Arroyo Grande tops SLO for first football win. Here’s how SLO County teams fared in Week 2
In a San Luis Obispo County rivalry game that packed the stands on both sides with chanting fans and notable buzz, Arroyo Grande celebrated its first high school football win of the season.
The Eagles topped San Luis Obispo 42-14 in a dominant home performance highlighted by a strong running attack and solid defense.
Arroyo Grande (1-2) was down a touchdown early on a 38-yard connection from SLO quarterback Blayke Perry to receiver Nolan Attala, one of two passing scores the Tigers tallied on the night.
But the rest of the way it was all Eagles, powered by a solid offensive line performance and rushing touchdowns from Makai Puga, Junior Herlihy, Kaden Tynes and Koa Kopcha. Puga and Tynes also hauled in scoring catches from quarterback Max Perrett.
“There was a lot of energy in the stadium,” Puga said. “Our offensive line did a really good job tonight. ... It’s a lot more exciting to play in front of a big crowd.”
Coach Mike Hartman said this season feels much closer to normal than last year’s abbreviated spring with a full roster of players and students back on campus.
“It’s not a regular season, but it’s more so than last spring, and it’s important for our kids to be out here doing this,” Hartman said. “It’s something normal in their life, and for some of our guys, it’s the most normal thing they have in their life, so it’s important that we’re out here doing this.”
Hartman said high school football sees ebbs and flows of success, developing talented classes and eventually losing key players to graduation.
“That’s what high school football is,” Hartman said.
Hartman said his offensive line has been been working “very hard and I see massive improvements each and every week.”
On the losing side, SLO Coach Pat Johnston said “it’s always fun when you get that true ‘Friday night lights’ atmosphere and we certainly felt that tonight.”
“A lot of credit to AG, a well coached team, and I think they’re going to win a good number of games,” Johnston said. “We need to continue to learn from the mistakes that we’re making, like good football teams do, and come back and fix those things and just continue to progress as the season goes forward.”
Johnston said that the Tigers (1-1) will continue to work on keeping teams off balance with their offensive attack.
“We have some work to do in the passing game to make sure that we’re spreading that wealth,” Johnston said.
Perry, who just missed on some deep balls to receivers down field, vowed the team would bounce back from the defeat.
“I think that there’s a lot that we can learn from out of this,” the quarterback said. “And going forward, we’re going to be a brand-new team. We’re going to deliver in situations when we need it, and we’re going to be energized when we need it.”
Perry said the Tigers will regroup to focus on “effort and energy, and just overall camaraderie throughout the team.”
Attala, who used his speed to break open for passes, said SLO will need to “get our heads in the right space and learn from this loss,” using it as motivation.
SLO High normally would have played at home, but its stadium is under renovation with hopes to complete the construction by May, said SLO High Athletic Director Marci Beddall.
Here are the results of other San Luis Obispo County high school football games played this week.
Newbury Park 40, Atascadero 7
Atascadero (1-1) will be looking to bounce back after a loss to Newbury Park that evened its season record.
The Greyhounds’ sole touchdown was a pass from quarterback Evan Moscardi to Aiden Lemoine.
“We’ll regroup and fight next week,” Coach Vic Cooper said.
Fresno Christian 50, Coast Union 14
Coast Union Coach Andrew Crosby said he was proud of his team’s effort in its season opener in eight-man football, despite the uneven score.
“We played all four quarters tough,” Crosby said. “Our guys were driving hard until the end. I’m happy to coach guys who want to play like that.”
Crosby said freshman Jonathan Ramirez had an interception that he returned for a touchdown and the Broncos (0-1) had a double pass in which quarterback Emi Peña threw to Caiden Kennedy who tossed a touchdown pass back to Peña.
“We’ll be a better team for this game and hungry next week against Orcutt Academy,” Crosby said.
Mission Prep 36, Central Valley Christian 26
The Royals (2-0) won for the second week in a row on the road in a non-league contest.
Mission Prep quarterback Colby White tossed three touchdown passes and played “incredibly well,” said Coach David Schuster.
J.J. Howard and Tyler Garrett had “several really nice catches,” Schuster said. “Jack Susank and Mario Luera made plays on all sides of the ball.”
Buchanan 48, Paso Robles 0
In a Thursday night game, Paso Robles lost big to Buchanan of Clovis, a 3-0 team that has given up only one touchdown on the season.
The Bearcats were limited to 130 yards rushing and 16 yards passing, according to MaxPreps.com.
Leo Kemp led the ground attack with 37 yards rushing on seven carries, and Jacob Robinson posted 33 yards on nine carries.
Ben Limpin and Brandon Bonham each tallied a catch in the game, hauling in passes from Trevon Bridewell.
Paso Robles faces another Fresno-area team, Sunnyside, in its next game Friday.
Nipomo 26, Pioneer Valley 20
The Titans (3-0) won for the third straight week and earned their first Mountain League victory of the season.
The game came down to a defensive stand and an interception in the end zone by Nate Reese, Coach Tony Dodge said.
“We had three starters out today for various reasons, and I’m really proud of our backups,” Dodge said.
Reese, Kyle Kuhn and Vinny Hernandez all contributed to Nipomo’s scoring attack with touchdowns.
“We were up 19-6 at the half,” Dodge said. “Our defensive guys are used to being in close games at the end. They didn’t freak out. They stayed calm and were able to stop them.”
Dodge said the team is motivated by a large group of seniors, who have been strong leaders.
Templeton 29, Liberty 14
In a home game, Templeton doubled up on Liberty of Madera to earn the Eagles (1-1) their first win of the season.
This story was originally published September 4, 2021 at 12:04 AM.
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