Live Oak shook off a slow start to dominate Mt. Pleasant 42-0 Friday night in Morgan Hill. With the win, the Acorns (4-0, 1-0 in the BVAL-Santa Teresa "B" Division) remain undefeated. The Cardinals drop to 1-3, 0-1.
"We were outmatched - Live Oak is a great team," Mt. Pleasant coach Frank Lopez, Jr. said. "It's a class team they have there."
Trevor Bearden scored on a 94-yard run in the second quarter and Ben Nuno added a pair of touchdowns for the Acorns, who build a 21-0 halftime lead after a scoreless first quarter. Nuno's second touchdown gave Live Oak a 35-0 third-quarter lead. Jerardo Caro scored Live Oak's final touchdown of the night on a 60-yard interception return in the third quarter to make it 42-0. The Acorns scored all 42 of their points in the second and third quarters.
"We came out strong and came together to play hard," Live Oak WR Mitchell Crowley said.
The two coaches are lifelong friends, so it's always special for the two of them to coach against each other.
"I have a lot of respect for Coach Lopez. It's fun to coach against your friends," Live Oak coach Mike Gemo said. "You hate seeing your friend sad when I was happy. Our kids just played well but they didn’t know anything about us being friends.”
For his part, Lopez was impressed with the Acorns.
"They have a great 6-foot-2 quarterback (Taylor Turnipseed) and the best running backs in the league," said Lopez, Jr., who went to high school with Gemo. "Their linebackers to a really good job (and) they just coached really well. They are going to have great success in the 'B' league because they're used to A-league and that shows in the difference in the two teams."
Both teams are back in action next Friday night (7 pm), as Live Oak looks to continue its unbeaten run with a trip to Westmont and Mt. Pleasant hosts Silver Creek.
