Arroyo Grande and SLO continue to roll as Atascadero, Morro Bay and Nipomo also win

Five of the seven San Luis Obispo County high school football teams got wins on Friday night.

Arroyo Grande defeated Mountain League foe St. Joseph, while San Luis Obispo shut out Templeton. Atascadero pulled out a nail-biter over Righetti, as Morro Bay and Nipomo also came up winners.

With only two weeks left in the season, teams will jostle for playoff seeding and league championships over the remaining games.

Arroyo Grande 21, St. Joseph 6

In a matchup between two of the top Mountain League programs, Arroyo Grande held control of their Homecoming Game against St. Joseph, recording a 21-6 win.

The Eagles (7-1, 3-0 Mountain) have now won the last two meetings with St. Joseph.

The Eagles got off to a shaky start when quarterback Sam Wulff threw an interception to St. Joseph defensive back Dylan Crisp. But running back and defensive back Levi Childers intercepted a ball later in the first quarter to prevent a Knights’ drive to the red zone.

Childers, who plays on both offense and defense, finished the game with two rushing touchdown and one interception. It was the first interception of his high school career. Zack Tayman added one rushing score.

Childers and Tayman dominated in the backfield. When the Eagles marched down to inside the 10-yard line, Tayman punched the ball up the middle to put the Eagles up 7-0. With three minutes before halftime, Childers worked his way into end zone for an 8-yard score.

“When our whole team plays together and we’re making our blocks, there’s not much for me to do,” Childers said. “Once that happens, it just opens enough up for me.”

The Eagles physicality in their blocking and run game has been a staple of Hartman’s program. The team emphasizes weight training in the off-season, which has helped Arroyo Grande build a physically dominant program.

The strength also translates to defense. The Eagles held the Knights’ offense scoreless until they finally broke through on the final play of the game.

“We had a great week of preparation,” Eagles Head Coach Mike Hartman said. “I really felt that we took another step in our preparation and how we focused all through practice.”

Arroyo Grande defensive back Jaymin Rowley prevented a last-second play from the Knights before halftime after getting another interception.

In the second half, the Knights loaded up the box to prevent the run, but the Eagles still found ways to gain yardage as Caleb Clark received snaps under center in designed run plays.

In the third quarter, Tayman and Childers led a drive deep into Knights’ territory. Childers received a hand-off and with defenders dragging at his legs, he extended the ball into the end zone for his second touchdown of the day.

Childers and Tayman have both seen expanded roles this season after mainly playing on defense last season. While the team is young at the varsity level, many of them have played football since they were in elementary school.

“Most of us guys have played together since we were young,” Childers said. “We built our own team bond and it helps us play good together.”

On the final play of the game, the Knights managed to score on a passing touchdown, but there was no time on the clock, so they didn’t attempt an extra point.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Hartman said. “Their guys have a lot of pride and they play hard, but I felt whoever won the turnover battle would win the game.”

Arroyo Grande next travels to Salinas on Friday.

San Luis Obispo 21, Templeton 0

San Luis Obispo continued their win streak Friday, defeating Templeton 21-0.

The Tigers (7-1, 2-0 Ocean) have now won five straight games. The Eagles (4-4, 2-0 Ocean) saw their two-game winning streak come to an end.

Running back Colbin Garrison got the Tigers on the scoreboard in the first quarter with a 9-yard rushing touchdown. And Tigers quarterback Jace Gomes pushed the lead to 14-0 shortly before halftime when he scored on a 5-yard run.

Gomes sustained some injuries early in the year but has returned to lead his team to another strong regular season.

“Most importantly, he’s taking care of the football,” Head Coach Pat Johnston said. “If you can win the turnover battle, you’re going to win the game. If he keeps doing that, he’s always going to give us a chance.”

With six minutes left in the game, Gomes busted out a 20-yard for his second touchdown to take a 21-0 lead.

The Tigers defense forced two fumbles and made two stops on fourth down, Johnston said. In the past three games, the defense has only allowed one touchdown.

San Luis Obispo next faces Santa Ynez on the road on Friday. Templeton is at Nipomo.

Atascadero 20, Righetti 17

Two games after sending a game-winning field goal through the uprights, Atascadero kicker Armand Mastagni converted another field to give the Greyhounds a narrow win over Righetti.

The Greyhounds (5-3, 3-0 Ocean) have now won four straight games.

Righetti scored first in the first quarter, but with five minutes left in the second, Greyhounds’ running back Austin Smith found his way into the end zone. Mastagni kicked his first a field goal before halftime to give Atascadero a 10-7 lead.

Then, the Warriors scored a rushing touchdown to take a four-point lead, before Smith responded with a touchdown to put Atascadero ahead 17-14. A Warriors field goal tied the game with two minutes remaining, but the Greyhounds weren’t done.

From 40 yards out, Mastagni nailed the game-winning field goal less than a minute on the clock.

“It just shows our resiliency,” Head Coach Dan Loney said about the close win. “We’ve had a rash of injuries, and guys have stepped up. We’ve moved guys around. Backups have started and played well. It’s been a whole team effort.”

Loney said he expects his team to get healthy again in the last few league games before the playoffs start.

Atascadero travels to Morro Bay next week.

Lompoc 24, Mission Prep 14

The Royals (3-5, 0-4) lost on the road as the “defense had some good moments, but we couldn’t stop the run consistently” against Cabrillo (4-4, 1-1), said Mission Prep Coach David Schuster.

“They did a good job getting the edge on us,” Schuster said.

Jose Corona started at quarterback for the Royals and Thomas Glenn and Joe Villa both had multiple receptions.

Ronnie Kardashian and Miles Thompson played “amazing football tonight,” Schuster said. Kardashian had both of Mission Prep’s touchdowns on the ground.

Mission Prep hosts Paso Robles on Friday.

Morro Bay 48, Santa Maria 13

The Pirates (3-5, 1-2 Ocean) had an offensive outpouring with a rushing and receiving touchdown from Colton Janovec and two from Sands Dougherty, who tossed three touchdowns through the air.

Ryder Busch had a 55-yard scoring catch and a 10-yard haul-in for a score.

John Myers blocked a field goal and had a 22-yard scoring catch.

Efrain Hernandez snagged an interception.

Jayden Johnson had a 1-yard punch-in score, and Logan Meehan rushed in from 5 yards.

Morro Bay next faces Atascadero at home on Friday.

Nipomo 20, Cabrillo 14

The Titans (3-4-1, 2-0 Ocean) relied on a tough offensive line and a strong defensive effort to hold Cabrillo scoreless in the second half and come away with a comeback win.

Down 13-14 at the half, Nipomo stepped up to stall Cabrillo’s offense in the second half.

“Our defense bailed us out,” said Titans Coach Stephen Field. ““Our offensive line played really well up front and that allowed us to focus on the run game. Our defense had a lot of good plays as well.”

Field said Nick Evans had a strong rushing game, recording a scoring run, and Ayden Benzon and Griffin Groshart each added to the scoring attack.

Field said the team’s emphasis has been to “work hard and stay focused in all aspects of the game … offense, defense and special teams. Cabrillo is a good football team and to beat them is a big feat.”

Nipomo hosts Templeton on Friday.

This story was originally published October 18, 2024 at 11:46 PM.