Lions slip past Willows

Playoffs — it's the team that comes up with the big effort or big play that remains in the running for the section hardware. On Friday night in Willows, that team was Live Oak.

In a game where all but three of the points were scored in the second half, it came down to a trio of big defensive plays by the Lions on the final drive that allowed Live Oak to leave Willows triumphantly with a 22-21 win in its opening-round contest in the Division III playoffs.

Both teams floundered offensively in the first half, with the only score coming on a 30-yard Xavier Lopez field goal on the opening drive. A 31-yard attempt in the second quarter sailed wide left, and the Honkers missed one from 33 yards out.

What the first half lacked in excitement, the second half more than made up for.

The first big break came Live Oak's way after the defense held Willows to a three-and-out on its first second-half possession. The subsequent punt was shanked out of bounds, handing the Lions the ball on Willows' 30. Unable to move the ball on its first two plays, Live Oak then got called for delay of game, setting up a 3rd-and-15 from the 35. Paul Kang found space on the right side and ran 22 yards to the 13-yard line and Javier Ramos followed with a carry and came up just short at the 1. Kaleb Allen then pushed it over for a touchdown and a 10-0 Lions' lead.

Willows got it right back on the next possession, keeping the ball on the ground for all 10 plays before Nolan Barnes scored on a 14-yard carry, with the extra point making it 10-7.

The two teams then exchanged three-and-outs before Willows' Aron Garcia stepped in front of a Jason Powell pass and ran it back 36 yards for a go-ahead TD to put Willows in front 14-10 as time expired in the third period.

The Honkers' kickoff to begin the final 12 minutes sailed out of bounds, giving Live Oak the ball on its 35, and the Lions stole the momentum right back when Allen busted it up the middle and sped 65-yards into the end zone. The PAT attempt was no good, but Live regained the lead at 16-14.

The Honkers then took over on their 40 following a squib kick, and proceeded to march the 60 yards in eight plays, with Barnes finding the pylon from 14-yards out. The PAT made it 21-16 Honkers.

With time ticking away in the final quarter, Powell was sacked and the Lions found themselves staring at 4th-and-6 from the Willows 26. That's when Powell found Ish Gardon near the goal line with a pass, and as Gardon was going down, he stretched the ball out backwards over his head to touch the pylon and give Live Oak a one-point lead at 22-21.

Willows began its final possession with just 1:55 remaining and had marched down to the Lions' 39, but two huge sacks on consecutive plays moved them back to their own 46, before the Lions recovered a fumble and were able to take a knee to ice the win.

"We tried to spread them out," said Live Oak coach Dan Johnson after the game. "They had lots of guys in the box and it made it hard to run between the tacklers. Then we had the one big pass play."

He also gave praise to his defense, saying, "We've struggled late in the year in the fourth quarter, but they did a great job of stepping up and hanging in there."