Gilroy
For almost a year, Gilroy’s Brandon Boyd has been itching to get back out on the turf. An injury sidelined the senior running back for most of last season, so in his final season as a Mustang he’s making every yard count.
Boyd didn’t disappoint.
He racked up 331 yards on 47 carries and scored four touchdowns in the season opener. Despite his stellar performance, the Mustangs fell to Live Oak 52-41 on Friday at home.
But the team isn’t hanging its heads.
“It’s the first game,” coach Brian Boyd said. “We knew this was going to be a battle. We put some points on the board. A couple bounces the other way, we could’ve come right back. By no means are we giving up — we’ll be ready to go next Friday.”
The Mustangs and Acorns were tied 28-28 heading into halftime, but things quickly started to go in Live Oak’s favor. A couple quick plays turned into a quick 10-point lead for the visitors, who led 45-35 heading into the fourth quarter.
Live Oak would fumble the ball twice in the final quarter, while the Mustangs had a fumble of their own. Both teams were unable to capitalize on the other’s mistakes, however.
With the game clock winding down, Brandon Boyd wasn’t about to let him team go down without a fight. He took it to the house one more time late in the game for the final 52-41 score.
“Score — that’s all that’s going through my mind,” Brandon Boyd said. “I was just trying to keep my team close and get them back in there and fired up. I was doing everything I could do.”
Boyd’s Live Oak counterpart Trevor Bearden gave the Mustangs a little more than they could handle, gaining 476 yards on 30 carries with five touchdowns in the game.
“We knew he’s their football team,” coach Brian Boyd said. “We knew it was going to be tough to stop him. We thought we were going to be able to contain him. We were blitzing him quite a bit, but he was running right through the boys.
“A lot of the kids on our defense are brand new — never have played before. …We were able to stop him a few times, but he’s so big and strong that he just runs over people. He’s not shifty like what we’ve got, but definitely big and strong.”
Live Oak coach Mike Gemo said his team, too, was focused on stopping its opponents run game. In fact, Boyd was the primary focus of the Acorn’s halftime talk.
“We just had to keep doing what we were doing and make some stops on defense,” Gemo said of his halftime conversation. “Boyd is a tough guy to tackle, we ended up giving a lot of yards but we ended up getting a good victory.”
The Mustangs did win the battle in the air behind sophomore quarterback David Munoz. He went 11 for 19 for 150 yards and had two touchdowns in the game. Live Oak’s sophomore QB, Erik Ornduff, went 5 for 8, with a touchdown and a Bubba Lara interception.
“We thought David did a pretty good job. A lot of the mistakes and stuff that he made, those are going to happen,” Brian Boyd said. “He’s only a sophomore, this is only his first game — this is all new. …The boys kept fighting; we’re banged up. They didn’t give up the whole time.”
After hearing the final from Morgan Hill — a 36-6 Christopher win over Sobrato — both teams immediately put tonight behind them and focused on next week.
Live Oak will square off against Christopher at 7 p.m. Friday at home.
“We’re ready to go get our first home victory this year,” Gemo said. “We want to win the South County again.”
The Mustangs will remain at home, facing Sobrato at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Brandon Boyd said he’s looking forward to picking up the Mustangs’ first win of the season. If the CHS-Sobrato final is any indication, he will be a big part of the game plan against the Bulldogs.
“(A final of) 36-6 doesn’t look like they have much a run defense so we’ll be looking forward to playing them next week,” he said. “We’ll just have to work hard and get a win.”
