ARROYO GRANDE - The Arroyo Grande defense's opening night of 2003 was a smash hit.

The first unit never allowed Shafter to get past the Eagles 48, the Eagles secondary picked off Generals quarterback Lucas Gonzales three times before halftime and Arroyo Grande defensive back Jason Wysong ran an interception back 20 yards for the first score in the Eagles' 38-6 win Friday night.

Wysong, Gil Buenrostro and Victor Garza each intercepted a pass. Justin Fibich blocked two punts, both of which set up scores, and Fibich recovered a fumble.

"This was a fun game to play in," said Arroyo Grande linebacker Danny Rohr.

Rohr did seem to enjoy himself out there. So did a lot of other Eagles defenders as they were allowing the Generals just 31 yards in the first half. Shafter had all of seven rushing yards at halftime and trailed 24-0 then.

"We just went over their offense pretty well," before the game, Rohr said. It paid off.

Arroyo Grande had 10 first-quarter points without a first down. Shortly after Wysong's interception return, Fibich set up Sal Gutierrez's 39-yard field goal with his first punt block.

Advertisement

Thanks to the Eagles defense, the offense had just two long scoring drives.

Quarterback Kyle Pollock capped those off with touchdown passes. He hung up a nice pass that Andy Northness did a good job to run under for a 24-yard score. That finished a 61-yard drive and accounted for the last score of the first half.

In the third quarter, Pollock delivered the ball just ahead of a big Shafter rush and Michael Arias got inside position on Shafter defensive back Marco Gutierrez, grabbed the ball near the goal line and scored. The 31-yard pass completed a 75-yard drive.

Shortly before that, Victor Garza's 29-yard interception return to the Shafter 36 set up Buenrostro's 5-yard touchdown run behind linemen Stephan Field, John Weinrich and Brandon Marshall.

Fibich's second punt block set up Buenrostro's 3-yard run for the last score of the game.

"Our defense played very well," said Arroyo Grande coach Jon Huss. "For a first game, it went well. We got to play everybody, and a lot of people carried the ball." The Eagles had 14 ballcarriers, to be exact.

Arroyo Grande punter Tommy Pace had a fine night. His punts went 46, 42 and 50 yards.

Eagles linebacker Brandon King and lineman Alek Grietens helped Arroyo Grande check Shafter's attack throughout. "The only film on them we'd seen was from last year," Grietens said. "So we didn't know what to expect - how many returnees they had and all that."

However, the Eagles were able to drill against Shafter's offense well enough in practice to prepare for what the hard-working but overmatched Generals had, Grietens said.

Besides, Wysong's interception return "was big," Grietens commented.

The score belied how well Shafter's defense played. Linemen Miguel Paramo, Hilario Urrea and Juan Zamudio, along with defensive back Travis Kroeker, helped the unit do a decent job against the Eagles attack most of the time.

The Eagles rushed for 203 yards, but they rushed 49 times to get that. Plus, Arias' 31-yard run in the second quarter helped Arroyo Grande up its average.

"With the amount of practice time we've had, you're only going to get the basics of the fly offense in," Huss said. "And with as disciplined and good a coaching staff as they have, they're going to be ready for what you're doing."

The Eagles have dedicated their season to former Arroyo Grande student Matt Huss, who passed away earlier this year. The Eagles play at Hueneme of Oxnard at 7 p.m. next Friday.

September 06, 2003