Templeton, Morro Bay and Arroyo Grande advance to second round of CIF playoffs

Templeton, Morro Bay and Arroyo Grande are all moving on to the next round of the CIF Central Section playoffs after each secured come-from-behind wins on Friday, while Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo both lost in the first round.

Templeton is the fourth seed in Division 5, Morro Bay is the sixth seed in Division 5, and Arroyo Grande is the ninth seed in Division 3.

Mission Prep had a bye as the No. 1 seed in Division 3, as did Atascadero as the No. 2 seed in Division 5. Arroyo Grande and Mission Prep will face against each other in the second round.

Paso Robles took the loss in Division 2 as the No. 9 seed while San Luis Obispo lost as the No. 10 seed in Division 3.

Templeton 27, Roosevelt 14

Templeton got off to a slow start in the first half, but the momentum shifted towards the Eagles as they defeated Roosevelt 27-14.

“At halftime we’re all kind of down and kind of feeling sorry for ourselves, and when Coach Crow gave us one of his phenomenal speeches, we picked it up,” said receiver Daxton Calagna.

The Eagles struggled on both sides of the ball in the first half.

The Rough Riders stuffed their run game and put together drives with their running back getting yards after contact. Roosevelt scored one touchdown on the ground, and the game was 7-0 at the end of the second quarter.

Coming out of halftime, the Eagles got a boost from a big kickoff return by receiver Landen Miller.

That momentum carried as the defense got a stop. Calagna followed up by scoring the first Eagles’ touchdown with 9 minutes left in the third quarter to make it 7-7. Roosevelt drove into Eagles territory and set up a field goal, but the Roughriders missed the attempt off the crossbar.

The Rough Riders struggled at special teams all night. The punts and kickoffs were short and gave Templeton strong field position.

At the end of the third quarter, Roosevelt had the ball deep in their own territory. When the ball carrier tried to reverse field and find space, the Eagles’ defenders pushed him back within the 5-yard line, where he fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Eagles for a touchdown that put the Eagles up 13-7.

From there it was all Templeton.

Defensive back Kolton Sobyra intercepted a pass, which set up another Calagna touchdown. This time Templeton quarterback Anthony Chavez connected with Calagna on a pass play to make the score 20-7.

The Rough Riders responded with a deep touchdown pass of their own to make the game 20-14.

But with 2:36 left in the game, Calagna ran in another touchdown to put the Eagles up 27-14 and sealed the game.

“We made a huge adjustment on defense at halftime. Big change. Then the opening kickoff in second half, the return by Landen Miller, I think, that turned the whole momentum. Then we got a little yellow fire in our belly, and we really played well,” said head coach Don Crow.

Templeton’s relentless run game also wore down the Rough Riders’ defense.

“Our kids are in great shape. They have to be because we play with one guy over 200 pounds, so we have to be in great shape. I think that really told the tale tonight,” said Crow.

Calagna was the star for Templeton. He finished with 61 yards on seven rushes and two touchdowns on the ground to go with a 33-yard receiving touchdown.

Running back Landen Miller added nine attempts on the ground for 35 yards and the key kickoff return to start the second half.

According to Crow, Calagna started the year in first string but missed time due to injury. He didn’t get starter minutes until this game.

“I feel on top of the world,” said Calagna. “I haven’t got as much playing time as I wanted to on offense in the past couple weeks and so finally I got the chance and I took off and ran with it,” he said.

No. 4 seed Templeton now moves on to the second round of the CIF Central Section Division 5 playoffs. The Eagles will take on No. 5 seed Corcoran at home on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Morro Bay 28, Golden Valley 25

Morro Bay once again showed its flair for playoff dramatics — echoing its CIF Central Section Division 6 title run last year — in a thriller punctuated by a 34-yard shovel pass from quarterback Nicky Johnson to Nami Hoag, who broke six tackles to dash into the end zone for the game-winning score with 3 minutes left.

“I was just having fun running the ball,” Hoag said. “These are exciting games, but also nerve-racking because if you lose, you’re out. I just wanted to keep on moving forward on that run.”

The Pirates (5-6), ranked No. 6 in the Division 5 bracket this year, sealed the win in the back-and-forth nail-biter with an interception by Shawn Shaffer on a pass deflected by Johnny Bottello.

“With new coaches, it’s cool to learn new defensive coverage and all that,” Shaffer said. “And it’s fun being out here.”

Johnson, a star senior, also tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Aiden Blackwood after a signature scramble to break free in the third quarter. Johnson was pressured by the defense much of the game, and receivers dropped multiple passes.

“We didn’t execute great today, and we’ll have to do better moving forward,” Johnson said. “We were struggling to throw the ball, but whatever we need to do to win is all that matters.”

Hoag had a 4-yard touchdown on the Pirates’ first drive of the game, and Caleb Calhoun had consecutive big plays in the third quarter with a 15-yard scoring run followed by a fumble recovery on defense.

“This year we feel like a lot of us have been in it before and almost our whole line returned,” Johnson said. “Every position had returners except our receivers, but we’re really experienced all the way around. And we’re hungry.”

Morro Bay next hits the road to face Dos Palos in Merced County on a Thursday.

Sanger 21, Paso Robles 0

Paso Robles was shut out by Sanger on Friday, bringing the Bearcats season to an close.

It was a slow, physical game, and Paso Robles struggled to find any rhythm on offense. While Sanger put up three touchdowns, each of their scores came off rushes less than 5 yards away from the end zone.

Running back Leo Kemp got the Bearcats to Sanger’s 36-yard line with 4 minutes to go in the first quarter, but the team couldn’t capitalize.

Late in the second quarter, the Bearcats returned a kickoff to the 40-yard line but were held to no gain on the drive. The team’s punt was blocked and recovered by Sanger.

The Bearcats got back into the red zone with 7 minutes left in the third quarter, only to turn the ball over on downs.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Bearcats were pinned on their own 13-yard line. With such little time and down two scores, the Bearcats went for it on fourth down but failed to convert. That gave Sanger the ball with great field position and the Apaches scored a touchdown to put them up 21-0.

Paso Robles finishes the year 7-4 and 5-2 in the Mountain League.

Arroyo Grande 27, Chavez 20

A back-and-forth first half affair settled down after Arroyo Grande scored two unanswered touchdowns in the second half as the Eagles defeat Chavez 27-20.

Chavez scored two touchdowns in the first quarter but failed on an extra point and a two-point conversion to go up 12-0. The Eagles responded with two touchdowns of their own in the second quarter.

First, quarterback Drake Missamore connected on a 60-yard touchdown to Damian Santos.

Late in the second quarter, defensive back Tanner Quaresma intercepted a Chavez pass, which set up another Missamore-Santos passing touchdown to go up 14-12.

With 5 minutes to go in the third quarter, defensive back Tristin Moser scored on a pick-six to put the Eagles ahead 21-12.

The Eagles then added another interception by Santos. Running back Junior Herlihy then punched the ball in at the start of the fourth to put the Eagles in front 27-12.

Chavez scored a rushing touchdown with under a minute to go and successfully converted on the two-point attempt. However, the Eagles recovered the onside kick and held on to win 27-20.

The Eagles’ defense tallied three interceptions on the night. Santos had two receiving touchdowns and an interception. Herilhy added a rushing touchdown. Moser scored the other touchdown off an interception.

Arroyo Grande now moves on to the second round of the Division 3 Central Section Playoffs against a familiar foe: No. 1 seed Mission Prep, who beat the EAgles 41-35 on Oct. 14.. The Eagles and Royals will play at a neutral site on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Mission Oak 30, San Luis Obispo 25

A second-half comeback came up short for the Tigers, and San Luis Obispo’s season came to an end Thursday night in a 30-25 loss to Mission Oak.

The Tigers fell behind 24-6 in the first half but rallied back in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 unanswered points.

Mission Oak got the first score of the game on a goal line rushing touchdown. The Tigers responded with a 25-yard rushing touchdown from running back Luca Cuccaro.

But Mission Oak tacked on a 53-yard rushing touchdown, a field goal, and a 58-yard passing touchdown before the end of the first half to give the Hawks a big lead.

Both teams scored a touchdown in the third quarter with each missing their PAT attempts. Then, the Tigers scored on a 25-yard passing touchdown to receiver Miles DeBrum, before receiver Felix Stork caught a two-yard touchdown pass in the fourth to make the game 30-25 in the final minute.

The late game rally was cut short, howver, as time expired.

Quarterback Jace Gomes completed four passes for 80 yards with a touchdown and interception. Gomes rushed 12 times for 67 yards. The team handed off to Cuccaro 17 times for 109 yards and a touchdown. DeBrum had two catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Nolan Attala added two receptions for 28 yards and a touchdown.

The Tigers end the year 8-3 and 5-1 in league. They finished second place in the Ocean League.

This story was originally published November 5, 2022 at 12:00 AM.