After the Arroyo Grande High School football team beat St. Joseph last Friday by scoring two late touchdowns, Eagles coach Jon Huss said he hoped that the confidence his team gained from a close victory would help it overcome its youth and inexperience at several key positions.

Huss didn't need to have long to see the fruits of that newly-found swagger. In Friday night's thrilling 21-19 victory over visiting Hanford, the Eagles once again made several big plays in the fourth quarter to hold off a gritty Bullpups squad and run their record to 2-1.

Before the season started, Huss wasn't sure about how long it would take for his team to gel into the cohesive unit that he needs it to be in order to challenge for its third straight PAC-5 championship. Based on Friday's performance, it would be wise to conclude that the Eagles are coming together at a rapid pace.

"There was a carry-over from last week to this week," Huss said. "The kids didn't panic and they didn't lose their confidence. We can learn from these close games, apply previous experiences to what we're doing now, recognize and respond."

Arroyo Grande did exactly that in the fourth quarter. After Hanford pulled to within two at 21-19 on an Aaron Horn 80-yard touchdown run with 11:38 remaining, the Eagles defense stopped the Bullpups on their next two offensive possessions to seal the victory.

Senior linebacker Thomas Bowdey stopped Hanford quarterback Zack Gray for no gain on a fourth-and-5 play from the Eagles' 16-yard line with six minutes remaining.

After Arroyo Grande's subsequent drive stalled at the Hanford 37, the Eagles allowed the Bullpups to march to their 47-yard line before forcing Gray to heave a long pass on fourth-and-14 that was intended for Horn, Hanford's top big-play threat, that was instead intercepted by senior cornerback DeAngelo Waller.

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The pick was Waller's second straight game-clinching interception; he took a St. Joseph pass 43 yards to the end zone with less than a minute left for the Eagles' final points last Friday.

"(On the Bullpups' last drive), we knew we had to avoid making mistakes," Waller said. "I was expecting that they were going to go to No. 34 (Horn), because he's their big-play guy. I was just trying to close on his side, and that's what I did. We're improving on offense and improving on defense. It's an ongoing process, because we're a young team and have guys playing at different positions. But we kept our composure, and we're starting to gel as a team."

The Eagles' offensive line certainly seemed to gel, especially in the first half as Arroyo Grande rode a punishing run attack. Senior zipback James Valez, who ran for 127 yards on six carries against St. Joseph, including a school-record 99-yard touchdown run, got the Eagles on the board first with a 31-yard touchdown run with 8:50 left in the first quarter.

After Hanford tied the score on a 21-yard touchdown reception by Justin Coon with 19 seconds left in the first half, Reade Lobdill regained the lead for Arroyo Grande with a 4-yard scoring run with 6:03 remaining in the third quarter.

After Coon struck again with a 32-yard touchdown reception on the Bullpups' next drive, Arroyo Grande made perhaps its biggest play of the game, blocking the extra-point attempt to keep a one-point lead at 14-13

The block meant that Hanford was forced to try for two after Horn's score, and Gray's pass sailed out of the end zone.

"Special teams are so important," said Valez, who ran for a career-high 202 yards on 18 carries. "It's such a big part of the game, and you have to control special teams to control the game. These close games are exciting until the very end, and definitely the most memorable. We just tried to keep on playing Eagle football."

Cabrillo 21, Pacifica 20

OXNARD - Quarterback Brian Gregory threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Troy Deleisseguis with 23 seconds left, then Casey Belluz kicked the extra point to cap a rally that helped the Conquistadores boost their record to 2-0-0.

Pacifica is 0-3-0.

The Conquistadores trailed 20-7 and Pacifica was driving when defensive end Steve De St. Jean recovered a Tritons fumble on the Cabrillo 35.

Vai Taua eventually scored from six yards out, and then the Conquistadores had their late-game heroics. Fullback De St. Jean scored Cabrillo's first touchdown on a 5-yard run.

Atascadero 49, St. Joseph 25

At Atascadero, the Knights trailed this non-league game throughout and dropped to 1-2-0. The Greyhounds squared their record at 1-1-0.

Atascadero led 21-19 at halftime and then pulled away.

Daniel Rudolph scored twice for the Knights, on an 85-yard kickoff return and a 35-yard pass from quarterback Brian McConkey. Philip Adam had two short touchdown runs for St. Joseph.

The Knights host Bishop Diego at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

SLO 24, Oxnard 7

The Tigers (1-1-1) nabbed their first win at the expense of the Yellowjackets (1-1-0).

San Luis Obispo went ahead for good on Stewart Hill's 1-yard run in the second quarter. Hill scored from 14 yards away later in the quarter.

Hill racked up a total of 108 yards on 22 carries.

Carpinteria 17, Nipomo 9

CARPINTERIA - Steve Brantingham boosted the Warriors (2-0-0) by passing for 130 yards and running for 129 more as Nipomo dropped to 0-2-0.

Nipomo led 9-7 in the second quarter thanks to Jamal Weathers' second quarter touchdown. Weathers, a 238-pound sophomore, led the Titans with 90 yards.

Sports Writer Kenny Cress contributed to this story.

Sept. 17, 2005