Rio Vista rams Live Oak into ground

The Live Oak Lions football team was hoping a strong showing in their season finale Friday night with first-place Rio Vista would give them some momentum going into their playoff game next week.

Instead, the Lions played flat in front of the home crowd against Division III's second-ranked Rams, and lost 47-6.

Despite the loss, Live Oak finished with a 3-3 record in the Sacramento Valley League. The Lions had locked up a playoff spot the previous week, thanks to their 26-21 last-second win over Pierce.

"We're in the playoffs," said Live Oak head coach Mike Ziegenmeyer. "It's a new season for us and it starts next week by watching film and getting back on the practice field."

The Lions were handicapped going into the game with the Rams. Seven starters were out with injuries, including three starters along the offensive line.

But it was mistakes that put Live Oak in the hole early that it never was able to dig out of.

"We made too many mistakes," Ziegenmeyer said. "Too many big penalties that they took advantage of."

The Lions were flagged for four 15-yard penalties in the game.

The offensive never got going. The Lions only registered two first downs in the entire game. Sophomore quarterback Tony Montes had the biggest run of the night, a 13-yarder in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Rio Vista scored on its first five possessions with a running attack the Lions simply could not stop. The Rams scored on runs of 13, 7, 23, and 49 yards and threw for another from 6 yards out. Two drives were aided by an interception and a bad snap on a Lions' punt that gave the Rams the ball at the 3.

The only real excitement for the home folks came in the second quarter after the Rams had already built a 27-0 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Montes took the ball at his own 15, ran into a wedge of his own blockers and somehow broke out at the 40 still upright. He then raced down the sidelines, outrunning three Rams defenders all the way to the end zone for an 85-yard touchdown.

It was the second straight game that Montes had returned a kickoff for a score.

Ziegenmeyer is looking ahead to next week.

"We got to learn from our mistakes in order to play well," the coach said. "We don't mind going on the road to play. We like the road. We're 3-2 this year away from home."