Tough act to follow

Mike Ziegenmeyer finds himself in a tough situation.

The first-year varsity football coach at Live Oak High is following in the footsteps of a legend in Lion Country, Jim Arostegui, who stepped down after 16 seasons to spend more time with his family.

Arostegui guided Live Oak to four Northern Section championships and eight appearances in the Section title game, including the last three seasons.

"Here we have a coach who has never coached at the varsity level," Ziegenmeyer admitted.

But, he added, he has been associated with successful programs. He played at Sutter and coached under Scott Turner. He also has coached under Neil Stinson at Marysville and has served as an assistant coach for the past seven seasons at several different Yuba-Sutter schools.

"I've been in a lot of winning traditions," Ziegenmeyer said, noting he hopes to continue the Lions' success.

"I'm a very optimistic guy," Ziegenmeyer continued. "We have a lot of really great athletes and I think we'll surprise a few people."

Ziegenmeyer doesn't plan to make a lot of changes offensively, preferring to stick with what Live Oak has done best the past few seasons. And that's run the ball out of a number of different formations.

Although, the Lions won't have James Fox, who rushed for more than 1,300 yards and 16 touchdowns last season and fullback Brandyn Harned leading the way. Both graduated.

Keying the Lions' attack this season will be sophomore Tony Montes.

"He's going to be our leading rusher," Ziegenmeyer predicted. "He's a sophomore sensation. You're going to be seeing a lot of Tony."

Another key offensive weapon is senior fullback Ernie Robles, who also will play outside linebacker on defense.

While offensively the Lions will look like past Live Oak squads, defensively, it's another story, where Ziegenmeyer will serve as defensive coordinator.

"We're going to the 4-4, as opposed to the 4-3," Ziegenmeyer said, bringing another man up closer to the line of scrimmage.

The key for the Lions, Ziegenmeyer said, will be how the players adjust to the new defensive scheme.

Another key centers around the overall health of the squad.

The team's main weakness is numbers, Ziegenmeyer said, noting the Lions will field a team with 29 players.

"If even one kid goes down, it will hurt," Ziegenmeyer said, noting several Lions will be asked to play both offense and defense.

Besides the physical health of the players, Ziegenmeyer said his coaching staff also is keying on the academic prowess of the Lions. Normally, about six weeks into the season grades come out and traditionally most teams lose a player or two.

Ziegenmeyer said that won't happen at Live Oak because coaches are going to make sure players stay up with their homework and grades.

Adding to the excitement for the Lions this season is a new league alignment, which finds Live Oak linked with Willows, Mt. Shasta, Trinity, Durham, Rio Vista and Pierce in the Sacramento Valley League.

"It should be real interesting," Ziegenmeyer said.

One thing that might help the Lions this season is their cohesiveness.

"We don't have any superstars on this team," Ziegenmeyer said. "Everyone gets along with each other and they play well together."

Steve Alvarez, a senior nose guard who will anchor the Lion defense this fall, agreed with his coach's assessment.

"We're more of a team, instead of everybody being for themselves," Alvarez said. "There's a lot more togetherness."

The Lions will need that bonding because they have a tough schedule to open the season — Live Oak plays at Colusa on Aug. 29 and at Sutter on Sept. 5, before hosting Lindhurst on Sept. 12.

Sutter and Lindhurst both won Section championships last season.

The Appeal-Democrat will include East Nicolaus High in Sunday's edition, followed by Maxwell on Monday.