Kadin Byrne has breakout game in Arroyo Grande win over Righetti
Coming off a bye week and a surprising loss to Paso Robles to open the PAC 5 season, Arroyo Grande junior quarterback Kadin Byrne wanted to make a statement Friday night against Righetti.
Statement received.
Byrne had his best game of the season against the Warriors to lead the Eagles to a 38-28 win.
It started with a simple game plan.
“We wanted to play catch tonight,” Arroyo Grande head coach Mike Hartman said. “That was something that we needed to improve on from the Paso game two weeks ago, and obviously the results speak for themselves.”
Byrne had season highs in completions, attempts and yards — finishing 13-of-19 for 166 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Byrne split reps with sophomore quarterback Caleb Tomasin to start the season. Byrne has now emerged as the best option for the Eagles’ run-first offense with his size and ability to shed tacklers — but it was the lefty’s quick decision-making and accuracy throwing the ball that stood out against Righetti.
After an interception on his second pass attempt of the game, Byrne settled down and hit on eight of his next 10 attempts. A 30-yard pass on a double move by senior wide receiver Nathan Wensloff helped set up junior running back James Gilmet for the first touchdown of the night. It was a far cry from Byrne’s first start of the season against Lompoc when he finished the game without a completed pass.
“I’ve just got a lot more comfortable (since the Lompoc game). It definitely was my best game of the season tonight,” Byrne said. “The receivers were getting open and I just felt good today.”
Wensloff finished with six catches for 116 yards, becoming the first Arroyo Grande receiver to break the 100-yard mark this season.
“He runs perfect routes, he has great hands and he gets open,” Byrne said of Wensloff.
Arroyo Grande senior wide receiver Michael McLean had six catches for 48 yards and a diving touchdown up the sideline to put the Eagles up 21-0 in the second quarter.
Byrne, who is listed as 6-feet, 220 pounds and could easily line up at defensive end, added 29 yards rushing and a touchdown on four carries and mixed it up as a lead blocker on a play in the fourth quarter to spring Gilmet for a 38-yard run that set up a Josh Evans touchdown to put Arroyo Grande up 38-14 before Righetti scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make it interesting. Gilmet finished the game with 26 carries for 164 yards and two touchdowns.
Arroyo Grande (5-3, 1-1 PAC 5) needs to win out to have a chance at a share of the league title and will go on the road to play Atascadero (3-5, 1-1 PAC 5) next Friday.
Central Coast scoreboard
Lompoc 17, Santa Ynez 7
In a battle between the two top teams in the area, it was the Lompoc (8-0, 2-0 Los Padres) defense that shut down the potent offense of Santa Ynez (7-1, 1-1 Los Padres) to hold on for the win. It was the first game all season that Lompoc senior running back Toa Taua failed to find the end zone.
Arroyo Grande 38, Righetti 28
Led by junior quarterback Kadin Byrne, Arroyo Grande (5-3, 1-1 PAC 5) jumped out to a 31-0 lead before allowing a few late touchdowns to Righetti (4-4, 2-1 PAC 5) in a PAC 5 win that keeps the Eagles hopes of a share of a PAC 5 title alive.
Atascadero 35, SLO High 14
This game was tied 7-7 after three quarters before Atascadero (3-5, 1-1 PAC 5) exploded for 28 points in the fourth quarter to come away with the home win over SLO High (1-7, 0-3 PAC 5).
Pioneer Valley 42, Cabrillo 7
Pioneer Valley (4-4, 1-2 Los Padres) jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead and cruised to a win over Cabrillo (1-8, 0-3 Los Padres).
Santa Maria 40, Morro Bay 19
Blake Truhitte ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more as Santa Maria (4-4, 2-0 Northern) pulled away late in the game to beat Morro Bay (1-7, 0-1 Northern).
8-man
Mission Prep 51, Flintridge Prep 13
Junior Brayden Farr ran for two touchdowns and had an interception for Mission Prep (5-1) in a convincing win over Flintridge Prep.
Shandon 58, Maricopa 14
Shandon (1-3) got its first win in over 10 years against Maricopa.
Valley Christian Academy 72, Coast Union 34
This story was originally published October 20, 2017 at 11:35 PM with the headline "Kadin Byrne has breakout game in Arroyo Grande win over Righetti."