Live Oak blasts Colusa
Live Oak High football coach Dan Johnson has a rule that requires his players to "earn" the Lion decals before they are placed on their helmets.
The Lions opened their season with only their yellow head gear on Friday night, but after the performance they displayed against Colusa, the familiar purple Lions logo should be back on their helmets come next week.
Senior running back Tony Montes scored three first-half touchdowns and Live Oak completely dominated in all aspects of the game to pick up an easy 57-0 victory at Colusa in their season opener.
The outcome of the game was never in doubt as the Lions roared to a 31-0 halftime lead and never looked back.
Xavier Lopez gave Live Oak a quick 3-0 lead on a 31-yard field goal on the first series of the game before the Lions erupted to score touchdowns on each of their next three possessions. Montes scored the first touchdown on a 10-yard scamper on the first play of the second quarter and Lopez booted the first of his six point-after kicks to give Live Oak a 10-0 lead.
But the second-period explosion was just getting started.
On the Lions' next possession, quarterback Travis Seagraves hit Montes out of the backfield with a screen pass on third-and-14 and the senior standout did the rest by zig-zagging his way through the Redskins' defense for a dazzling 36-yard pass and catch for the score.
Montes found the end zone again from 2 yards out later in the period before Seagraves found Zac Walker wide open down the middle for a 47-yard scoring strike to make the score 31-0.
The first half — and the game for that matter — was all Lions, who outgained Colusa 258 to minus-9 over the opening two quarters.
In fact, Colusa didn't pick up their initial first down until there was 5:20 remaining on the clock and the score was already 57-0.
Kaleb Allen added a 14-yard scoring run in the third and Lopez raced for touchdown runs of 37 and 43 yards later in the second half to complete the scoring for Live Oak.
In all, the Lions outgained the Redskins a staggering 460-12 for the game. Both of Colusa's first downs came on its last series of the contest.
Although Montes only touched the ball nine times, he still managed to finish with 83 all-purpose yards. Allen ended the game with 65 yards on six carries and Lopez added 87 yards on only three attempts including the two long scoring runs.
