Templeton, AG win to move on to CIF playoff semis. SLO, Nipomo, Morro Bay fall

Two San Luis Obispo County teams remain in CIF-Central Section football playoffs, advancing in their respective divisions.

Continuing its magical season, Templeton remained undefeated at 11-0, beating Coalinga at home.

Across the county, Arroyo Grande overpowered Garces Memorial, of Bakersfield, to advance and tally the Eagles’ sixth straight victory.

Hitting the road, San Luis Obispo and Nipomo both fell in lopsided games as their seasons ended.

Templeton 40, Coalinga 14

Templeton entered the playoffs undefeated and coming off a bye week, and the Eagles showed no signs of slowing down in a 40-14 win Friday night over defending Division 4 champion Coalinga. The matchup was a rematch of their regular-season meeting, and the Eagles once again came out on top.

“It’s really hard to beat a team twice,” coach Don Crow said.

Coalinga struck first, capitalizing on a 62-yard return that created prime field position and set up a four-yard rushing score. For the first time in weeks, Templeton found itself playing from behind.

On the kickoff that followed, the Horned Toads kept the ball away from Templeton’s usual return threat, Tyler Cunningham, angling it toward the sideline. The strategy worked briefly, bottling up the return and giving the Eagles a long field.

However, the Eagles made their way down the field and Cunningham punched in a 3-yard rushing touchdown, though a missed PAT kept them trailing. Early in the second quarter, Cunningham broke loose for a 17-yard touchdown that gave Templeton its first lead of the night. It was a lead the Eagles never lost.

Coalinga’s offense never regained its opening-drive spark. Multiple fourth-down attempts fell short, handing Templeton valuable field position throughout the first half. The Eagles scored on nearly every possession in the first half, except one that ended in an interception. They quickly erased that mistake when Colter Tannehill found Ethan Armet for a 48-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 20-7.

The defining moment of the first half came in its final seconds. Coalinga reached the 1-yard line with a chance to cut the deficit, but Templeton’s defense held firm and stuffed the Horned Toads at the goal line. Coalinga scrambled to get off another snap but couldn’t beat the clock, sending Templeton into halftime up two touchdowns and carrying all the momentum.

Coming into the second half, Coalinga finally forced Templeton’s first punt of the game, a brief break in what had otherwise been a one-sided offensive showing.

​However, the run game that Templeton flashed in the first half didn’t slow down. If anything, it grew even more dominant. With Coalinga sitting in deep coverage and daring the Eagles to run, Templeton leaned fully into its strength.

“​They completely changed their defense tonight,” Crow said. “The first game there, we threw the ball on them. Tonight they played this really deep coverage, so we were able to run the ball.”

​The offensive line kept carving out lanes, and the backs kept finding them, turning simple plays into steady gains and long drives.

Templeton stayed committed to the ground game all night. Two more rushing touchdowns came in the second half, one on a keeper by Tannehill and another on a 16-yard burst from Nick Capaci. Cunningham, who led the ground game the entire night, found the end zone in both halves and set the tone with his physical running style.

“It feels like it’s a different team,” Cunningham said of the offensive line’s growth from the start of the season to now. “They work so hard to get better every week, in the weight room, on the field, and it’s been amazing.”

While the offense controlled the game on the ground, the defense matched that effort with its own. The Eagles held Coalinga to only 73 rushing yards and shut down any chance of a second-half comeback.

Any hope of a second-half push disappeared as the Eagles continued to win the line of scrimmage and force Coalinga into difficult downs.

“We won the turnover battle and the defense made the plays they needed to make,” Crow said.

The victory sends Templeton into the Division 4 semifinals against North, carrying an undefeated record and plenty of momentum into the matchup.

“When you get to the final four, everybody’s good,” Crow’s message was to his team after their win. “How good do we want to be?” he added.

No. 1 Templeton hosts No. 4 North on Friday in the Division 4 semifinals.

Arroyo Grande 42, Garces Memorial 29

The Eagles (8-4) scored each of their six touchdowns on the ground, putting the Rams’ defense on its heels behind powerful front-line blocking.

Arroyo Grande spread the wealth with two touchdowns apiece for star runners Zack Tayman and Caleb Clark.

Tayman dashed for a touchdown of more than 99 yards to put the Eagles’ first points on the board; he followed up with a 41-yard touchdown run as Garces Memorial had little answer for the Eagles front line.

“Our team in general is peaking at the right time in the season,” said Eagles Coach Stephen Field. “There’s confidence in all three phases of the game. Our leaders are leading, and we’re playing well.”

Arroyo Grande held a 21-8 halftime lead in the Division 2 quarterfinal.

Miles Thompson and Israel Heredia each also scored a rushing touchdown in the contest.

The Eagles held on to their lead by securing the ball on three consecutive onside kicks attempted by the Rams (7-5).

“We’re proud of our guys,” Field said. “The defense played well. They put pressure on the quarterback and put them in some tough positions, and our offense was able to control the ball and put more points on the board than they did.”

Relying on its successful run game, the Eagles only attempted one pass in the game.

No. 4 Arroyo Grande hits the road to take on No. 1 Tulare Union next Friday in the Division 2 semifinal matchup.

“That will be a challenge for us, but we’ve had two long road trips this year, so we’ll be ready to go,” Field said.

Immanuel 32, Nipomo 7

The No. 7 Titans (7-5) fell on the road in Reedley to the No. 2 team in Division 4.

Griffin Groshart connected with receiver Adam Ortega for Nipomo’s only touchdown.

Titans Coach Russ Edwards said the team spent some time on the field after the game reflecting on the season.

“We talked about the season and how much the group improved and the journey that they took together and how they stayed together and worked hard together all year,” Edwards said. “We’re really proud of them, and it was a really good year.”

The Titans had a tough time establishing the inside run game, their coach said.

“Their blockers were by far the best inside foursome that we’ve seen all year,” Edwards said. “They were big. They were physical. They really controlled the line of scrimmage. So it was tough sledding to really establish the inside run stuff we like to do. We hung in there and we battled. But they’re a really good team.”

Edwards said the Titans will lose some key seniors to graduation, including running back Nick Evans, who ran for over 2,000 yards. Groshart and linebacker Jacob Galdsbury, the team’s other two captains along with Evans, also were key seniors on this year’s squad.

“We’ll be graduating quite a few really strong seniors and guys who have been three-year varsity football players and leaders for our group,” Edwards said. “But we’re really excited about the guys we got coming back, and we had a 10-0 JV team this year. We had 12 of those sophomores up with us for the playoff run, and those guys all look like they’re ball players. So we’re very excited for the future and the guys we’re bringing back next year.”

Redwood 54, San Luis Obispo 0

In the second round of the Division II playoffs, San Luis Obispo fell hard to Redwood 54-0. The Tigers were unable to get on the scoreboard and fell behind early. They trailed by three touchdowns by the end of the first quarter.

“They worked really hard and put in a good week of work,” coach Pat Johnston said. “And it just didn’t quite end up the way we had expected or hoped for.”

A fast start from Redwood put SLO in a hole they were never able to climb out of, and defensively, the Tigers couldn’t match Redwood’s pace or physicality.

“They played sound defense and played physical, and we just weren’t able to match that physicality,” Johnston said.

At halftime, the Tigers tried to adjust by putting the ball in the air, but the gap was too large. The passing game offered some spark, but it wasn’t enough to find the end zone or make up the ground they needed.

Despite the loss that ended their season, Johnston said he’s proud of how the team grew over the past few months.

This season, SLO secured back-to-back Sunset league titles for the first time in 25 years. The last time SLO won consecutive league titles was in 2000, when the program went undefeated in the Northern League.

“They’ve accomplished so much, and they should be really proud of everything that they got done this year,” Johnston added.

Liberty 41, Morro Bay 27

The Pirates’ season came to an end versus No. 1 Liberty, of Madera, on the road in Division 5.

No. 9 Morro Bay completed a lateral from Sands Dougherty to a receiver who bombed a long touchdown throw of his own for the Pirates’ first score. Morro Bay had three passing touchdowns, including two from Dougherty, who came into the game with more than 3,800 yards passing and 42 touchdowns.

The Pirates (4-8) recovered a fumble for a touchdown in the final minute of the game.

But ultimately, Morro Bay’s season came to an end.

Anthony Campanario and Trevor Riddiough each tallied more than 1,000 yards receiving on the season.

This story was originally published November 15, 2025 at 12:07 AM with the headline "Templeton, AG win to move on to CIF playoff semis. SLO, Nipomo, Morro Bay fall."