Live Oak surges past Walker

WATSON — Live Oak scored 29 second-half points to outlast Walker 50-30 on Friday night at home in the District 4-5A opener for both teams.

With a five-point lead to start the fourth quarter, the Eagles mounted a 14-play, 59-yard touchdown drive that ate up six minutes, 41 seconds. Quarterback Michael Claverie found Jordan Hebert for a 14-yard score that put the Eagles ahead by 12.

Wesley Howard added a 12-yard TD run after a Walker turnover on downs to seal the victory.

“It was big to stay two scores ahead,” said Live Oak coach Barry ‘Tut’ Musemeche. “They needed to make a stop, and they didn’t. We took the opportunity to challenge ourselves, which we did.”

Chris Kelly and Wesley Howard combined to rush for 214 yards to pace the Live Oak offense, which totaled 471 yards. Claverie completed 8-of-17 passes for 169 yards, with a touchdown and interception.

“It’s important to get every win,” Musemeche said.. “We’ll enjoy this for a while, but we have tough teams in this district, and we’re trying to make ourselves a competitive, tough team.”

Carlton Perkins led Walker with 130 yards rushing and 45 yards receiving. Tyler Lockhart completed 16-of-27 passes for 287 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

“Live Oak played a very good game offensively,” said Walker coach Dwayne Severio. “We had trouble getting the defense off the field… We were more explosive. They just wore us down.”

Both teams mounted similar scoring drives to open the game, with each finding the end zone on its first possession.

Walker took the opening drive 56 yards for a touchdown, capped by a 3-yard run by Perkins. Lockhart also completed three passes for 32 yards on the drive. Perkins ran in the two-point conversion to give the Wildcats an early 8-0 lead.

Live Oak responded on the next possession with a 60-yard drive as Howard ran it in from 4 yards out. The extra point made it 8-7 late in the first quarter.

After a Walker three-and-out, Live Oak went ahead on a 5-yard touchdown run by Austin Zachary. Claverie set up the score with a 37-yard completion on the first play of the drive.

Walker threatened on its next possession, driving to the Eagles’ 7-yard line, but a holding penalty and personal foul moved the Wildcats back to the 27-yard line before a fourth-down interception ended the drive.

Following the interception, Live Oak added to its lead with an 80-yard drive. Claverie hit Zachary for a 56-yard completion before Howard carried it in from 5 yards out for his second TD of the game.

Walker cut into the Live Oak lead before halftime with a 37-yard pass from Lockhart to Kenny Thomas, who finished with 144 yards receiving. The two-point conversion made it 21-16 at halftime.

Each team scored twice in the third quarter to maintain the five-point Live Oak advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Walker scored on a 37-yard pass from Lockhart to Thomas, then Perkins found the end zone from a yard out.

Both of Live Oak’s scores came on the ground — Kelly from 11 yards and Claverie from 2 yards.