High school football: Mission Prep beats Paso Robles as SLO, Morro Bay and Nipomo win

In the ninth week of San Luis Obispo county high school football, league play is winding down as teams prepare for playoffs.

On Friday, Mission Prep picked up its first league win over Paso Robles, and Morro Bay pounded Atascadero in a high-scoring affair.

San Luis Obispo continued to roll, while Nipomo squeaked out a three-point win against Templeton and Arroyo Grande fell on the road in a non-league matchup.

Mission Prep 26, Paso Robles 16

On Mission Prep’s senior night, the Royals jumped out to a 26-0 lead over Paso Robles after junior running back Ronnie Kardashian scored four touchdowns in the first half.

It was a major victory for the Royals (4-5, 1-2 Mountain), who were looking for their first win in the Mountain League. Paso Robles now falls to 2-7 and 0-3 in league play.

The Royals have gone through many changes over the course of the year, including roster turnover from last season, injuries and having a quarterback battle in the middle of the season.

“It’s been a process of discovery all year, and it’s gone much longer than I really wanted it to be,” Head Coach David Schuster said. “Things have happened the way they have, and I’m proud of the resilience of the team.”

Schuster called this past week of practice, the “best preparation” he’s seen all year.

“It felt like us for the first time all year,” Schuster said.

The Royals will graduate 15 seniors, including their five captains Armen Clayton, Champ Morrisey, Vinny Orlando, Jayden Nozil and Carter Mierau.

At the start of the game, the Royals seniors made plays to set up their offense.

Clayton blocked a punt in the first quarter, which set up Kardashian’s first touchdown run of the night.

On a later drive in the first half, Mierau recovered a fumble. Orlando then found Nozil down the right sideline, where he made the grab over two defenders. Kardashian finished off the drive with another touchdown run to go up 13-0.

Kardashian’s third and fourth touchdowns came in the second quarter, including one score where he shredded multiple Bearcats’ defenders.

In the second half, receiver Elijah Lambert scored for the Bearcats. Linebacker Matthias Willis forced a fumble a few drives later, but the Royals defense halted them.

In the fourth quarter, Mission Prep made a goal line stand on the 1-yard line in a fourth down situation to prevent the score.

However, the Bearcats stayed in it after they forced and recovered another fumble. But then a minute later, Morrissey got the Royals defense a stop on an interception.

With time running down, Jonathan Druding scored on a run before quarterback Marcus Garcia converted the two-point conversion. The Bearcats attempted an onside kick, but it failed.

“We had to play a little left-handed,” Bearcats Head Coach Matt Carroll said. “They came out in a defense we were ready for, but it isn’t what we’ve seen all year.”

The Bearcats still have playoff hopes but need a win next week to solidify their chances.

For the Royals, staying healthy for a long playoff run is their goal the rest of the season.

“We got to manage the roster a lot differently than everybody else and try to keep everybody on the field in the best way possible,” Schuster said.

Paso Robles finishes the regular season at home against Lompoc on Friday, while Mission Prep hosts Arroyo Grande.

Morro Bay 56, Atascadero 34

Morro Bay’s John Myers had three touchdown receptions, totaling around 200 yards, in a big offensive outpouring as the Pirates (4-5, 1-2 Ocean) took down Atascadero (5-4, 3-0 Sunset) at home.

Pirates quarterback Sands Dougherty accounted for three rushing touchdowns and the three scoring air connections with Myers.

Morro Bay’s Colton Janovec notched a scoring run. Dustin Davis recovered a fumble and took it to the house for a touchdown. James Nickel added a two-point conversion run.

Morro Bay came into the game averaging 31.2 points per game and nearly doubled that point total after leading 21-14 at the half. The game was knotted at 21-21 early in the third before the Pirates pulled away.

Atascadero wraps up the regular season at San Luis Obispo on Friday, while Morro Bay hosts Nipomo.

San Luis Obispo 42, Santa Ynez 9

The Tigers (8-1, 3-0 Sunset) remained undefeated in league after rattling off their sixth straight win this season with a victory over the Pirates (3-6, 1-2 Sunset), setting themselves up for a league title opportunity next week against Atascadero, which is also 3-0 in league play.

San Luis Obispo got out to a 35-9 lead at halftime with a well-balanced offense.

“We’ve battled some injuries early in the season, but we’ve been staying relatively healthy of late, and the guys are stepping up and doing a good job,” said Tigers Coach Pat Johnston.

Johnston added: “Our coaching staff has been working really hard to come up with the best game plans possible. But in the end, players play the game, and they perform when the moment is there. And they’ve been just doing a really good job of defaulting to their training and trusting themselves.”

In the road win, SLO’s Abel Ritter had two touchdown catches from quarterback Jace Gomes, Colbin Garrison had two rushing touchdowns, Jacob Garcia added a rushing score, and Ethan Guilford rushed for a score as well.

“Our defense has been playing really well as of late,” Johnston said. “(Santa Ynez quarterback Jude Pritchard) is a heck of a player, who’s pretty special with the ball in his hands. So just keeping their explosive plays to a minimum was a goal that we had going into the game, and we were able to do that for the most part.”

Johnston said the team is excited to have the opportunity to play for a Sunset League title next week versus Atascadero.

“It’s championship game next week, and the winner will be the Sunset League champs,” Johnston said. “We’re excited to have that opportunity to do that at home.

Salinas 34, Arroyo Grande 24

Arroyo Grande took a break from league play to travel to Salinas, where the Eagles (7-2, 3-0) fell to the Cowboys 34-24.

Head Coach Mike Hartman said the Cowboys were a high-tempo team that forces opponents to tackle in space.

“No local teams wants to play us, so we have to go outside of our section to find non-league games at this point in season, so you have to play good clubs like Salinas,” Hartman said.

However, a strong late season matchup helps the team prepare for playoffs.

Zack Tayman had two rushing touchdowns. Caleb Clark added another rushing score. Kicker Dustin Reed converted a field goal.

Going into next Friday, the Eagles will look to defend their week title against Mission Prep.

Templeton 14, Nipomo 17

Troy Simonson had a big sack on a fourth-down play to seal the win for the Titans (4-4-1, 2-0 Ocean) over Templeton (4-5, 2-1 Ocean).

Nipomo Coach Stephen Field said his team played well in each of the facets of the game and still had to scrap to beat a strong Templeton team.

“We barely squeaked through that one with the win tonight,” Field said. “Hats off to them. We respect them, and we’re extremely, extremely happy to be able to beat a very good football team.”

Nipomo gave up a possession on downs around midfield in the final minutes of the game, and Templeton then marched downfield to try to take the lead for good.

“They were near the red zone,” Field said. “They were marching down to score, and we backed up the quarterback a little bit, and then sacked them on fourth down, and then he fumbled the ball. We recovered, took a knee, and the game was over.”

Simonson, a sophomore, made the hit that sealed the game with the forced fumble, Field said.

Nipomo’s scoring came from a 32-yard touchdown pass from Blayne Lowry to Ayden Benzon, a 1-yard run by Nick Evans and a 31-yard field goal by senior kicker J.D. Zarate.

Templeton faces Cabrillo at home on Friday. Nipomo travels to Morro Bay on Friday.