and snatched up a 14-0 win over Live Oak Friday night in the
Acorns’ home opener.
Morgan Hill – The Saratoga Falcons swooped down upon Richert Field and snatched up a 14-0 win over Live Oak Friday night in the Acorns’ home opener.
After winning the coin flip, Saratoga took the opening kickoff to the 30-yard line.
On the opening drive Live Oak held the Falcons from advancing past the 50, forcing them to punt.
Live Oak’s Jeff Roberts fumbled the punt deep in Live Oak territory, and the Falcons recovered the ball at the Acorns’ 22-yard line.
On two plays the Falcons got deeper into Acorn territory but on a third-and-1 from the 12-yard line, Falcons quarterback Kyle Guengerich fumbled a hand off exchange, Live Oak recovered.
Starting their first offensive possession from their own 13-yard line, the Acorns couldn’t muster a first down with three-run attempts, and were forced to punt.
Live Oak punter Andrew Capek fumbled the long snap at the 15-yard line, and was tackled at the Live Oak 11.
With 5:10 left in the first quarter the Acorns’ defense would step up and make three big stops, including a blocked field goal attempt by Matt Cummins, to regain possession and keep the Falcons off the score board.
On their first of only two offensive drives in the second quarter the Acorns ran the ball 11 times for 57 yards, but turned the ball over on downs at the Falcons 16-yard line.
With about 5:30 left in the first half Saratoga recorded three first downs, lead by the solid running of senior fullback Gabe Essner.
After another fumble by Guengerich for a loss of five yards, the Falcons faced third down and 11 from the Acorns’ 41-yard-line.
With 1:48 on the clock, Live Oak senior linebacker Adam Perez broke through the Falcons’ offensive line to sack Guengerich for a loss of seven yards, bringing up fourth and 18.
Lining up for what looked like a punt, Saratoga’s junior fullback Casey Farmer took the long snap and hit a striding Matt Keating for a 15-yard pass, just shy of the first down, turning the ball over the Acorns.
With 1:14 to score the Acorns ran seven plays, highlighted by senior running back Steven Rodriguez’ 15-yard run, but headed into the half with the score tied 0-0.
Taking the kickoff to open the second half, Live Oak’s Jeff Roberts took the ball at the five-yard line and returned it 17-yards to the 22.
On the first play, Acorns’ running back Alex Muhn took the hand off for 10 yards, but fumbled the ball while being tackled by a scrum of Saratoga defenders, and the Falcons recovered.
Starting at the Acorns’ 32-yard line Saratoga ran the ball six times, led again by Essner who punctuated the drive with four carries and a touchdown run up the middle from three yards out.
Saratoga’s senior kicker Kris Clark nailed the extra point to bring the score to 7-0.
“I don’t think we executed very well at all in the first half,” Falcons’ head coach Kurt Heinrich said. “But in the third quarter we got things going a little bit … we got a great effort out of our fullback Gabe Essner, and we just kind of fed off of him.”
Hungry to even the score, Live Oak took over at the 20-yard line and went on their most impressive drive of the night.
The Acorns’ offense drove the ball 55 yards to the Falcons’ 25-yard line, gaining five first downs, highlighted by one of senior quarterback Tim O’Rourke’s two completions to senior wide receiver Stephen Smith for 15 yards.
With 3:40 left in the quarter, and facing a fourth and six from the Falcons 25-yard line, the Acorns opted for a field goal but the kick sailed just left of the goal and the Acorns would relinquish possession.
Saratoga took the ball at the 20-yard line and marched 80 yards, going three minutes, 35 seconds into the fourth quarter, capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Essner.
On the ensuing kickoff Live Oak’s Billy Van Aiken fumbled the return, and regained possession, but would be tackled at the five-yard line.
The Acorns gained two first downs, lead by the swift running of Van Aiken, but would be forced to punt on fourth-and-14 from their own 24-yard line.
Saratoga would take advantage of the short punt and drive the ball from the Acorns’ 39 to the five-yard line.
Then on third down with 1/2 yard to go, Essner fumbled and Live Oak’s Perez recovered the ball and returned it 33 yards to Live Oak’s 38-yard line.
With only 2:30 left in the game, the Acorns looked to build on the momentum from the turnover, resorting to the aerial attack.
O’Rourke went 1 for 6 passing in the drive with his only completion being a 26-yard pass to Smith. Fortunately on the same play the Falcons were called for a late hit penalty resulting in an extra 15 yards.
With first down on the Falcons 22-yard line, the Acorns’ could not capitalize on their momentum, and again turned the ball over on downs.
Saratoga took over frrm their own 17-yard line, and ran the remaining 1:44 off the clock to secure the 14-0 win over Live Oak.
“I got a lot of respect for what Live Oak does,” Heinrich said. “They’re really well coached and they don’t make a lot of mistakes, but down the stretch we found some momentum and hung on.”
Despite the loss, Live Oak head coach Jon Michael Porras stands confidently behind his team.
“I think we had a lot of the first-game jitters,” he said. “We have a lot of guys who haven’t played before, but I’m just disappointed that we were close and we couldn’t finish.”
Porras said his team wasn’t mentally prepared for their first game, and he blames himself for not having his team ready to go.
“I still feel confident in my guys, though, and I’ll say that every game no matter what the score is because I know the potential there … I’ve coached them for two years,” he said. “Timmy is a great quarterback and he can probably play with anybody in the league, but he just had a bad night tonight … I’m not worried about him,” he said.
“He still wanted to throw the ball even through his confidence was a little shaken, and I like that,” Porras said.
O’Rourke finished the night on 2 for 15 passing for 41 yards. Both of his completions were to Smith.
“I was just trying to get us going and finish the drive,” Smith said. “I was trying to get out of bounds and give us a chance to come back.
“This game kind of humbled us … It brought us down to Earth, and showed us what we need to do for next week.”
