Live Oak quarterback quarterback Michael Claverie, flushed out of the pocket, turns upfield for a 16-yard run to the Walker 6 that set up the Eagles' second touchdown in a 55-28 win.
Live Oak ball carrier Kyle Knapps is tackled by Ladrian Talbert (6) and Chase Corely (16) for Walker.
Walker's Tyler Lockhart runs the ball in the second quarter as he tries to elude a tackle by Live Oak defender Dan Ricard.
WATSON — It wasn’t simply the fact that Live Oak routed Walker in District 4-5A prep football action Friday night, 55-28.
It was the manner in which the Eagles dismantled the Wildcats that had Live Oak coach Barry “Tut” Musemeche encouraged about the rest of the season and beyond.
“That’s the first time all year we’ve had everybody together,” he said. “We were able to do some things.”
Not only was the offensive line intact, he said, but junior quarterback Michael Claverie seemed fully recovered from any early season illness that led to a weight loss. A re-energized Claverie threw two touchdown passes while completing 13 of 20 passes for 255 yards. In all, Live Oak gained 536 yards offensively.
“Michael threw the ball well tonight,” Musemeche said. “Jordan (Sellers) did a good job catching the ball.”
Sellers scored three times to highlight the performances of three sophomores. He sandwiched a pair of touchdown receptions around a 1-yard scoring run. His 54-yard touchdown catch at 9:29 of the first quarter opened the scoring, and his 26-yard touchdown catch marked Live Oak’s last touchdown at 3:49 of the fourth quarter.
“They tried to take away the interior,” Musemeche said of Walker’s defense, “That opened up the pass and the outside.”
Live Oak took advantage of the situation to produce 270 yards through the air and 266 on the ground. The Eagles rushed 20 times in each half. Higginbotham, another sophomore, led all rushers with 14 carries for 117 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown run that gave Live Oak a 24-7 second-quarter lead.
“Higginbotham did a good job of running the ball,” Musemeche said. The same was true of sophomore Kyle Knapps, who fought off several would-be tacklers to score on a 6-yard run in giving Like Oak a 14-0 lead at 5:40 of the first quarter.
“Kyle had a good night,” Musemeche said.
The same couldn’t be said of Walker’s first-half effort in which coach Dwayne Severio said the Wildcats missed at least 25 tackles.
“We played hard. We just missed too many tackles in the first half,” he said. As if that weren’t bad enough, Severio said, “We got behind the eight ball quickly and put the defense in a hole,”
Walker stumbled from the opening kickoff that left the Eagles on their 4-yard line. Walker managed one first down but had another negated by an ineligible receiver penalty. Walker’s punt put Live Oak back in its territory but it didn’t make any difference to the quick-striking Eagles.
After Higginbotham rushed for 2 yards on first down, Claverie connected with Sellers for the 54-yard scoring toss. Senior place-kicker Cameron Simmons added the first of his seven extra-point kicks. Simmons also added field goals of 22 and 28 yards to finish with 13 points.
In kicking off a three-game homestand, Live Oak improved to 3-4 overall and won its first district game in four tries. The Eagles will entertain Scotlandville this Friday after the Hornets beat Walker and Denham Springs in successive weeks. Walker, which fell to 2-5 and 0-3, will complete its home season Friday against Zachary.
For Severio, he’s hopeful that Walker can execute more efficiently than it did against Live Oak.
“We had them in position,” he said, “we just didn’t make enough plays.”
Live Oak continued to make play after play in racing to a 17-0 lead and then settling for a 27-7 halftime lead. Live Oak scored in double figures in each of the first three quarters and added a fourth-quarter touchdown for good measure.
“We’re young,” Musemeche said in discussing his sophomore trio, “but they do a good job.”
Knapps’ 6-yard touchdown run completed a nine-play, 56-yard scoring drive in 3:59.
Facing fourth-and-short from Walker’s 22-yard line, Live Oak opted to try for the first down. Claverie dropped back to pass and was given an inordinate amount of time before he scrambled 16 yards to the 6-yard line. Knapps scored on the next play.
The teams traded series before Live Oak embarked on another lengthy scoring drive. The Eagles didn’t reach the end zone, but Simmons’ 22-yard field goal put them ahead, 17-0, at 7:13 of the second quarter.
Walker retaliated with a 79-yard drive that featured three first downs. Trey Keller’s 14-yard run left the Eagles on the Live Oak 2-yard line, but it took three plays before Chase Corley scored on a 3-yard run with three minutes left until halftime.
That was enough time for Live Oak to score again on a four-play, 80-yard drive. Claverie covered 51 yards on two passes. Higginbotham ran for 7 yards in between the two passes and then capped the march with his 21-yard touchdown run. Before the half was through, Simmons delivered his 28-yard field with three seconds left.
A steady rain began falling in the second quarter and lasted throughout the game, but that did nothing to deter Live Oak on the artificial surface of its home field.
Higginbotham returned the second half kickoff 24 yards to the Eagles’ 34-yard line and Live Oak quickly went to work. After an incomplete pass, Claverie ran for 11 yards. After Knapps and Higginbotham combined to gain 4 yards on two carries, Claverie threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Wesley Fuller at 10:38 of the third quarter.
That culminated a five-play, 66-yard drive in 1:16 and upped Live Oak’s lead to 34-7. Fuller managed to get behind defensive back Derek Bartholomew on the play.
Undeterred, Walker struck back as Matthew Graham returned the ensuing kickoff for an 84-yard touchdown 14 seconds later.
“That’s something we put in this week,” Severio said. “It’s nice when something works as planned.”
Walker tried an onsides kick that Live Oak recovered and the Eagles eventually scored on Jared Forest’s 2 –yard run at 7:45 of the third quarter in putting Live Oak up, 41-13.
Walker put together an impressive drive that generated four first downs, but quarterback Tyler Lockhart lost the handle on a high snap and Live Oak recovered.
Claverie rushed for 8 yards on first down before Higginbotham ripped off a 45-yard run down to the Walker 30-yard line. Higginbotham added a 7-yard run before Claverie hit Fuller with a 10-yard pass. That put Sellers in position to score on a 1-yard run with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
Lockhart answered with a 1-yard touchdown run of his own at 8:32 of the fourth quarter, and after backup quarterback Brady Morris lost a fumble for Live Oak, Lockhart found Kenny Thomas on a flare pass that Thomas took down the left sideline for a 38-yard touchdown catch and run at 5:52.
Morris atoned for his mistake with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Sellers, who outleaped Walker’s defender to score with 3:49 to play.
YARDSTICK
WalkerLive Oak
14 First downs 21
189 Yards rushing266
61 Yards passing270
250 Total yards536
13-5-0 Att-com-int 22-15-0
5-34.5 Punts-avg3-31.7
3-1 Fumbles-lost1-1
4-40 Penalties5-65
Score by quarters:
Walker0 7 7 14 — 28
Live Oak14 13 21 7 — 55
Scoring summary:
LOHS — Jordan Sellers 54 pass from Michael Claverie (Cameron Simmons kick)
LOHS – Kyle Knapps 6 run (Simmons kick)
LOHS – Simmons 22 FG
WHS – Chase Corley 3 run (Dylan Gordon kick)
LOHS – Will Higginbotham 21 run (Simmons kick)
LOHS – Simmons 28 FG
LOHS – Wesley Fuller 51 pass from Claverie (Simmons kick)
WHS – Matthew Graham 84 kickoff return (Gordon kick)
LOHS – Jared Forest 2 run (Simmons kick)
LOHS – Sellers 1 run (Simmons kick)
WHS – Tyler Lockhart 1 run (Gordon kick)
WHS – Kenny Thomas 38-pass from Lockhart (Gordon kick)
LOHS – Sellers 26 pass from Brady Morris (Simmons kick)
