The year was 1993, and South Valley’s biggest regular season
game boiled down to the final 45 seconds that Norm Dow, to this
today, recounts with a hint of nervousness.
The legendary former Live Oak coach had just watched Gilroy take
a 14-7 lead over his undefeated Acorns, and Mustang fans were
celebrating on the muddy turf at Richert Field.
GILROY – The year was 1993, and South Valley’s biggest regular season game boiled down to the final 45 seconds that Norm Dow, to this today, recounts with a hint of nervousness.
The legendary former Live Oak coach had just watched Gilroy take a 14-7 lead over his undefeated Acorns, and Mustang fans were celebrating on the muddy turf at Richert Field.
“It was just incredible. They were pouring out,” Dow said. “They had to clear them off.”
Once they did, the Acorns put together one of the most memorable offensive series in the rich history of the Gilroy-Live Oak rivalry. Quarterback Bengie Sanchez completed three passes, including a 35-yard connection to future NFL tight end Ryan Neufeld, as the Acorns drove deep into Gilroy territory with time winding down.
Justin Jacobs caught an out pass from Sanchez in the front corner of the end zone as time expired. Dow elected to try for a 2-point conversion, and running back Lenny Betencourt – now the Acorns’ sweepers coach – broke two tackles on the way to crossing the goal line.
“Lenny was like Houdini on that play,” Neufeld, who recently signed with the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League, said during a telephone interview Wednesday. “That was an unbelievable win – not that we didn’t think we could do it; we had a great team back then. We just needed to come together.”
The 15-14 triumph completed a 9-0-1 regular season for the Acorns, and sent the Mustangs home heartbroken.
“It looked like the end of a Civil War battle afterward,” said Dow, whose Monterey Bay Athletic League champs later fell 28-27 to Pat Tillman and the Leland Chargers in the Division I semifinals. “I remember Gilroy kids were all over the field crying.”
One of them was a young utility player named Greg Garcia, who, at 7:30 p.m. today against those same Live Oak Acorns, will begin his career as head coach of Gilroy football.
“That game still stands out the most,” he said Wednesday. “That was the kicker because Live Oak was such a powerhouse back then. They were a force to be reckoned with.”
A force to be reckoned with – many South Valley football fans used to say the same of the rivalry.
For various reasons, Live Oak-Gilroy isn’t the same heavyweight billing it once was. The two storied programs no longer play each other on a regular basis. Since their epic showdown in 1993, Live Oak and Gilroy left the MBAL, reunited in the Tri County Athletic League and split once again. They have also welcomed new enrollment-undercutting rival high schools – Sobrato (2003) in Morgan Hill and Christopher (2009) in Gilroy – leaving the Mustangs with three arch foes (can’t forget San Benito). Even with the addition of Christopher, Gilroy’s enrollment still dwarfs Live Oak’s.
Though they have not squared off in four years, Live Oak and Gilroy is still … Live Oak and Gilroy. The rivalry that beyond proximity.
“We hated each other when I played,” said Live Oak coach Jon Michael Porras, who dressed for the Acorns from 1995-98. “I got thrown out of a game once. It was always intense.
More often than not, the players had much more than bragging rights on the line back in the 1980s and early 90s.
“Back when we were in the (MBAL), we were usually playing for the championship every year,” said Live Oak alumnus Jeff Ulbrich, who is in his 10th season playing linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers.
Legend has it, Jeff Garcia was nursing a broken leg when he took snaps against the Acorns in 1987. Live Oak won 35-14.
“That was the rivalry,” the four-time All-Pro quarterback, now with the Oakland Raiders, said. “That was the game every single year because it was a big game; both programs were strong.”
The rivalry left off on a thrilling note in 2005, when the Acorns scored 21 consecutive points to tip the Mustangs 28-27. It is one of few bad memories Greg Garcia has from his eight years as Gilroy’s defensive coordinator.
“I think we beat them every other time,” he said. “The kids were always up for it because you never want to lose to a good old rival. But it was hard, clean football.”
That’s exactly why Porras and former Mustangs coach Rich Hammond agreed to have their teams open the season tonight in Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
“We want to rekindle what we both think is a special part of South Valley football,” Porras said in the spring.
The rest of the old guard has been equally excited. Most of Gilroy and Live Oak’s coaching staffs are former players – some even former coaches of each other. Greg Garcia was an assistant at Gavilan College when Porras played for the Rams.
“The coaches on both sides, we all know what this game means,” Greg Garcia said. “It’s an honor, really, to go against each other again as coaches.”
Regardless of the outcome, you can bet South Valley will be trembling for a rematch in 2010 and beyond.
