San Luis Obispo quarterback Conner Reese passed for 240 yards on 12 completions Friday night and the Tigers' defense stopped two big fourth down scoring opportunities in the final quarter to end Arroyo Grande's shot at the playoffs.

With the win in the PAC-7 finale, the Tigers finish in second place and as the second seed going into the CIF playoffs with a 4-1 record. Arroyo Grande wrapped up its season with a 2-3 record in the PAC-7 in a three way tie for third place but missed a shot at the playoffs.

“It's good for our program to beat our arch rival and finish with a solid second place,” said San Luis Obispo coach Craig Winninghoff.

Arroyo Grande was down by two points at 14-16 in the final quarter and had the opportunity to come up with a big play on two fourth down situations. But San Luis Obispo came up with the big stops.

The first try was with nine minutes left in the game. With 4th down and 1 at the 21 yard line the Eagles choose to go for a first down instead of trying for a field goal. But the Tigers made a big stop to prevent Arroyo Grande running back George Lopez from inching ahead.

San Luis Obispo gave it a good run on their next possession until the Eagles' Sean McCuen intercepted Reese's pass at the 40 yard line and ran back to the 45.

The Eagles then charged down field thanks in part to a fourth down run by Gio Scalzo that kept the drive alive. And at the 24 yard line on first down George Lopez had two carries for nine yards. But his inside run on the next down was stopped for a two yard loss.

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So on fourth down and three, and well within field goal territory, the Eagles took another gamble. But the gamble fell short as Scalzo was unable to gain any yardage and the drive stalled at the 17 yard line.

Coach Jon Huss said he no regrets about going for the touchdown instead of trying for three points.

“The kids played hard and we had our chances,” Huss said. “We needed to get downfield and got caught on the last series. Unfortunately we got caught in their blitz.”

It was an unfortunate end for the Eagles as Scalzo, who returned to full strength for the first time in weeks after suffering from knee injuires, had his best game of the season with 125 yards on 12 carries, and Lopez plowed his way up the middle for 112 yards on 22 carries.

“It doesn't mean much because we didn't win,” said Scalzo. “But every game we gave it our all.”

Winninghoff said the win came down to everybody on his team doing his job.

“Our senior class is a strong group of leaders that have been making big plays all year,” said Winninghoff. “Our quarterback has to deliver and he can't deliver unless the line protects him and the guys are catching the ball.”

Arroyo Grande started off the game strong as Scalzo broke away for a 45-yard run up the middle for a touchdown with 4:45 left in the quarter, and Chris Nichols made the extra-point kick for a 7-0 game.

San Luis Obispo answered back on their first drive of the second quarter when Reese connected with Zac Thorne for a 17-yard touchdown. It was set up by a nice 28-yard pass to Sean Dubois.

Reese, who is the league's top passer with about 2,500 yards of passing, gave most of the credit to his offensive line for giving him time to pass Friday night.

“We started slow but we stuck with it and the guys did a great job blocking,” he said. “It was great to get a second place seed, and it was a pride thing. There were definitely a lot of reasons why we wanted to win.”

San Luis Obispo appeared to score again in with 4:50 left in the half, but it was called back on a clipping penalty. Brian Lewelling then made a 17-yard run to get the Tigers in field goal territory. He lead the Tigers in rushing on the night with 70 yards on 16 carries

Michael Connelly kicked the field goal from about 30 yards out for a 10-7 San Luis Obispo lead with four minutes left in the half.

Eagles junior Eric Marshall came up with a big stop on the Tiger's last drive of the half with a interception at the two yard line to keep the game close at the break.

San Luis Obispo took the lead on Lewelling's one-yard run with 8:45 left in third quarter, and the extra-point attempt was no good for a 16-7 game. The touchdown was set up by a 39-yard pass from Reese to Kevin Martin. Martin led the team in receiving with 57 yards on four catches.

Arroyo Grande's final scoring drive in the third quarter started from the 45 yard line. Lopez charged ahead with five carries and Scalzo added a 10-yard run to move the chains to the 12 yard line.

Lopez then ran to the one yard line to get another first down. On the next play, Eagles quarterback Dan Pedrini fumbled the snap, and when the referees pulled apart a pile of players in the endzone, Ian Walton of the Eagles held up the ball for a touchdown.

Pedrini completed one pass on the night on two tries.

Nov. 11, 2006