SLO shuts out Nipomo as 3 local teams fall 35-0 on opening night of high school football
In the opening week of the high school football season, the only two San Luis Obispo County teams to match up — San Luis Obispo High and Nipomo High — clashed on Friday in South County, and it wasn’t close.
SLO got the best of their cross-county opponents in a non-league 35-0 win, one of three games in which local teams lost by that score.
The Tigers put the Titans on their heels early as senior running back Luca Cuccaro dashed for a 80-yard touchdown on SLO’s first offensive play of the game.
Cuccaro added a 50-yard interception and return for a touchdown in the second quarter and another half-field run in the first half to set up another Tigers’ score. Cuccaro also scored a 2-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter.
San Luis Obispo started sophomore Jace Gomes at quarterback after Gomes posted a 4-0 record in his starts as a freshman entering midway through the season last year. Gomes added a 5-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter, and Isaiah Hernandez scored a 12-yard rushing touchdown with a minute to go before the first half.
“It’s always good to come out in the first game of the season and get a win,” Cuccaro said. “This is just the start. It’s a good win for us today. I think our team or our team chemistry is the best I’ve ever seen, even beyond the athletics. We are really bonded, and that helps.”
The only setback for the Tigers was an injury suffered by Brody Johnson, a senior wide receiver, who was hurt on a two-point conversion play that required a medic team to apply an air cast to his lower left leg. Johnson was carted off the field.
“It is a big loss, but we’re going to rally around that,” Cuccaro said. “We love him. He’s our guy.”
SLO Coach Pat Johnston called Johnson the “heart and soul of this team this football program.”
“We rely on him to do a lot of different things,” Johnston said. “We’re really thinking about him right now. Although it feels good to win, it’s kind of hard to feel that great knowing that one of your guys that represents your program so well is hurting right now. I’m going to be checking in on him as soon as I can.”
Johnston said that he likes that his team plays hard and said the Tigers are “still maturing into a very good football team that has the potential to do great things, but what they need to do is not slow down.”
“They need to keep their foot on the gas pedal, and they need to keep improving,” Johnston said.
With the graduation of standout Nipomo quarterback Nate Reese, the Titans have big shoes to fill.
They started freshman Griffin Groshart, who previously played quarterback in youth football leagues. In his debut, Groshart threw interceptions caught by Cuccaro and Attala.
But Groshart also showed flashes of a strong arm and toughness in fighting off would-be tacklers, and his coach acknowledged his learning curve.
“All the guys playing varsity football now understand the speed, and it’s a totally different ballgame,” said Stephen Field, the Titans’ first-year head coach who replaced Tony Dodge. “All those guys understand what that is now and there won’t be surprises.”
Field, a former Cal Poly All-American center, said he believes his players can improve and build on their skills.
“Honestly, I think I see a lot of good things for a team that obviously has a long way to go, but there’s so much to build on from this week,” Field said. “We’ll go back to work and get ready for next week.”
Here’s a look at other scores and highlights in Friday’s SLO County football action.
Golden West (Visalia) 16, Arroyo Grande 13
Josue Ramirez kicked a 40-yard field goal and Eagles’ quarterback Drake Missamore rushed for a 35-yard touchdown as Arroyo Grande lost a close one on the road.
Lukas Szalonek intercepted a Golden West pass in the third quarter, but Golden West blocked a field goal attempt and returned the ball 80 yards for a touchdown with less than two minutes to go in the contest.
Coach Mike Hartman told The Tribune the Eagles had a steady drive down the field in the closing minutes of the game and were on the verge of closing it out when Golden West came up with the decisive play.
“We were going to ice the game, kick a field goal to go up six points, but we just didn’t execute,” Hartman said. “We just needed to kick that field goal, play defense and get out of Dodge. We made their night. We didn’t execute.”
San Marcos 35, Morro Bay 18
Morro Bay’s running back Nami Hoag had “a great game and rushed for more than 100 yards” with a rushing and receiving touchdown, said Morro Bay Coach Robert Dougherty.
“The kids battled hard and we had some turnovers and (we were) low on numbers and getting tired. Can’t make mistakes,” said Morro Bay Coach Robert Dougherty.
Quarterback Nicky Johnson had a scoring pass to Hoag and a rushing touchdown, but also was intercepted twice and fumbled.
“We had great fans and great environment,” Dougherty said. “Our kicker, AJ Alvarez, did a great job with putting us in good field position on some high kickoffs.”
Bakersfield Christian 35, Mission Prep 9
Santa Ynez 35, Atascadero 0
Kingsburg 35, Paso Robles 0
Games ahead
Templeton hosts Coalinga on Aug. 26 at 7 p.m., and Coast Union hosts Laguna Blanca Sept. 1 at 5 p.m.
This story was originally published August 19, 2022 at 10:59 PM.
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