Prep football: Atascadero hoping to reap benefits from tough schedule after latest loss
The Atascadero High School football team lost its third game of the season Friday night, 36-13 to Saint Francis of Mountain View to fall to 1-3 on the season, but it’s a record that could be deceiving.
The Greyhounds’ record speaks to the testament of strength of schedule than anything else.
Atascadero opened the season against Foothill, the only school ranked lower in California than the Greyhounds this season at 287, according to MaxPreps. Atascadero won that game 36-24.
The next three games have all been against teams ranked better than 150 in the state — including Saint Francis at 28, the runner-up of last year’s CIF-Central Section Division 2 championship game.
Atascadero nearly pulled out a win against Ventura (ranked 119) in a 22-19 loss. The Greyhounds then lost to Stockdale (148) 28-14 last week.
Head coach Vic Cooper maintains that Atascadero didn’t set out this year trying to play teams this tough because “schedules are hard to fill.”
“You want to play some games you win, some that are dogfights,” Cooper said. “Hopefully they prepare you for league.”
The only two area schools with schedules comparable to Atascadero are Division 3 cohort and rival Paso Robles and Division 2 Arroyo Grande. Even then, only Paso Robles (4-0) is consistently taking on schools inside the top 150 in the state. Paso Robles has been winning close games — its past two games have been won by a combined seven points.
The Greyhounds have shown flashes of brilliance even when outmatched. Atascadero has found a way to implement Elijah Cooks, a 6-foot-5 tight end/wideout into the offense this season. In Friday’s game against the talented Saint Francis secondary, Cooks caught seven of quarterback Carson Rinkenberger’s 10 completions for 101 yards and two touchdowns.
Atascadero likely won’t play a team as good a Saint Francis the rest of this year, even in the playoffs, and were encouraged by their results against tough opponents just two weeks removed from PAC 8 play.
The Greyhounds will face Madera (0-4) next week before starting league play against Pioneer Valley.
This story was originally published September 17, 2016 at 3:32 PM with the headline "Prep football: Atascadero hoping to reap benefits from tough schedule after latest loss."