Arroyo Grande, SLO, Atascadero post football playoff wins as 5 local teams advance

Five local teams advanced to the second route of the CIF Central Section playoffs on Friday. Arroyo Grande picked up a win over Clovis West while SLO, Nipomo, Atascadero and Morro Bay all moved on..

Mission Prep and Templeton’s seasons came to a close after losses to Immanuel and North of Bakersfield.

Arroyo Grande 27, Clovis West 22

The Eagles made their mark with the run game and their physicality in a home win. They controlled the possession game and whittled down the clock.

But sometimes the Eagles needed a big play to secure a first down or an explosive play for a touchdown. Caleb Clark provided that element for No. 4 Arroyo Grande (9-2, 4-0) in their first round playoff matchup against No. 5 Clovis West in Division I-A.

The junior receiver scored a career-high four touchdowns in the Eagles 27-22 win over Clovis West.

“With him it’s a mindset,” head coach Mike Hartman said. “He worked extremely hard in the weight room like all our guys do. We’ve talked about that in the past, and he’s not a small guy.”

After the first drive, the Eagles coached urged Clark to run over defenders. Clark uses his speed to break through gaps and find room to run, but he used his strength and size to break tackles and gain yardage. Every time the Eagles needed a conversion, Clark received a handoff in the backfield and made a play, even when the defense knew it was coming.

He scored with seven minutes left in the first quarter when he received a swing pass going left, and he broke up the sideline. In the second quarter, he got outside the defense on the right and ran 34 yards for the score to put the Eagles up 14-0.

Clovis West scored on a run up the middle from receiver and wildcat quarterback Michael Espinoza to cut the lead to 14-8., but the Golden Eagles continuously had self inflicted errors throughout the game. Midway through the second quarter, a ball from Clovis West quarterback JJ Howard sailed over the receivers hands and right to safety Noah Webber.

Webber finished the game with two interceptions and a fumble recovery after coming up with another cough-up in the second half when the ball popped into the air.

The Golden Eagles moved the ball down field with a strong pass and run game, but penalties and turnovers hurt them on key drives.

In the second half, the Eagles were faced with a crucial third down. Clark lined up in the backfield and slapped his own helmet before receiving the handoff and busting through the line of scrimmage.

The Golden Eagles got a stop on Arroyo Grande, but Webber’s fumble recovery set up a big run by Clark where he knocked over a defender and ran the ball through the middle to go up 20-8.

But Clovis West wouldn’t go away. Another touchdown from the Golden Eagles cut the score 20-15, and the momentum was on their side.

However, Webber’s second interception and third takeaway of the game shifted things back in favor for Arroyo Grande.

Once again, Clark broke free from the defense and scored another long run for his fourth touchdown of the night. The Golden Eagles scored a touchdown with a minute remaining, but the Eagles recovered the onside kick and held on for the win.

After winning league, the Eagles were rewarded with a home game, even though Clovis West was the higher rated team in the state.. While the Golden Eagles didn’t win a league game, they play in one of the toughest league in the Central Section.

Hartman admitted Clovis West was a “physically talented team,” and had a higher CIF ranking, but the Eagles disciplined style of play allowed them to capitalize on the Golden Eagles errors.

“In playoffs, you earn another week,” Hartman said. “That was our message all week. If you don’t want this to be your last Monday practice, or Tuesday practice, or Wednesday morning lift, we have to earn that.”

Arroyo Grande next faces No. 1 seed Bakersfield on Friday in the second round of playoffs.

Atascadero 21, Liberty 14

Atascadero is no stranger to comeback wins. The No. 5 Greyhounds did it once again versus No. 12 Liberty in the Division V playoffs.

After being down at halftime 14-7, the Greyhounds (6-5, 3-1) held Liberty scoreless and score two touchdowns of their own.

Josiah Gaona had a receiving touchdown from quarterback Michael Trejo. Joseph Hyde punched the ball in for a three-yard score. Trejo scored on the ground himself on a 19-yard scamper.

When asked about the difference between the first and second half, head coach Dan Loney said the team “started blocking better up front and kids took it upon themselves to do better as blockers and do the assignments to get done.”

“The kids were nervous at the get go, but settled down in the second half,” he said.

The Greyhounds have been hampered by injuries throughout the season, but the program has an inherent resilience passed down to each team.

Next week, the Greyhounds face a familiar foe in Morro Bay. The Pirates beat Atascadero 54-34 on Oct. 25.

Loney described the matchup as a “cat and mouse game.”

“Can we hide coverages? Can we exploit their weaknesses on defense?” the Greyhounds’ coach said.

San Luis Obispo 26, Highland 8

The No. 6 Tigers (10-1) reached double-digit wins for the seventh time in school history with a commanding victory at home over the No. 11 Scots (6-5) from Bakersfield in the Division 2 CIF-Central Section bracket.

SLO secured a 23-0 halftime lead and forced multiple turnovers versus Highland, which Tigers’ coach Pat Johnston called a “good team, physical and fast.”

“We knew we were going to have to play well to beat them,” Johnston said. “Our defense played outstanding again and didn’t give up a touchdown until the fourth quarter.”

The Tigers held an opponent to under 10 points for the eighth time this season (including five shutouts during the regular season).

Senior quarterback Jace Gomes initiated the scoring with a 27-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, followed by Jacob Garcia’s three-yard scoring run with two minutes to go in the half.

Then with a minute to go in the half, Highland snapped the ball over the kicker’s head on a punt and SLO took advantage with a safety, followed by a Gomes’ 16-yard fade touchdown pass to Cody Johnston with 30 seconds to go to give SLO a 23-0 lead before the half, after gaining good field position.

SLO kicker Aidan Dellinger drilled a 22-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to make it 26-0 before the Tigers yielded the loan score.

The Tigers also blocked a field goal, marking multiple times this season SLO has thwarted an attempted kick through the uprights, and recovered two fumbles.

“When you win the turnover battle, you’re obviously giving yourself a better chance to win the game,” Johnston said. “We’re really proud of the guys that they’ve fought the way they have this whole season.”

Johnston said they just got the film to study Central Valley Christian (6-4), of Visalia, the No. 3-seed, whom they’ll face on the road.

“I already got some film just sent to me pretty much right after our game was done, so we’re going take a good look, and make our best plan,” Johnston said.

Mission Prep 21, Immanuel 22

The No. 12 Royals season comes to an end following what was described as a “war” against No. 5 Immanuel in the Division IV bracket. Head coach David Schuster said him and the Immanuel coach are very close, which led to a battle of similar playstyles.

Mission Prep finished with a 4-7 record and 1-3 in the Mountain League.

“it was just a defensive slug fest, because both teams know each other just so well. You know, we have all the same calls and stuff, and it turned into each team down to try to find something that could work against the other team that we weren’t really planning for,” Schuster said.

Senior Jayden Nozil ended his high school career on a high note with three touchdowns. Schuster described Nozil’s plays “highlight reel catches.”

Both teams like to run the ball but no team could find a rhythm with their inside run game.

Immanuel scored the ball and were down one point, but went for two points on the point after attempt to take lead. The Royals went on one last drive, but the series ended on an interception.

“I was very thankful that the boys played well tonight,” Schuster said. “It’s hard to explain unless you were there, but tonight was an absolute war. The kids played spectacular football. Even though we lost, they had their finest moment. And I was thankful that they finished on such a high note.”

Schuster said his team faced injuries throughout the season. Against Immanuel, they started four freshmen.

“The reality is I probably scheduled too hard for for just kind of where we’re at with the roster,” Schuster said. “We had a lot of kids that got hurt. The injuries didn’t really stop all year, and as the season progressed, they just continued to get worse.”

Schuster added: “I’m very proud of the resiliency that this team showed. You know, it would have been very easy for the kids to just turn around and tap out and end the season, but they never, they never stopped fighting. They battled the whole way.

Templeton 13, North of Bakersfield 30

Templeton’s season ended after a loss to North in Bakersfield in the Division IV playoffs.

The No. 8 Stars got on the board first with a run, but the No. 9 Eagles (5-6, 3-1) responded with a touchdown in the second quarter. But the Stars scored two touchdowns without an Eagles’ response to build a 23-6 lead and extended it to 30 points in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles managed one more score late in the fourth quarter.

Templeton finished the season at 5-5 and a second place finish in the Ocean League.

Morro Bay 35, Reedley 28

The Pirates high-powered offensive attack helped them jump out to a lead over Reedley.

Quarterback Sands Doughtery, who has one of the top yardage marks in the country, found receiver James Nickel three times and Ryder Busch for one score. Colton Janovec scored a rushing touchdown.

“We’ve been throwing the ball really well,” head coach Robert Dougherty said. “We have a lot of good receivers to catch the ball well, so we’ve been kind of hanging our hat on throwing the ball.”

However, due to their small roster size, the team is more susceptible to injuries, but if the Pirates can stay healthy, they have the potential to go on a playoff run.

“We’ve been preaching to our team if we get to the playoffs healthy that we can be a dangerous team,” Dougherty said.

In order, to make that run, the Pirates will need to beat Ocean League opponent Atascadero next week.

Nipomo 26, Independence 21

No. 10 Nipomo took an early lead over No.7 Independence and held on to move to the second round of playoffs in a road game.

The Titans (6-4-1, 4-0) haven’t lost a game since Oct. 11 and are continuing to roll.

Blayne Lowry had multiple passing scores in the win.

Nipomo next faces Madera on Friday.