Senior tailback Stacey Cannon sat out the Arroyo Grande High football team's first-round CIF Division IV playoff game against Santa Monica on Friday night with an injured ankle.

Entering the game, Eagles coach Jon Huss knew he had to make some adjustments on offense to give his team another vertical threat to complement zipback James Valez.

In the Eagles' convincing 27-10 win over the Vikings at Doug Hitchen Stadium, senior DeAngelo Waller was that extra vertical threat the team desperately needed.

Waller started at his customary wide receiver position, but rotated with Valez at zipback, a crucial spot in the Eagles' wing-T offense. Waller touched the ball only four times on offense, but racked up 53 rushing yards, scored one critical touchdown and was three feet from scoring another.

“We've tried DeAngelo at Z-back on and off this season, but it didn't seem right to put extra pressure on him,” Huss said. “This week, we wanted him in there so James wouldn't get worn down. His work ethic in practice this week was motivating to all of us.”

Added Valez, who helped Waller learn the nuances of the position: “DeAngelo had to learn so much stuff, and it was amazing that he was able to accomplish what he did. He really stepped up.”

With the win, the Eagles (8-2) advance to the second round of the CIF playoffs for the first time in four years and will travel to take on Moorpark next Friday.

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“It'll be good to be practicing on Thanksgiving,” Huss said. “When (current Nipomo head coach) Jon Hitchen was here, he talked about how important it was to be practicing on Thanksgiving, and now we're there.

“We've left (the playoffs) early the last couple years, and it's been disappointing. You never want your season to end here.”

With the Eagles down 7-3 toward the end of the first quarter, Waller took a handoff from quarterback Matt Lynch from Santa Monica's 20-yard line and took it to the 1-yard line, and on the next play Keilah Crichton scored to give Arroyo Grande a 10-7 advantage.

On the Eagles' next possession, Waller scored from 29 yards out on an identical play call, giving Arroyo Grande a 17-7 lead with 5:21 left in the first half.

“I was happy (when I heard that I'd be playing zipback),” Waller said. “I just want to get the ball, and we're not exactly a passing team. I want to do anything to help the team. The coaches made a play card that I had on my wrist, so (the adjustment) was easy. After the first run, I thought this is going to be easy, and after the second I thought I could do this all day.”

While Waller's big plays gave the Eagles a first-half lead, the team's defense was responsible for holding onto that lead in the second half.

The Vikings, down 17-7 at halftime, marched to Arroyo Grande's 5-yard line on their first possession of the third quarter. But the Eagles stuffed a run for a loss of three yards and forced an incomplete pass, and after Santa Monica was flagged for an illegal substitution, kicker Jordan Rosenheck missed a 33-yard field goal that would have brought the Vikings to within a touchdown.

The rest of Santa Monica's second-half possessions ended in a field goal, a punt, an interception and a turnover on downs.

“We really stepped up at the goal line,” said Eagles linebacker Reade Lobdill, who recorded the game-clinching pick with about eight minutes left. “We take a lot pride in our goal-line defense. Our intensity increases, and everyone comes out wanting to make a play. When they missed that field goal, that was a dagger (in their hearts).”

Arroyo Grande finished the scoring in the fourth quarter with a Joe Cozby 36-yard field goal, his second of the game, and a Valez 18-yard touchdown run.

The Eagles' defense played outstanding after allowing a 61-yard touchdown pass from Vikings quarterback Ryan Katz to wideout Jason Thompson on Santa Monica's first play from scrimmage in the first quarter.

Katz threw for just 126 yards after the touchdown pass, and running back E.J. Woods ran for 96 yards but wasn't allowed to make a lot of big plays in decisive situations to keep drives going.

“Our defense has come a long way since our first loss of the year to Madera,” said Valez, who ran for a game-high 135 yards and also played a superb cornerback. “After that first play, we knew we couldn't let down. We came out intense and focused. We knew we had to keep it up because it's do-or-die now.”

Nov. 19, 2005