4 SLO County teams knocked out of playoffs. Here’s the roundup of prep football results
Four of San Luis Obispo County’s top high school football teams saw their seasons come to an end Friday, with only Morro Bay and Coast Union advancing.
Arroyo Grande, Mission Prep, Paso Robles and Nipomo all came up short in the second round of the CIF-Central Section football playoffs, two in tight finishes decided by three points or fewer.
In Nipomo, the Titans (7-4) held a 12-6 lead late in the fourth quarter on the strength of a core group of seniors and a complementary underclass. But with just 22 seconds left in a defensive battle of mostly running plays, Highland of Bakersfield scored a touchdown through the air to turn the tables and secure a 13-12 win.
The Scots (9-3) connected on a deep ball to receiver Manny Valeta that set up a short touchdown pass by Jojo Mata, who booted in the extra point to hand Highland the lead.
Nipomo senior Vinny Hernandez had two rushing touchdowns in the game, one of 17 yards and another of 4 yards. The first score came on the Titans’ first drive of the game after Hernandez recovered a fumble on Highland’s side of the field. His second touchdown gave the Titans the edge in the fourth quarter.
A last-gasp Titans’ drive then ended in an interception, and the Scots ran out the clock.
The Titans missed both of their extra points in the game, which proved costly at the end.
“We were really trying to fight, and I’m thankful we got a win in the first round (last week against Mt. Whitney in a 34-7 victory), which was our first playoff win as a school since 2014,” Hernandez said. “I’m just very thankful for that and for all the coaches and my teammates.”
Hernandez — who has played football since he was 6 years old — thought his second touchdown could have been the difference, given the Titans’ strong defensive performance, but it wasn’t to be.
“I was trying to step it up, trying to get another touchdown,” Hernandez said. “And I did. And I thought that was enough, but man, they came back.”
He said the group of seniors will take away great memories from the season and the success will inspire the younger players.
“I told the freshmen, sophomores and juniors to step up next year and start working out,” Hernandez said. “Get ready, because this is not always given.”
Nipomo Coach Tony Dodge said he’s proud of his players and said they “have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I told the boys we had a tremendous year,” Dodge said. “It didn’t turn our way tonight, but I told them to keep their heads up.”
The Titans had to play the game without star quarterback Nate Reese, who suffered a right shoulder injury in the first-round playoff game. Reese came into the game with 675 rushing yards, 759 passing yards and 17 total touchdowns. Reese was inserted as receiver for some plays, but not as quarterback.
Junior Gabe Evans stepped in.
“It was stressful,” Evans said. “I tried to do my best but obviously couldn’t get it done. ... It just makes me want to play harder for them, for the underclassmen coming up.”
Here’s a look at the other second-round playoff results from around SLO County:
Washington Union 52, Arroyo Grande 32
Arroyo Grande’s run of four straight wins was snapped against an athletic team from Fresno, Eagles Coach Mike Hartman said.
The Eagles (8-4) were down 30-7 at halftime but mounted a second-half rally and narrowed the margin to 30-22 before the Panthers (7-3) pulled away at the end.
“You can’t dig yourself a hole against a good team like that,” Hartman said. “But to our kids’ credit, we challenged them to play hard in the second half.”
The Eagles’ highlights included a 99-yard touchdown kickoff return by Makai Puga and a 1-yard touchdown run by a Junior Herlihy. Senior quarterback Max Perrett connected on a touchdown pass to Kaden Tynes and Perrett for another. Senior Will Dawes had a good kicking night with a field goal and strongly booted end zone kickoffs, Hartman said.
“It was is really fun group to coach,” Hartman said. “It’s a really special group.”
Morro Bay 36, East Bakersfield 33
The Pirates (6-6) got a big win for the program with a nail-biter that had the coach sweating out the end.
Morro Bay held a 28-13 lead that narrowed to a 3-point margin by the end.
“It was nice to get a playoff win and do that for the community that has been so great and supportive throughout this season,” said Goossen-Brown.
Quarterback Nicky Johnson had four touchdown passes, three to Ethan Lisman and one to Christian Merrill.
Dylan Turner had a rushing touchdown.
“We worked really hard the last two weeks,” Goossen-Brown said. “We have a great group of seniors that have helped change this program, led by Dylan, Alexis Martinez, Noah Howard and Christian Merrill, to name a few.”
Morro Bay moves on to face Pioneer Valley (1-7) at home on Nov. 19 in the Division 6 playoffs.
Bakersfield 28, Mission Prep 16
The Royals (10-1) suffered their first loss of the season, playing on the road in the Division 2 bracket, the highest of any local school.
Mission Prep was down 14-3 at the half to Bakersfield (5-5) and scored 13 second-half points.
Dinuba 28, Paso Robles 24
The Bearcats (7-4) lost on a last-second score, after quarterback Trevon Bridewell rushed for one touchdown and threw for two more.
“It was a great defensive battle,” said Coach Matt Carroll. “Bastiaan Jaureguy played very well on defense and had two tackles for a loss.”
Coast Union 43, Hesperia Christian 42
The Broncos (9-2) edged out Hesperia Christian (8-2) to advance to the third round.
This story was originally published November 13, 2021 at 12:31 AM.
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