Two SLO County teams remain undefeated in league as five win on Friday

On a successful night for five San Luis Obispo County teams, Templeton and Arroyo Grande remained undefeated in their respective leagues with key wins on Friday.

Morro Bay notched its first league victory of the season in blowout fashion.

Atascadero and Nipomo also came out on top against their opponents from Northern Santa Barbara County.

As teams position themselves for a final push in the regular season, with remaining league implications on the line, here are Friday’s results from around the county.

Templeton 48, San Luis Obispo 7

Week in and week out, Templeton football continues to prove why it remains undefeated. The only team in San Luis Obispo County to keep the game within reach against the Eagles this season was Atascadero, which fell by just 11 points earlier in the season.

On Friday night, the Eagles (8-0, 2-0 Ocean) once again defended their home field, this time against San Luis Obispo (4-4, 1-1 Sunset). After a competitive first quarter, the game slipped away from the Tigers as Templeton pulled ahead and secured its eighth consecutive win 48-7.

SLO remains without its top offensive weapon, running back Colbin Garrison. Even so, the Tigers leaned heavily on their ground game in his absence.

“They had a great game plan for us,” Templeton Coach Don Crow said. “Run the ball, run the ball, run the ball. Keep it away from our offense.”

Though running the ball was a good approach in trying to control possession, the Tigers struggled to find open lanes, and their attempts to move the ball on the ground were quickly shut down.

Despite putting up more than 350 yards of total offense, the Tigers couldn’t finish drives. Turnovers at key moments erased scoring chances and kept them off the board after the first quarter against a disciplined Eagles defense.

SLO scored first early in the first quarter, but Templeton then went on a 48-0 scoring run, executing off turnovers after having short fields to work with.

Templeton’s running back Tyler Cunningham scored three touchdowns in the first half: an 8-yard rushing score, a 23-yard touchdown reception and a 2-yard run. The early surge was capped off by Hayz Camarena, who intercepted a pass at SLO’s 25-yard line and returned it for a pick-six.

A big part of Templeton’s dominance this season starts up front with credit due to the Eagles’ offensive line that has anchored their success with a veteran group that’s created time and space for their playmakers all year.

Seniors Weston Patch and Drake Sandoval have started on varsity since their freshman seasons, and their chemistry and leadership continue to set the tone in the trenches. Whether it’s protecting Colter Tannehill at quarterback or opening holes for Cunningham in the run game, Templeton’s front line remains one of the toughest units in the county.

“We got our blocks, we know our reads, we know what we’re doing,” Patch said.

Cunningham’s success in the run game has benefited from openings created by the front line. Time and again, he found gaps through the middle, turning small openings into big gains, and he made it look effortless, gliding through defenders and finding the end zone with ease. His biggest highlight of the night came on an 86-yard return to the end zone in the fourth quarter, which put the score even further out of reach.

“We have our duties for our running backs,” Patch said. “And our running backs, they give us praise.”

​​Crow said the offensive line keeps getting “better and better.”

The Eagles will face their biggest test yet next week when they take on Nipomo, which remains undefeated in league play, a matchup that could decide the league title.

“It’s going to be a really hard-fought game,” Crow said. “Nipomo’s a really good opponent. They’re physical.”

Templeton hosts Nipomo on Friday while San Luis Obispo is at home against Santa Ynez.

Arroyo Grande 30, St. Joseph 7

Reigning Tribune player of the year Caleb Clark showed up for the Eagles’ biggest game of the year, which likely could decide the league title. Clark tallied three touchdowns and kept the offensive momentum going throughout the game for Arroyo Grande with tough first down runs.

Clark got the scoring started with a 46-yard touchdown run to break away on a fourth down handoff.

Arroyo Grande Garrytt Lloyd punched in a short run on the 1-yard line to go up 13-0, the lead at the half.

Clark added a 32-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Jacob Kreowski in the third quarter to regain momentum for Arroyo Grande (5-4, 3-0 Mountain), to go up 20-7, after a fumble recovery touchdown for the Knights closed the gap to 13-7.

Clark and Levi Childers cycled in at quarterback at spots to run the Wildcat, and Arroyo Grande was able to mix and match their running attack to move the chains.

Clark added his third touchdown run, a 29-yard dash to the outside to put the Eagles up 27-7.

“Caleb is an absolute game-changer,” Coach Stephen Field said. “At all times wherever he’s at on the football field, whether it’s special teams, offense, defense, you have to account for him, and that is a huge asset for a team.”

With the win, the Eagles remain undefeated in Mountain League with one league game remaining against Mission Prep. St. Joseph (7-2, 2-1 Mountain) suffered its first league loss and only its second defeat of the season

Arroyo Grande has a bye on Friday.

Atascadero 35, Righetti 14

Knotted at 7-7 at the half, the Greyhounds pulled away in the second half, with just one offensive drive.

Atascadero’s scoring included a balanced rush and passing attack, including a running score from Damon Mitchell. Mitchell had a handful of sacks in the game, including multiple sacks on a single Warriors drive, said Coach Dan Loney.

Atascadero quarterback Michael Trejo had multiple touchdowns in the game, and Tyson Tenhaeff got the scoring started with a long kickoff return of about 80 yards that Loney called “awesome.”

“The coaches made some adjustments on offense, and we were able to move the ball consistently, and the kids did a great job of blocking and making big plays,” Loney said. “Jacob Perry made a huge catch to keep a drive alive. And the intensity kind of got flipped around.”

With the win, Atascadero (4-4, 2-1 Sunset) improves to a winning record in league.

“It was a total team effort, and it feels great,” Loney said. “It feels great. We talked about it at the beginning of the season. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. And we want to try to peak at the right time. The kids are starting to believe and come alive.”

The Greyhounds have one more league game remaining versus San Luis Obispo on Halloween night.

Atascadero hosts Morro Bay in a nonleague matchup on Friday.

Lompoc 42, Mission Prep 14

Mission Prep (3-5, 0-2 Mountain) made a push in the second half to pull within range of the Braves (6-2, 1-1 Mountain).

Aiden Shelton provided a spark for the Royals with a 65-yard touchdown run, and Jack Marsalek followed up with a 54-yard quarterback draw to pull Mission Prep within 28-14 in the third quarter.

The Royals were down 28-7 at the half, and their defense stepped up early in the second half to stall Lompoc’s offense.

But the relatively young Royals squad couldn’t keep the contest close down the stretch as the Braves intercepted a pass midway through the fourth as the Royals tried to mount a comeback, and Lompoc used a strong running attack to keep Mission Prep on its heels.

“With homecoming activities, the boys were doing a bunch of things all week, and it was my big worry going into the game about what the energy level was going to be,” said Mission Prep Coach David Schuster. “And after the first quarter, they kind of stabilized a little bit. But at that point, the damage had been done.”

Schuster said the season has been a learning curve for his young squad, and they’ll need to continue to work on details like proper receiver route runs and overall execution.

“We have playoffs ahead, which we’re excited about, and have a big week ahead with the Paso Robles game,” Schuster said. “There’s a lot of school energy for that one since it’s the closest to a local rivalry that we have this year.”

Mission Prep is at Paso Robles on Friday.

Morro Bay 50, Santa Maria 0

The Pirates (3-5, 1-2 Ocean) got their first league win of the season with an offensive outpouring fueled by six touchdowns from quarterback Sands Dougherty, as well as pitching a defensive shutout.

After recovering from a foot injury, Luca Macari had a rushing and receiving touchdown in the game.

“Luca has been banged up, so it’s nice to get him healthy again,” Morro Bay Coach Robert Dougherty said.

Dougherty said he was particularly pleased with the defensive effort, including the play of linebacker Merrick Smith, a transfer from Mission Prep.

“(Smith) really made a difference,” Dougherty said. “He’s really a good player. We really did well on the D-line, and shut down their running game. So that was refreshing to see for us since we’ve had trouble stopped people all year. Even though Santa Maria is struggling, they have moved the ball on a lot of teams, and they weren’t able to move the ball on us on the ground.”

With the victory, Morro Bay snapped a four-game losing streak. And the Pirates posted 50 points in a game for the second time this season after beating Lindsay 52-24 on Aug. 29.

“We needed to come out and play well,” Dougherty said. “We had a great week of practice and it paid off. Hopefully we can keep carrying on with the next couple of games and into the playoffs.”

Morro Bay is at Atascadero on Friday.

Nipomo 56, Cabrillo 35

The Titans (5-3, 2-0 Ocean) enjoyed a big scoring night to remain undefeated in Ocean League dating back to the 2024-25 season when they went 4-0 after moving over from Mountain.

Nipomo benefited from a balanced attack, including three rushing touchdowns from standout running back Nick Evans.

Troy Simonson hauled in two touchdown catches from quarterback Griffin Groshart, who also completed a touchdown pass to Travis Barr.

Barr added a pick-six touchdown in the third quarter to put the Titans up 48-28. Nipomo held a 28-21 halftime lead.

Jeremiah Wheeler also snagged a touchdown catch for the Titans.

Nipomo is on the road at Templeton on Friday.

This story was originally published October 17, 2025 at 11:50 PM.