Trevor Bearden made history in more ways than one on Nov. 1 and now he and the Acorns are looking to make it all mean that much more.
Bearden’s 267 yards against Lincoln put him in the record books as the Central Coast Section’s all time leading rusher and he needed every single one of those yards to do something he found even more special: Help Live Oak clinch at least its first share of a title since 2005 or possibly its first outright title since 1996.
Bearden broke the 10-year-old record on the first play from scrimmage in the second half of Live Oak’s game against Lincoln. He went 17 yards knowing he was close, but didn’t realize how close until a cheer went out in the stands as news spread on Twitter.
After the game, Bearden was happy to have broken the record, but was more excited for the win.
“It feels great, but it feels better to get the win, through,” Bearden said.
He pushed his four-year total to 5,591, eclipsing the previous mark of 5,439.
Now Bearden and the rest of the Acorns are focused on competing their league title run.
Live Oak needs either to win both of its next two games or one win combined with a Lincoln loss to secure the Santa Teresa Division title. A win tonight against Gunderson on the road clinches at least a share of the title, a first since 2005, the last time Live Oak played in the Tri-County Athletic League. That year, Live Oak shared the title with San Benito and Palma.
“If we win this, we’re league champs. We know it. The kids want it. So we’re going to work hard to be the first league champ” since 1996, Live Oak coach Mike Gemo said.
Although wrapping up the league title Friday is welcome by the Acorns, they won’t be satisfied until they are 7-0 in league play, Gemo said.
“If we win Friday, that last game still means an undefeated league season,” Gemo said. “That’s what we want. That’s what our goal was at the beginning of the year.”
The implications of a perfect league season are tremendous apart from the league title. The better win-loss record Live Oak has — especially battling for seeding points coming out of the B League — the better the Acorns may be seeded in the Division IV CCS playoffs.
“We know if we win two games, we’re going to have a nice seed in the playoffs and it will help us getting some home field games during the playoffs. Hopefully, that will help us continue on in our quest to win playoff games,” Gemo said.
And so enter tonight against Gunderson.
The Grizzlies come into the game 2-7 overall and 2-3 in league play. Their only wins come against teams with winless records.
And Gunderson hasn’t been a pushover by any means during league play. After three nonleague contests where the Grizzlies were blown out by 30 points or more, they haven’t lost a game by more than 20 since. Two of their three losses were decided by a touchdown.
Gunderson is going to attack with its best athlete in DeJon Packer, who is a mobile quarterback who is very happy tucking the ball and running.
Gemo said it will be up to the defense to keep him in the pocket and complete tackles and holding big plays to a minimum.
The teams who have beaten Gunderson have done it by building an early lead and making it stick late.
But you can throw that out the window as Live Oak knows Gunderson wants to play spoiler and has nothing to lose in that endeavor.
“Yeah they might be down record wise, but they’re in the ball games and they’re going to fight,” Gemo said. “It’s going to be a big game for them.”
Live Oak knows it doesn’t want a close game late, but if the Acorns do find themselves in a one score game in the fourth quarter, they have a quarterback who is racking up experience in tight games.
Erik Ornduff showed his meddle
“You saw his maturity level. He didn’t panic, he did what he was asked, he got the team up to the line and huddled and spiked the ball when we needed to. … It’s a huge growing experience for him this year and it does help that Trevor’s back there to take pressure off him, but Erik’s a great athlete and football is in his blood.”
Live Oak may be on the road, but there looks to be a good following from the high school going with them.
At the Lincoln game, students from Live Oak followed the team cheering the team on, some with catchy slogans and others with funny ones.
Of course there was the “Fear the Bearden,” a take on the 2010 San Francisco Giants World Series run where closer Brian Wilson grew his beard to epic proportions.
There were also the funny Chuck Norris meets the Most Interesting Man cheers.
“Erik Ornduff bench presses 350 pounds … with his left hand,” came a cheer from the crowd.
Coach Gemo said he’s happy to see the support, noting it’s been a few years since Live Oak has enjoyed a following.
Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Gunderson. The superfans have said on Twitter they will be in attendance.
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