The Atascadero High football team established the run early and never looked back, beating Independence of Bakersfield 48-3 at home in a nonleague football game Friday.
It started with a Stetson Bullard 13-yard touchdown run seven minutes into the game. From there, Tanner Thompson, who amassed 136 yards, and Deonte Barnes both ran the ball in on a 6-yard and 1-yard runs, respectively, to put the Greyhounds up 20-0 by the end of the first quarter.
After no scoring by either team in the second, Atascadero added to its lead in the third quarter with three more touchdowns. The first score of the second half came on a 53-yard pass from Jesse Whitten to Luke Allen. A few minutes later, Whitten completed a 5-yard pass to Weston Walker to give the Greyhounds a 34-0 lead.
Barnes, who completed the night with 113 yards on 14 carries, had a 13-yard run at the end of the third to put Atascadero (3-0) up 41-3.
Paso Robles 32, Santa Ynez 13
Jacob Searcy passed for three touchdowns, and senior Scott Plescia ran back an interception 62 yards in Paso Robles’ nonleague road win over Santa Ynez (1-1).
Returning all-PAC 7 receiver Elias Stokes added 100 yards receiving on seven catches with three touchdowns (one rushing and two receiving) to support the Bearcats’ (1-1) offense.
Paso Robles scored first on a 48-yard strike from Searcy to Aleksander Koch and from there, the defense took over. Plescia, a 2009 all-league pick, logged a strong start to his 2010 campaign with a 62-yard interception return for a touchdown to start the second quarter and bring the score to 12-0.
The Bearcats scored twice more in the quarter and led 25-6 at halftime.
Searcy was 13-of-19 passing for 201 yards. Koch, in addition to Stokes, was a favorite target of Searcy, catching four balls for 68 yards. Senior Jesse Felgenhauer led Paso Robles on the ground with 75 yards.
Oxnard 34, San Luis Obispo 27
Despite a combined 242 yards of total offense from quarterback Anthony Maez, the Tigers (1-2) fell on the road.
Maez rushed 11 times for 130 yards, including scoring runs of 63 and 13 yards.
Jake Lacy and Eric Cordova also scored for San Luis Obispo.
The Tigers were dropped largely due to the efforts of Oxnard running back Terrell Watson, who finished with 32 carries for 260 yards and three scores.
Carpinteria 27, Nipomo 12
The Warriors downed Nipomo on the road.
Carpinteria posted the lone score of the first quarter on a Paul Aguilar 3-yard touchdown run.
In the second quarter, Carpinteria’s Alex Rodriguez punched the ball in on a 2-yard touchdown run, but Nipomo struck back with a touchdown pass from Chris Souza to Micah DeBruno.
A 40-yard touchdown reception to Jordan Robinson, from Jeff Moorehouse, gave Carpinteria a 20-6 halftime lead.
Fillmore 35, Morro Bay 14
With the score tied at 14 late in the third quarter, Fillmore ran off 21 consecutive points to beat Morro Bay.
Sam Crizer scored on a 2-yard touchdown run for the Pirates (1-1), and teammate Jesse Landry added a 65-yard kickoff return for the team’s other score.
Bishop Diego 28, Mission Prep 7
Mission Prep (2-1) fell for the first time this season.
Brandon Gonzalez led the Cardinals to the victory, scoring four touchdowns — all coming from 20 yards out or more. He punched it in from 22 yards and 20 yards on the ground in the first quarter and ran for another 20-yarder, while catching a 78-yard reception, in the second.
Mission Prep’s lone score came in a 59-yard touchdown run from Michael Cardwell in the second quarter.
Coast Union 34, Avenal 7
The Broncos (1-2) got their first win of the season due in large part to Zach Brooke’s 11 carries for 164 yards and two touchdowns.
Brooke broke a 64-yard touchdown run to open the scoring and added the team’s final score from 4 yards out.
Coast Union quarterback Omar Catalan finished 4 of 5 with 87 yards and two touchdowns.
Sam Rivera scored on a 48-yard pass from Catalan, while Matt Sanford scored on a 20-yard strike.
Rivera also added a 15-yard scoring run in the first quarter.
North County Christian 22, Clovis Christian 8
The Crusaders (2-1) needed four goal line stands to beat the Wildcats on the road.
“It was tough,” North County Christian coach Matt Wilson said. “It was one of those games that we felt like we were behind the whole game, but we were able to put up enough to win. I’m happy with the W.”
North County Christian (2-0) struck first, with a Tyler Roth 4-yard run in the second quarter, but it was its defensive stand at the end of the half that set the pace for the rest of the game.
The Crusaders’ Austin Boggan ran back the opening kickoff of the second half 62 yards to add to the lead.
On offense, the Crusaders were led by Roth (15 rushes, 78 yards) and Boggan (14 rushes, 54 yards).
