Morgan Hill In the week leading up to Live Oak’s homecoming
football game against the Branham High School Bruins, head coach
Jon Michael Porras challenged his offensive line to step up and
play to their potential.
Morgan Hill
In the week leading up to Live Oak’s homecoming football game against the Branham High School Bruins, head coach Jon Michael Porras challenged his offensive line to step up and play to their potential.
And they did on Friday, helping five Acorn runners score touchdowns in their 41-18 victory over Branham.
“Our line showed up this week … Our offense falls on our line so our coaches challenged them and they stepped up,” senior running back Steven Rodriguez said.
While there were noticeable gaps and holes for the Live Oak ball carriers to run through, Branham struggled on offense throughout the game thanks to a stingy Acorn defense.
Rodriguez scored the first of two touchdowns in the first quarter helping he Acorns jump to an early 14-6 lead, but the Bruins stayed within arms reach.
Branham scored on the first play of the second quarter, cutting the Acorns’ lead down to 14-12.
On their ensuing drive, with junior QB Jeff Roberts at the helm, the Acorns quickly went back on the offensive.
Junior running back Jeff Blean found some room to run on a 38-yard gain, brining the Acorns into the red zone.
On the next play Roberts took the ball around the end on a QB keeper from the 13-yard line to extend the Acorns lead.
Senior kicker Casey Mott’s point after attempt sailed high and straight through the goal posts making the score 21-12.
Branham struggled to do anything right on the following possession, and the Acorns defense added to the Bruins’ frustration.
On first and ten senior linebacker Garrett Webb broke through Branham’s offensive line and tackled Bruins’ running back Ellis Hampton in the backfield for a six-yard loss.
“They came out with a different offense from what we were expecting so we had to make Turn to Acorns/B3 some adjustments,” Webb said. “Our outside linebackers were making some big plays and our D-line played well against some bigger guys.”
Webb was consistent in his praise of the Acorns’ defensive effort.
“Our strong safety (junior James Hamblin) was the heart of our team and made some big plays.”
A false start penalty pushed the Bruins back five more yards on second down.
On (repeat) second and 21 the Bruin’s fumbled but recovered the ball on a toss-sweep resulting in a 9-yard loss.
A delay of game penalty on the next play brought even more woes to the Branham offense, and after an unsuccessful run attempt on third down with 35 yards to go, Live Oak took over from their own 47-yard line.
Junior running back Jeff Blean took the ball on first down for 16 yards giving the Acorns another first and ten.
On the next play Rodriguez took the ball 14 yards giving the Acorns a first and ten from the 20 yard-line.
After a short gain by Roberts on a QB keeper, Rodriguez scored on an 18-yard run bringing the score to 27-12.
Mott kicked another perfect PAT to bring the Acorns’ lead to 28-12, but a Branham player was blocked into him just after the kick, and Mott went down grabbing at his ankle.
Teammates helped Mott off the field, but he would not return to the game due to the ankle injury.
Live Oak went into halftime with a 28-12 lead, and the large crowd grew excited for the homecoming festivities.
As the field lights shut off a “GO NUTS” sign glowed in the dark behind the visitor bleachers to kick of a fireworks show.
Acorn spirit was abundant as students adorned everything green and yellow, and the homecoming court made their way around the track reveling in the moment.
In the third quarter the Acorns kept the crowd excited by maintaining the offensive output and defensive pressure.
Senior defensive lineman Zach Young made a big stop on Branham’s first offensive possession of the half, forcing the Bruins to punt.
Blean took the punt from the 41-yard line and weaved his way to the opposite 24 giving the Acorns awesome field position.
Junior running back Billy Van Aken took a hand off from Roberts down to the nine-yard line on second down, setting up a nine-yard TD run by junior running back Alex Muhn on the next play.
The Acorns’ two-point conversion was unsuccessful.
Senior linebacker Adam Perez made a tackle in the backfield on fourth down of the Bruins’ ensuing possession, forcing a turnover on downs.
With a first down and good field position, senior Steven Smith took a hand off from Roberts and jetted 40 yards, untouched, for the final Acorn touchdown.
Porras said Smith runs a 4.6 second 40-yard dash, and it sure looked like it.
“This game was a stepping stone,” Porras said. “If your goal is the playoffs, you can’t be content until that happens.”
With strong running, consistent blocking and a stalwart defense, Porras was pleased that his whole team contributed.
“Before this game we only scored one touchdown in the first quarter of a game all season, so I challenged them to make something happen early.”
In regards to whether or not the Acorns can win their three remaining games of the season, Porras said, “We play three great teams coming up … big, physical teams, so we’ll have to play to our strengths.”
Senior Matt Cummins echoed his coaches thoughts on Live Oak’s next three games.
“If we play our game no one can beat us, but we’re looking at it one game at a time.”
Cummins was happy his team got the homecoming win.
“When I was growing up I used to come to the homecoming games and look up to the players, and now it’s me out there … it’s great that we came out on top, and it’s just a great experience for everyone,” Cummins said.
From the defensive perspective, Webb said that for the Acorns to win out, the defense will have to get better.
“We have to be more physical and play at a high level with more consistency.”
