High school football kicks off with wins for SLO, Arroyo Grande and Morro Bay
Two San Luis Obispo County teams faced off in the first week of the 2023 season with San Luis Obispo High winning 38-7 over Nipomo in nonleague action.
It was one of five games involving local teams as high school football got under way across San Luis Obispo County.
Arroyo Grande and Morro Bay also posted season-opening wins, while Paso Robles and Mission Prep lost.
Looking dominant from the start, the Tigers benefited from the return of go-to playmakers in junior quarterback Jace Gomes and running back Isaiah Hernandez, also a junior.
Hernandez, a 6-foot-tall, 230-pound power runner, scored two first quarter 3-yard rushing touchdowns to set the tone in a blowout.
Hernandez said he felt healthy, coming off a year in which he hurt himself the first game of the season and played a handful of additional contests not knowing the extent of his injury. Hernandez missed the last half of the 2022 season.
The Tigers added scores on a pick-6 from Chance Evans in the second quarter, along with a 21-yard field goal from Ben Oetman. Finnigan Hickey dashed for a 85-yard kick return to open the third. And Michael Milner added a 46-yard rushing score in the second half.
“It’s always nice when you can get a win in front of your friends and family at home, but also be able to identify a lot of things that you feel like you can improve on and get back to work tomorrow to correct those things,” said SLO head coach Pat Johnston. “I’m proud of our guys for coming out with an intent to play some polished football. I wish we would have had fewer penalties, but overall they were pretty good.”
Nipomo is hoping to rebound this season from an 0-10 record (0-7, Mountain) in 2022. The smaller South County school is pitted against many much larger school teams in the Mountain League.
“I have absolutely no doubt that (Nipomo Coach Stephen) Field is getting those guys going,” Johnston said. “We’ve known each other a long time. He was my college teammate at Cal Poly, in the same recruiting class. He’s an amazing person and a really good football coach. His players are buying into what he’s selling. They’re going to see some really bright days in the near future.”
Blayne Lowry had a 19-yard rushing score to put Nipomo on the board in the third quarter, but that was the extent of the Titans’ scoring.
Both teams have returning quarterbacks in Gomes (SLO) and sophomore Griffin Groshart (Nipomo). Showing improvement over his freshman campaign, Groshart was sharp on some passes throughout the game but had some shaky throws as well, including two interceptions, the other picked off by Isaiah Hopkins.
Hernandez, who averaged 148 yards per game rushing last season before sitting out the last half, showed his strength in long runs while dragging along Titan tacklers.
“I like I like our team. I like the strength we have,” Hernandez said. “Every team has a weakness, but we’re going to work around that. We’re going find a way to get through those weaknesses.”
The Tigers are coming off of a 8-3 record in 2022 in which they went 5-1 in Ocean League, matching Atascadero’s 5-1 record atop the league.
Next up, San Luis Obispo hosts Caruthers on Aug. 25 while Nipomo plays Cabrillo.
Kingsburg 59, Paso Robles 21
Ashton Murphy had a kickoff return for a touchdown to put the Bearcats ahead 6-0 to start the game.
But Paso Robles was down 31-14 by halftime and lost on the road to its Tri-County League opponent.
Paso Robles next faces Atascadero on Sept. 1.
Bakersfield Christian 13, Mission Prep 8
The Royals lost in a defensive battle while showing toughness in their home opener at Cal Poly’s Spanos Stadium, their coach said.
“We played some incredible defensive football and we were very physical,” said Mission Prep head coach David Schuster. “We had a number of botched snaps and some bad execution on offense. But I’m deeply proud of this very young team that played so physical. It was a dogfight, and we had an opportunity to win.”
Schuster said that Connor Lopez was “all over the field” and energized the defense, along with safety Ronnie Kardashian and defensive back Drew Harrigan, who limited Bakersfield Christian’s passing attack.
The score came on a trick play involving a backwards bounced pass that Thomas Glenn completed to Luke Terry.
The game was the Royals’ first home contest played in Cal Poly’s stadium, where Mission Prep will play its home games this season. And Schuster said it was “great atmosphere with a ton of people from Mission and from Bakersfield Christian” who came out to support their teams in a college venue.
Mission Prep next faces Bishop Diego on Aug. 25.
Arroyo Grande 44, Golden West 33
The Eagles got off to a hot start with a home win over their opponent from Visalia.
Arroyo Grande was up 17-6 at the half, but Golden West narrowed the gap to 24-21 at the end of the third quarter before the Eagles pulled away for good in the fourth.
“We spread the scoring around,” said Eagles Coach Mike Hartman. “We’re tired of hitting ourselves after scrimmaging within our own squad to get ready for the season. We were ready to play another team. For some of our guys, it was the first varsity football game and they played hard together. We’ll come back, watch the film and face a tough opponent in Clovis East next week.”
For the Eagles, Drake Missamore had a rushing touchdown, Jonathon Aguilar kicked a field goal, and Bohdan Armstrong had a rushing touchdown. Caleb Clark had a receiving touchdown, and Junior Herlihy had two touchdowns, a rushing score and a pick-6.
Arroyo Grande next faces Clovis East on Aug. 25.
Morro Bay 38, Foothill 0
The Pirates won big, including a touchdown pass from Sands Dougherty, who completed the throw to Manny Diaz in the home, non-league contest.
Morro Bay next faces Mt. Whitney on Aug. 25.
