ARROYO GRANDE - Where Arroyo Grande's defense faltered in Friday night's homecoming game against Cabrillo at Hitchen Stadium, the defense more than made up, helping the Eagles to a 20-0 win.

"The defense really has great character," Eagle coach Jon Huss said. "We didn't help them out much (on offense) in the second half by moving the ball. The defense just bowed their backs and wouldn't let them into the end zone."

Holding onto the shutout after Arroyo Grande's Sal Gutierrez booted a 29-yard field goal, Cabrillo marched into Arroyo Grande's red zone one three long pass plays, two to Derrick James (19 and 18 yards) and one to Raphael McKinney (22 yards) to set up first and goal at the Eagles' 10-yard line.

A rush by quarterback Matt Hansen to the Eagles 2-yard line set up two runs by Via Taua for a total of 1 yard. On fourth and goal, Arroyo Grande's Brandon King stuffed Taua for no gain to keep Cabrillo out of the end zone.

The Eagles took over on downs and marched out to their own 13-yard line, when Andy Northness was flagged for an offensive pass interference penalty on third down, and the Eagles were forced to punt from their own 7-yard line.

Again, the Conquistadores went through the air to march to Arroyo Grande's 8-yard line, and a 3-yard sneak by Hansen gave Cabrillo first and goal at the Arroyo Grande 5-yard line.

Two straight rushes were stopped for no gain and two penalties pushed Cabrillo back to the Eagles' 27-yard line. On fourth and goal from the 27, Hansen completed a 16-yard pass to McKinney, but the Eagles took over on downs at their own 11-yard line with 2:36 left in the game.

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"That's what we take pride in," said Arroyo Grande defensive lineman Alek Grietens. "We call our goal-line stand 'goal-line pride.' In order to do that, we have to keep them out of the end zone."

Huss said having his defense keep the Conquistadores out of the end zone speaks volumes for the squad.

"Any one of those times were opportunities for (Cabrillo) to score," he said, "and our kids didn't let them come in and let the game close or even make it interesting."

On the ensuing possession, a 5-yard run by Eagle Andrew Hirsch on third-and-1 gave the Eagles a first down and the team ran out the clock to preserve their second shutout of the season, a 20-0 win.

The Eagles opened up the scoring in the first quarter when Gutierrez kicked a 30-yard field goal with 3:07 left in the quarter.

On Cabrillo's next possession, Taua was hit by Miles Apodaca who forced a fumble, and the ball was recovered by John Greig.

Three plays later, Michael Arias ran the ball in from 11 yards out to give the Eagles a 10-0 lead with 1:45 left in the opening frame after Gutierrez converted the point after.

The Eagles scored again when Arias capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive on a 2-yard touchdown run with 5:48 left in the half. Gutierrez's extra point gave the Eagles a 17-0 lead.

The Eagles final score came in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter on Gutierrez's 29-yard field goal.

For the Eagles, Arias led the team with 94 yards on 16 carries, Hirsch had 75 yards on 15 carries and Joey Renner added 53 yards on nine carries.

Huss said a return of Stephan Field on the offensive line helped out the running game.

"I found out that if we weren't going to concentrate, we could run the ball," he said. "We can always run it. We ran a lot behind Field and his trapping. He got back to playing right guard where he started the season and it really made a big difference out there."

Taua led Cabrillo with 28 yards on nine caries.

Through the air, Arroyo Grande quarterback Kyle Pollock went 5-for-11 for 64 yards and an interception. Northness caught all of Pollock's passes and finished with 64 yards.

Hansen threw for 142 yards in a 10-for-17 outing, with James catching 5 passes for 65 yards and McKinney catching three passes for 55 yards.

While the Eagles' defense played a hard fought game, Huss said the Eagles' offense suffered from a lighting delay before the game.

"We weren't in a rhythm," he said. "We got some rhythm early and came down and scored. We had really good warm-ups, but with the game delayed 45 minutes delayed, you can't keep it going."

He added the team needs to work on its offense inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

"I'm a little concerned with the way we handle ourselves in the red zone," he said. "All year we've had fumble exchanges and made errors, and that's going to hurt us. We need to address it very strongly. I'm going to have to evaluate and see what we can do."

Cabrillo falls to 3-5 overall and is at Los Padres League foe Santa Ynez next Friday.

The Eagles improve to 7-1 overall and travel to Atascadero next weekend for a PAC-5 game.

November 1, 2003