After close first half, Live Oak powers away to 21-3 victory
over Christopher High.
Undermanned Christopher held up well against Live Oak, at least until Cody Van Aken and the Acorns’ ground attack got rolling.
Van Aken rushed for a game-high 143 yards and two touchdowns, and Live Oak turned in a near flawless night of defense to earn its first win by 21-3 score Friday in Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
“It’s definitely good for our confidence,” said Acorns coach Jon Michael Porras, whose team scored three consecutive touchdowns to pull away. “We were in control the whole way. We executed a lot better than last week.”
Live Oak was coming off a 35-30 opening loss to rival Gilroy, in which the Acorns overcame a 15-point deficit to lead 23-22 midway through the third quarter. Friday’s win helped ease the pain — though it came against the newer school from Garlic City.
Live Oak can break even against its top rivals next week with the annual El Toro Bowl versus Sobrato.
“It was important just to get in here and get a win. We’ve got a big game coming up,” Acorns center Isaac Camarillo said.
Live Oak took command Friday after Ruben Martinez kicked a 22-yard field goal on Christopher’s first drive. It could have been worse; Brandon Pickens returned the opening kick-off 94 yards for a touchdown, but the play was called back because of a penalty against the Cougars.
The Acorns held their first-year varsity opponents to 120 yards in offense while churning out 263 yards rushing. Live Oak wore down the Cougars with bruising inside runs by Van Aken and Blair Zerr, and slashing fly sweeps by Jacob Montoya and Artie Valencia.
“I’ve got to hand it to them. They did the right thing by just pounding the ball and breaking us down,” said Christopher coach Tim Pierleoni, whose team lost its opener 28-10 to Sobrato last week. “We did a good job battling against them in the first half, but it’s tough when you have a small team.”
Van Aken, a 6-foot, 185-pound senior carried tacklers into the end zone from two yards out to push Live Oak ahead 7-3 with 4:41 left in the second quarter.
The score stayed that way until Dominic Bejarano cashed in on an 11-yard option keeper that capped the Acorns’ first drive of the second half.
Van Aken added a 3-yard touchdown dive for good measure with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
Pickens had a decent night under center, completing 9 of 23 for 108 yards and no interceptions. Christopher’s offense was forced to rely heavily on the pass, and Pickens delivered with 20-yard connections to Jorge Ramos, Bryant Cid and Travis Franco.
The Cougars were hampered by an early injury dealt to starting fullback/linebacker Dillon Babb.
“That makes it even harder for us now,” Pickens said. “Our goal is just to improve each game, and I think we did that tonight.”
