FOOTBALL: Mustangs, Acorns set to raise curtain on 2012

For the fourth consecutive year, Live Oak and Gilroy, two schools separated by a short 12 miles, will go head to head and pop the cork on the prep football season.
Tonight, the Acorns will try to do something they haven’t done in the previous three openers as they welcome the Mustangs to Richert Field for a 7 p.m. kickoff – win.
The once be-all, end-all of rivalries rekindled in 2009, but is has been all Gilroy since, with the Mustangs grabbing victories of 36-13, 35-30 and 56-37. Live Oak’s last triumph over Gilroy came in 2005 – the final meeting before the three-year hiatus – when the Acorns rattled off 21 unanswered points to stun the Mustangs 28-27.
Two of the main components in last season’s offensive outpouring – Live Oak’s Trevor Bearden and Gilroy’s Brandon Boyd – are both back for their junior season hot off of stellar sophomore campaigns.
“Our running game is on a mission,” GHS coach Brian Boyd said. “We plan on being very successful Friday night.”
The pair of running backs, which combined for more than 400 rushing yards in the 2011 matchup, will assuredly have the spotlight on them again tonight and be points of interest to the other’s defense.
“Both offenses are geared around those two,” Live Oak coach Mike Gemo said. “Last year was a shootout and I don’t expect anything different this time. I think it’s going to be a great game.”
A victory for the Acorns would be their first on the field since Nov. 5, 2010. Live Oak’s lone win in 2011 came via forfeit.
“The kids showed last season that they will never give up,” Gemo said. “If we start our season off right with a couple wins it will give us some momentum heading into league.”
The Mustangs, too, are looking to turn the tide as they search for their first winning season since 2008. Though they have defeated the Acorns to start the last three seasons, the rest of the nonleague portion of their schedule hasn’t been so shiny, going 1-8.
“If we can stop Trevor we think we are going to be fine,” Boyd said. “We are just going to try to contain him and slow him down. With all the tools that we have we think we can dot it. We are very confident and we are ready to play.”