TEMPLETON - There St. Joseph junior place kicker Anthony Gallegos was Friday night, standing on Templeton's 10 and facing the biggest kick of his young life.

The Eagles took a second timeout to try to ice him. No pressure, right?

Well, actually there was plenty of pressure. No matter. Gallegos' kick was true and St. Joseph had a 21-20 stunner of an overtime win as it spoiled the Eagles' Homecoming in a Los Padres League thriller.

After that second timeout, “I was just concentrating on making the kick and helping my team win the game,” said Gallegos. He did. Thus St. Joseph, which lost the turnover battle 6-2, still won this game between teams that were as evenly matched as the score indicated.

Russell Perkins brought the Knights to a 21-21 tie with his third one-yard touchdown run. Travis Biegel caught seven passes for 120 yards, but the holder's snare of the last extra-point snap was at least as important as any pass reception he made.

“Yes,” he acknowledged with a chuckle, a film where the ball goes through the holder's hands on an all-important extra point ran through his mind. “But I was just concentrating on getting the hold down.”

There was no disaster on the final PAT try. Snapper Cory Withers' snap was perfect, Biegel's hold was good and Gallegos, who's missed one PAT all year, in the pre-season, delivered with the game-winner.

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The defending LPL champions haven't lost a league game since 2005. They ran their 2007 league mark to 4-0. The Knights, who kept pace with Morro Bay, the CIF Southern Section Northwest Division's top-ranked team, are 6-1 overall. Templeton is 5-2, 2-2.

St. Joseph plays at 7:30 p.m. next Friday night at Santa Ynez. “Another Homecoming game,” St. Joseph coach Mike Hartman said. “Our third straight.”

Templeton had the ball first in overtime, and Tyler Bogart caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from his brother Casey. However the Eagles' kicking game, which had hurt them all evening, bit them again. Casey Bogart missed the PAT try.

Ben Terry missed an extra point after Templeton's first touchdown, a two-yard run by Andrew Schechter. Terry missed a 27-yard field goal try 31 seconds before halftime. The 5-11, 190-pound junior has been the Eagles' leading rusher much of the year, but he hasn't run the ball much lately. Schechter led all rushers Friday night, with 83 yards on 20 carries.

“Shield defense. Put that in the paper,” St. Joseph's Travis English said afterward. Indeed, the Knights' defense was an impenetrable shield.

St. Joseph overcame three lost fumbles by quarterback Gavin Kelly; an interception; a fumble by Perkins that went for a touchback after he was about to score on a pass from Kelly; and a fumbled snap by punter Scott Cathcart that gave the ball to Templeton at the Knights' 23.

“What I was most proud of was our seniors stepped up, and our kids made plays,” said Hartman.

One of those plays his team made came right after Cathcart's fumbled snap. Schechter fumbled on the next play. The Knights recovered.

Templeton scored just once off a Knights turnover. St. Joseph recovered Gallegos' onside kick to start the second half. On the next play Kelly, under Lee Ormonde's heavy rush, threw an interception and the Eagles were perched on the Knights' 40.

They held, but Kelly fumbled the ball away at his 40 again after running nine yards on the option. The Eagles cashed in to go ahead 12-7 on Homecoming king Cody Smith's one-yard run. Casey Bogart hit Matt Duhon on the two-point conversion pass.

Twice, Templeton seemed all set to put the game after that. Twice, the Eagles couldn't do it.

Templeton drove 62 yards and had the ball on about the Knights' three-inch line on third down. Jimmy Aldridge nailed Smith for a loss back at the two, and St. Joseph blocked Casey Bogart's field goal try.

“That was one of those situations where we made the big play,” said Hartman. “We could very easily have folded it in at that point.

“I'm sure (Templeton coach) Don Crow felt his team deserved to win the game just as much as we did.”

The Knights caught a break on their first touchdown drive. The snap from the shotgun formation went over Kelly's head but right to cornerback Camron Sewell.

The Eagles seemed ready to salt away the win when they drove from their 25 to St. Joseph's 26 with 3:31 left to play. Then Casey Bogart made a bad pitch when he was being hit, and St. Joseph defensive back Dominic Brunello fell on the ball at the Knights 33.

Kelly threw three straight incompletions, but then he hit Biegel for 18 yards and a first down. He hooked up with Catchart for 12 more yards, then threw a sweet pass that Biegel ran under and hauled in.

Tyler Bogart hauled down Biegel at the one. Perkins scored on the next play, and Gallegos kicked the extra point with 2:01 left in regulation.

“Football doesn't build character, it reveals it,” Hartman said afterward. “Our kids showed they have some character.”

Oct. 20, 2007