Pierce just misses earning 1st win

The Pierce High football team came ever-so-close to winning its first game of the season Friday night.

The Bears lost the Sacramento Valley League contest against visiting Live Oak with seven seconds remaining, when the Lions, who trailed 21-20, culminated a 98-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to keep Pierce (0-9, 0-5) winless on the season with the 26-21 victory.

"I know it's only a high school football game, but it really meant a lot to the kids," Pierce coach Roy Perkins said Saturday afternoon. "It's heartbreaking for our kids. I felt so bad for them to come so close and then not win."

The outing also was the Bears' last home game, Perkins pointed out, and looking ahead to next week, when Pierce has to take on SVL leader Willows, Perkins said the Bears thought the Live Oak contest might be their last chance to get a win.

"That was the best game we've played all year, by far," Perkins said.

It was a see-saw affair that saw Pierce ahead heading into the closing stages. The Lions scored first but Pierce answered with two touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead at halftime.

The Bears had to kick off to start the second half and Pierce purposely squib-kicked the ball to try and keep it away from Live Oak's dangerous return man, sophomore Tony Montes. But an up-man grabbed the kick and pitched it back to Montes, who scampered for the tying touchdown.

Pierce answered with a go-ahead touchdown, only to have Live Oak come right back with a score of its own two plays later. A missed extra-point effort, however, left the Bears with a 21-20 lead.

"We had an opportunity to score again in the fourth quarter," Perkins said, noting the Bears had first-and-goal at the 2-yard line.

Three straight times Pierce tried to run the ball over the right side for the touchdown and three straight times the Lions stuffed the Bears. On fourth down, Pierce tried a pass, but it fell incomplete.

Live Oak took over at its own 2 with a little more than seven minutes remaining.

Perkins admitted he did not know if it was a blessing or not that the Bears did not score. Had they scored, they would have had to kick off to Montes, who could have broke another long run or even scored, he said.

Instead, the Lions had to march 98 yards to score. And that's exactly what they did.

"They held the ball for 20 plays," Perkins said. "In high school football, that's pretty amazing."

A couple of times the Lions went for it on fourth down and converted, Perkins continued. And when they got close, Perkins thought they might try a field goal because Montes is a solid kicker.

"But they went for it instead," Perkins said, and Montes flipped a 3-yard pass for the winning score.

"It was a real hard-fought, good football game by both teams," Perkins said. 'It's just unfortunate that one team had to lose. The way our season has gone, it would have been huge if we could have won."

When Pierce hit 21 points — its high for the season — Perkins said he hoped it would be enough.

Also, for the first time all year, the Bears came up with a couple of big plays. Tailback Rudy Godinez broke loose for 69-yards on a sweep — "by far our longest run of the year," Perkins said.

Quarterback Jake Driver was solid, completing 4-of-5 passes for 60 yards.

"We really stepped it up," Perkins said. "We raised our intensity level.

"The thing about this group is that they never quit," he continued. "We'll circle the wagons Monday and get ready for Willows."

While Willows (8-1, 5-0) is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Pierce, Perkins said anything can happen. He noted Friday night the Pierce defense forced the Lions to fumble once and the Bears recovered and turned it into a touchdown a few plays later.

Pierce is a young team, Perkins said, noting the Bears really start only one senior on offense and two on defense.

"It took a while for them to get up to varsity speed," Perkins said, noting the last two weeks the Bears have played very well. Two weeks ago, they led Trinity at the half.

Hopefully the juniors will learn from this year's struggles, he added.

Next season looks especially promising, as the current juniors will have a year's worth of varsity experience.

"And we've got a real tough JV team," Perkins said, noting the younger Bears squad has lost just two games — to Esparto and to Trinity.

"(The Live Oak game) has been a real tough loss for our kids," Perkins said. "They've worked so hard every day. They really deserved to win."