Mission Prep falls in title showdown; Atascadero wins Ocean League in tiebreaker over SLO

By Matthew Ho

Updated October 29, 2022 12:25 AM

In the final regular season week of San Luis Obispo County high school football, Atascadero took the Ocean League championship while St. Joseph defeated Mission Prep to secure the Mountain League title.

The Greyhounds dropped their final game against Pioneer Valley (4-6, 3-3), which left them tied with San Luis Obispo, who beat Templeton on Friday, but the Hounds took the championship thanks to their head-to-head win over SLO earlier in the year.

St. Joseph and Mission Prep both came into Friday night’s game undefeated in the Mountain League. After Mission Prep took an early lead, St. Joseph pulled away to win 49-21.

Quarterback Colby White scrambles with the ball. Mission Prep fell to St. Joseph 49-21 on Oct. 28, 2022, in the last game of the regular season, giving the Knights the Mountain League football championship. dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com

The Royals got out to a good start and led 14-0 in the first quarter, but untimely errors after than ultimately cost them a chance at the win.

“We made a lot of very stupid mistakes, and give St. Joe’s credit. Man, they executed at a high level and made a lot of big plays and (it) really came down to we couldn’t capitalize on some certain possessions,” Mission Prep Head Coach David Schuster said.

Mission Prep struck first with a 13-yard touchdown on the ground from Drew Harrigan followed by a three-and-out stop and another touchdown from tight end Mario Luera.

Mario Luera scores on a run for the Royals. Mission Prep fell to St. Joseph 49-21 on Oct. 28, 2022, in the last game of the regular season, giving the Knights the Mountain League football championship. dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com

St. Joseph responded with a long ball touchdown to wide receiver Colin Fasse. On Mission’s next drive, St. Joseph intercepted a pass. A few drives later, Fasse recorded another touchdown to tie the game up.

Meanwhile, the Knights’ offense moved the chains with the run game and in the air and made big plays over the top. Fasse and quarterback Darian Mensa connected for three touchdowns on the night.

The Knights and Royals then traded touchdowns, but after Mission’s score, St. Joseph returned the kickoff to the 1-yard line and punched the ball into the end zone immediately after to put them up 28-21 going into halftime.

The Mission receivers were tightly covered, including Tyler Garrett in the end zone at the end of the first half. Mission Prep fell to St. Joseph 49-21 on Oct. 28, 2022, in the last game of the regular season, giving the Knights the Mountain League football championship. dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com

It was those kinds of mistakes that cost the Royals the game.

“We just did not play good football, and it all caught up to us,” Schuster said.

Despite struggling on offense in the second half, the Royals didn’t give up. Running back Cole Tanner had a big day on the ground.

“We just decided just to pound the ball, and it ended up working by the end of the game, but it was a little too late,” said Tanner.

Drew Harrigan looks for an opening as Isaac Townsend blocks. Mission Prep fell to St. Joseph 49-21 on Oct. 28, 2022, in the last game of the regular season, giving the Knights the Mountain League football championship. dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com

The Knights defense keyed in on wide receiver Jamar Howard, who couldn’t find room to make explosive plays. Quarterback Colby White was unable to make plays on his feet when there weren’t any receivers open.

Mission Prep was held scoreless for the entire second half, while the Knights tacked on three more scores.

“I think it was being down two scores and the kids just grinding and believe in the process,” said St. Joseph Head Coach Pepe Villasenor.

“Today we talked about pumping the well, and sometimes that water doesn’t come out at the beginning. You got to keep pumping it well and believe in the process.”

Fans cheer on the Royals as Mission Prep fell to St. Joseph 49-21 on Oct. 28, 2022, in the last game of the regular season, giving the Knights the Mountain League football championship. dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com

Pioneer Valley 21, Atascadero 20

Undefeated in league, the Greyhounds (6-4, 5-1) needed just one more win to secure an outright Ocean League championship Friday night on the road at Pioneer Valley.

They came up one point short.

After falling behind 21-7 midway through the third quarter, the Hounds fought back with two rushing touchdowns by Kane Cooks, only to see a missed extra point leave them down 21-20 with about 6 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, according to MaxPreps.

They got the ball back but were unable to drive for a winning score.

Atascadero got on the board in the first quarter on a run by Trey Cooks, which tied the game at 7-7 before Pioneer Valley built its two-touchdown lead.

While the Greyhounds dropped their final game, they still won the Ocean League by virtue of their tiebreaker over SLO.

San Luis Obispo 35, Templeton 28

Luca Cuccaro scored all five touchdowns as the Tigers (8-2, 5-1) rattled off 28 unanswered points at home against the Eagles on Friday night to match Atascadero for the best record in the Ocean League.

The game that ended in triumph did not start so promising after the Eagles jumped out to a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter on a 30-yard rushing touchdown by Dylan Kriling and a 17-yard scoring run by Landen Miller, according to MaxPreps.

But on the next possession, San Luis Obispo stormed back, scoring on a 40-yard touchdown run by Cuccaro, who added another 7-yard score right before halftime to knot up the score at 14-14.

Cuccaro scored on a 1-yard run with a minute to go in the third quarter before a 9-yard run pushed the score to 28-14 with 9 minutes left in the game.

Miller scored on a 2-yard punch-in to narrow the score for Templeton, only to see Cuccaro rip off his best run of the night, a 72-yarder that widened the lead back to two touchdowns.

But the Eagles didn’t give up, and quarterback Anthony Chavez threw a 30-yard touchdown with under a minute to go to get back within 7. But SLO then was able to cover an onside kick attempt and run out the clock for the 35-28 win.

Paso Robles 35, Arroyo Grande 14

Paso Robles (7-3, 5-2) scored a touchdown in every quarter and two in the fourth on their way to a 35-14 win over Arroyo Grande (4-6, 3-4).

The Bearcats held a seven-point lead going into halftime but pulled away with a strong defensive performance limiting the Eagles’ offense.

Leo Kemp scored three touchdowns and rushed for 125-plus yards. Tyler Luna made numerous third-down conversions to go along with a rushing touchdown. Running back Connor Bowman also added a touchdown.

Morro Bay 58, Cabrillo 14

Morro Bay put on an offensive show against Cabrillo, coming away with a dominant 58-12 victory at home, according to MaxPreps.

The Pirates (4-6, 3-3) reached the end zone eight times, including six touchdown passes by quarterback Nicky Johnson.

It didn’t come right away for the Pirates. The team didn’t score until seven minutes remaining in the first quarter, but after running back Nami Hoag ran in a one-yard touchdown, the floodgates opened.

Quarterback Nicky Johnson connected with wide receiver John Meyers and Aidan Blackwood to put up two more touchdowns in the first quarter. Hoag completed a two-point conversion after Blackwood’s touchdown to give Morro Bay a 22-0 lead.

The score was 44-0 before the Conquistadors got on the board to close out the first half.

Morro Bay then added two more touchdowns to push the score to 58-6, before Cabrillo scored with under a minute to go.

Corner back and wide receiver Shawn Shaffer recorded three total touchdowns: two receiving and a pick-six. Johnson finished with six touchdown throws. Hoag added a touchdown and a sack.