Knights give Eagles scare

Barney Ball was at its finest Friday at Al Maguire field.

St. Joseph completed a two-play touchdown drive when quarterback Casey Cathcart hit receiver Jacob Boster on a 53-yard passing play in the fourth quarter to pull the Knights within a point of Arroyo Grande in a non-league game.

Without hesitating, Knights' coach Barney Eames sent his offense back on the field to attempt a game-winning two-point conversion.

On the ensuing play, Cathcart pitched the ball to Brad Escobar on a sweep to the right, but Arroyo Grande linebacker William Nau read the play and stopped Escobar at the 4-yard line.

Eames said there was no doubt in his mind he'd try for the two-point play.

"We're the underdog; there is no overtime; and a tie is like kissing your sister. Why not just go for it? That's what we did."

Arroyo Grande coach Jon Huss said he wasn't surprised by the call.

"Barney does a great job," he said. "He's a great coach. He showed tremendous courage by going for two on that play to win it. That's the kind of guy he is."

Arroyo Grande was forced to punt on its next possession, and the Knights found themselves with another chance to pull out the game.

On third-and-11 from the St. Joseph 47-yard line, Cathcart threw a long pass to Boster that was tipped away by Arroyo Grande defensive back Jason Wysong.

The Knights turned the ball over with 1:09 remaining after the next play.

The Eagles' defense kept Arroyo Grande in the game, as the offense had a hard time getting going in the second half.

"All day we just tried to hit," Wysong said of the Eagles defense. "That's all we ever do. We just grinded them out. They were really good; they weren't the same St. Joe's team anybody thinks they are. They're way better."

Arroyo Grande got on the board first, marching 57 yards in 15 plays to set up a 27-yard field goal by Sal Gutierrez.

The Eagles struck again in the second quarter when Miles Apodaca carried the ball in on a 3-yard run, ending a 13-play, 80-yard drive.

St. Joseph cut the Eagles' lead before the half ended, as Sean Wolfe carried the ball in from three yards out with 55.6 seconds remaining in the half.

The Knights went three-and-out on their first drive in the second half, and Arroyo Grande answered on its next possession on a 9-yard carry by Michael Arias to put the Eagles up 17-7 after Sal Gutierrez converted the point-after.

Schweigert booted a 30-yard field goal with 1:51 remaining in the third quarter to cut the lead to 17-10.

Eames said he was impressed with the way the Knights refused to quit.

"I'm really happy with the way the kids hung in there," he said. "We got down in the game but never quit. We had a chance to win it at the end. It doesn't' get any better than that."

For St. Joseph, Cathcart finished the night 9-for-17 passing for 117 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Boster caught four passes for 104 yards.

Huss said Cathcart's play impressed him.

"He's a very good player," he said. "I told him, 'Welcome to the Central Coast.' He's fun to watch."

Cathcart also rushed for 30 yards on 10 carries, while Brad Escobar had 16 yards on seven carries.

For the Eagles, Arias carried the ball 12 times for 74 yards; Apodaca had 30 yards on five carries; Chad Brown had 28 yards on five carries; and Gil Buenrostro had 25 yards on six carries.

"Our kids played with a lot of heart," Eames said. "This was a great game. We played two real solid teams and this will do nothing but make us more prepared for the (Los Padres) League."

Dos Pueblos 37, Santa Maria 11

GOLETA - A 20-0 third quarter was more than enough for the Chargers (1-1) to pick up a non-league win over the Saints (0-2).

Billy Kennedy led the Saints with 58 yards rushing, while quarterback Kellen Moriarty led the Chargers with 84 yards on 13 carries.

Kicker Victor Velasco picked up where he left off for Santa Maria, hitting a 49-yard field goal in the second quarter.

In the Chargers' big third quarter, Moriarty ran for one score and threw for another

Kennedy scored the Saints' touchdown on a 5-yard run with 43 seconds left to play.

Pacifica 33, Nipomo 6

OXNARD - Pacifica (2-0) scored on an early 62-yard run less than three minutes into the game, and the Oxnard squad stayed in control the rest of the way.

Samm Spears threw a 6-yard touchdown pass for the Titans' score.

Pacifica is 2-0. Nipomo, in its first year of varsity football, is 1-1.

Nordhoff 21, Santa Ynez 6

SANTA YNEZ - This time the Rangers scored, and they dropped the Pirates to 0-2 by taking this non-league game.

Nordhoff battled Moorpark to a scoreless draw in its season opener last week.

Nordhoff scored first on Ryan Whitcomb's 6-ayrd pass to Josh Catlepp and never looked back. Santa Ynez drew within 7-6 when Brett Miller caught a 6-yar pass from Sean Hemming.

The Rangers rushed for 173 yards and held Santa Ynez to 67. The Pirates had 145 yards of total offense.

Morro Bay 51, Greenfield 0

MORRO BAY - Joe Garcia scored three times on 10-yard runs. He also scored from 31 and 29 yards out as the Pirates (2-0) won in a rout.

Morro Bay has outscored its opponents by a combined 79-0.

All suspense as to what the outcome would be was gone by halftime. Morro Bay led 30-0 then.

Garcia wound up with 161 yards on 15 carries. Morro Bay crunched along on the ground for 282 rushing yards.

San Marcos 21, Paso Robles 11

PASO ROBLES - The Royals (2-0) led 14-3 at halftime and then kept the Bearcats (1-1) at bay.

Pedro Desales scored on runs of 2 and 15 yards for the visitors. Vince Freitas kicked a 37-yard field goal to pull the Bearcats within 7-3 in the second quarter.

Desales had 83 yards on 16 carries. Freitas was the leading rusher in the game with 87 yards on 15 rushes.

SLO 52, Oxnard 18

SAN LUIS OBISPO - Evan O'Reilly scored on runs of 25 and 7 yards in the first quarter and the Tigers (1-1) were off to the races.

Oxnard dropped to 0-2.

O'Reilly racked up 145 yards on just nine carries. The Yellowjackets could not threaten after the second quarter even though they had 225 yards rushing.

Atascadero 7, Salinas 6

SALINAS - The Greyhounds (2-0) stayed unbeaten thanks to a stout defense and kicker Todd Conts' conversion kick.

Salinas scored on a 16-yard pass, but the two-point conversion pass failed.

Salinas lost despite outgaining the Greyhounds 272-121. Weston Kelly led Greyhounds rushers with 41 yards on 12 carries.

Sept. 20, 2003