Atascadero football wins first CIF championship in 26 years

It was only fitting Atascadero’s championship game was a comeback win against Pioneer Valley.

The Greyhounds secured the 2022 CIF Central Section Division 5 Football Championship in a 27-13 win over the Panthers on Friday after falling behind 13-0 in the first quarter — and after losing to the Santa Maria team earlier in the season.

The Greyhounds came back from deficits of two touchdown or more on multiple occasions this season on their way to an Ocean League title.

Panthers’ running back Anthony Arias scored off an early Greyhounds fumble in the first quarter. In a later drive in the quarter, running back Eric Cruz broke through the defensive line for a touchdown. The Greyhounds blocked the point after attempt, but were still down 13-0 in the first.

On the sidelines, the message from the Atascadero coaches to the players was that they’ve been here before: It was familiar territory.

“We headed up to Alvarez High School in Salinas where we were down 29-6 at halftime, and that was kind of the turning point,” Head Coach Vic Cooper said. “The kids came back in the second half and pitched a shutout and forced it to overtime and scored on the first play of overtime.”

Since the game against Alvarez, the team “hasn’t looked back.”

The championship game followed a similar script as ones prior for Atascadero.

After Panthers’ quick start, the Greyhounds shut them out the rest of the game. Paired with last week’s shutout over Dos Palos in the semifinal game, that means Atascadero has allowed point in only one of the team’s last eight quarters.

The defense stepped up across the board with three fumbles recovered, a turnover on downs, a blocked field goal and an interception.

Once again, the Cooks brothers carried the offensive load for the Greyhounds.

Senior running back Trey Cooks had a strong day on the ground with one rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter, but also broke tackles and made explosive plays for the Greyhounds.

Younger brother and quarterback Kane Cooks did more of the same. He finished with two rushing touchdowns, a passing touchdown and created yardage on the ground — despite being sick the past week.

According to Cooper, Kane Cooks was “basically in bed all week.”

“He came to practice yesterday for a little bit, but I’m guessing he’s gonna go home and go to bed again,” Cooper said.

Kane was among about a dozen players that were out from practice with the flu this week. Cooper added that two others players were injured in the previous game and didn’t practice all week.

The health adversity the team faced made the win “even more sweet,” he said.

In addition, the Greyhounds got revenge on the team that kept them from a perfect Ocean League record.

The Panthers defeated the Greyhounds 21-20 in the last week of league play. While the Greyhounds secured the regular season title, they did so on a down note.

“I was really discouraged when we lost,” Trey Cooks said of that defeat. “I didn’t have too great of a game and just a lot of people were discouraged. ... I feel that it gave us a lot of motivation to come back and win.”

The elder Cooks, who stands at 6-foot-1, pushed for extra yardage on what felt like every run against the Panthers’ defense.

“They’re good players, but I just feel I’m a pretty big person,” Trey Cooks said. “I don’t see any running back as big as me. It’s hard for them to get practice going against that.”

After the 13-0 deficit early on Friday night, Kane Cooks connected with Greyhounds’ receiver Kaleb Pryor to get Atascadero on the board. The extra poiint attempt was blocked, but the younger Cooks rushed in a touchdown on a keeper play to tie the game up in the third quarter. The touchdown drive came off a blocked Pioneer Valley field goal.

Kane Cooks then punched the ball in from the one-yard line for another score, and Trey Cooks finished things off with a waltz into the end zone in the fourth quarter where he went untouched.

Defensive back Mason Degnan intercepted the ball and sealed the game with 2:40 left.

The Greyhounds’ 2022 Division title is the school’s firest since 1996.

Atascadero won four consecutive division championships from 1993 to 1996 under head coach Larry Welsh. Cooper was an assistant on that staff.

“(Welsh) is the legend,” Cooper said. “He’s the one that taught us everything.”

Next up the Greyhounds will move to the state playoffs with a 9-4 record and a league and division title.

This story was originally published November 25, 2022 at 11:44 PM.