SAN JOSE — In a game of punch and counterpunch, Live Oak junior Gage Jones seemed to produce knockout blow after knockout blow on Thursday, only for Branham to counter with shots of its own.

Finally, in a football game in which Jones rushed for 304 yards and scored five touchdowns, the deciding blow seemed almost anticlimactic – a seven-yarder for a first down that allowed the visiting Acorns to run out the clock in a wild 52-46 victory.

“We knew coming in, it would be a dogfight,” Jones said. “When my team needs me most, I know how to turn on the gas. And big props to the O-line. They balled out.”

The victory kept Live Oak (7-1 overall) in a second-place tie with Lincoln at 2-1 in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton Division, trailing only Santa Teresa (8-0, 3-0). Branham

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