Only one SLO County team advances in tough opening round of CIF football playoffs

Five San Luis Obispo County high school football teams opened postseason play in the CIF Central Section on Friday night, but only Morro Bay emerged with a victory.

The Pirates held on for a home win over East Bakersfield thanks to a missed extra point by the Blades.

Meanwhile, Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo, Templeton and Nipomo all suffered lopsided losses on the road.

Atascadero and Mission Prep each earned byes in the first round.

No. 2 Atascadero will host No. 7 Washington Union, while No. 1 Mission Prep will host No. 8 Porterville. All games this week will be played on Thursday due to the observed Veterans Day holiday on Friday.

Morro Bay 27, East Bakersfield 26

In Division 5, No. 4 seeded Morro Bay outlasted visiting East Bakersfield in the 13 seed to secure a first-round win at home.

And the versatile Pirates showed a willingness to try some gutsy plays and take risks on the way.

To open up the second half, for example, the Pirates attempted a lateral on the kickoff return. One Morro Bay returner drew the defense left before turning around throwing the ball across the field backwards to the other returner for some decent yardage.

Unlike a lot of other San Luis Obispo County football teams, Morro Bay has a balanced offense that mixes in rollout bootleg throws and rushes up the middle.

Coming into the Pirates’ 27-26 win over East Bakersfield, senior quarterback Ian Lambright had thrown for nearly 1,200 yards on the season with 11 touchdowns vs. four interceptions. But the team also has the ability to hand the ball off to senior running back Nami Hoag, who’s put up 1,071 yards on season and 10 touchdowns.

The team’s offensive attack was on full display as the Pirates held on for the one-point victory on Friday night.

After a scoreless first quarter, senior linebacker Manny Diaz intercepted a ball over the middle with eight minutes left in the second quarter.

On the subsequent offensive drive, Lambright found daylight to run the ball into the red zone before connecting with senior receiver Caleb Calhoun for a touchdown.

East Bakersfield responded with a score of its own, but the Blades missed the PAT.

In the second quarter, Lambright connected with junior receiver Ryder Busch on a slant route to put the Pirates up 14-6.

Then, Hoag broke through the first lines of defense for East Bakersfield before a defender dragged him down by the facemask and was called for a penalty, setting the Pirates up at the goaline. Hoag then ran the ball in himself without being touched, and the Pirates went up two scores at 20-6.

But East Bakersfield wouldn’t go away as their ground game wore down the Pirates, who had multiple players play offense, defense and special teams, including key contributors like Calhoun and Hoag.

After the Blades narrowed the score to 27-20, the Pirates couldn’t get into scoring position to put the game away, so it came down to East Bakersfield with the ball with 4:46 remaining.

Hoag had subbed out due to a shoulder injury before later returning, while senior defensive tackle Nicholas Reid also was helped off the field.

The Blades put together a methodical drive that ended with what appeared to be a game-tying touchdown. But as the Blades kicked the point after attempt, junior receiver John Meyers tipped the ball sending it sailing wide right.

The Pirates closed out the game as time expired, and now the team will move on to the second round.

The playoff win for Morro Bay was reminiscent of two seasons ago when the Pirates went on an unexpected run after winning only two games in league play. But they found themselves in the CIF playoffs and ended up winning the Division 6 championship.

Those Pirates had a similar offensive attack, with quarterback Nicky Johnson making dynamic throws on the run while Hoag, who was a sophomore at the time, eating up yards on the ground.

Head Coach Robert Doughtery wasn’t at Morro Bay at the time, but he wants to bring a fun style as a former quarterback himself.

“The spread is fun,” Doughtery said. “I think it gives us an advantage because teams don’t see the pass a lot, and it’s hard to emulate.”

While Doughtery says the team could have executed better, players like Myers made big plays on offense and special teams.

“Guys came up big when we needed it,” Doughtery said.

Morro Bay next faces the winner of Orosi and Hoover on Thursday.

Tulare Union 42, San Luis Obispo 14

In Division 2, No. 13 seeded San Luis Obispo (7-4, 5-1 Ocean) took an early lead on the road at No. 4 Tulare Union, only to be outscored 42-7 the rest of the way.

With three minutes to go in the first quarter, Isaiah Hernandez scored on a 10-rush to put the Tigers up 7-0, only to see The Tribe rattle off 21 points in the span of about 8 minutes in the second quarter to take command of the game.

Hernandez broke loose for a 20-yard touchdown to open the first quarter and narrow the score to 28-14 before Tulare Union quarterback Jordan Crisp completed multiple long passes en route to two more touchdowns that sealed the game.

“We had a great start to the game, but we just made too many mistakes for a playoff game,” Head Coach Pat Johnston said. “I’m very proud of our team’s effort. It’s a high character group that cares very deeply.”

The Tigers’ season came to a close as the team finishes second in the Ocean League after Atascadero.

Central 42, Arroyo Grande 14

In Division 1, No. 10 seeded Arroyo Grande (9-2, 7-0 Mountain) was no match for No. 7 Central of Fresno.

The Grizzlies dominated the middle of the game, putting up 14 points in the second quarter and 21 in the third, while the Eagles were only able to muster lone touchdowns in the first and third quarters.

“Central is a really good quality ball club,” Head Coach Mike Hartman said. “We made a few too many mistakes early in the game and they wore us down.”

Central defeated Clovis East 58-55 in the regular season, who the Eagles lost 35-7 in out of conference play.

The Eagles were the undefeated Mountain League champions but ended up being the 10th seed in Division 1, leaving them with a difficult draw.

Washington Union 25, Templeton 7

In Division 3, No. 10 seeded Templeton (5-6, 2-4 Ocean) got on the board first against No. 7 Washington Union on the road.

River Waltmire scored on an 8-yard rushing touchdown, but it would prove to be the only offense the Eagles could muster on the night.

Before the first half was over, the Panthers found the end zone three times, failing on three two-point conversions, which kept the game in range for Templeton at 18-7 going into the break.

After a scoreless third quarter, Washington Union tacked on an insurance touchdown to put the game out of reach.

Head Coach Don Crow said there are too many variables with the playoff format.

“Good small schools have to play schools bigger than them because the bigger schools might be down a little,” Crow said.

Mt. Whitney 28, Nipomo 18

In Division 3, the No. 11 seeded Titans (4-7, 2-5 Mountain) managed only a safety through three quarters of play before a couple late touchdowns narrowed the final score on the road at No. 6 Mt. Whitney.

After falling behind 28-2, Nipomo scored two passing touchdowns with under six minutes to go, but the late outburst proved to be too little, too late.

Head Coach Stephen Field doesn’t have any major issues with the playoff format, but did question whether Nipomo should’ve been a Division 3 team.

“The section needs to learn who we are and stop using us as place-holders to fill brackets,” Field said. “If we are saying that we are all in on competitive equity, then let’s do that.”

The Titans came off a winless 2022 season showing major growth on the field in 2023 led by freshman quarterback Blayne Lowry.

This story was originally published November 3, 2023 at 11:15 PM.