Eagles burst out early, but Tigers roar to victory

Once the ball was first booted, the curtain lifted on Arroyo Grande and San Luis Obispo football - and the theatrics were on.

On the opening kickoff, the Arroyo Grande Eagles huddled after the ball was received, each player breaking out of the pack as if he had the ball.

The “starburst kick return” - as the play is termed - worked to perfection. Arroyo Grande's Matt Valez burst down-field leaving confused San Luis Obispo Tigers in his wake.

The star of the opening minute scored in a flash, giving his underdog Eagles an early lead, in this, a must-win for the playoffs.

Unfortunately for Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo's star burst onto the scene on the Tigers' second offensive drive.

And then the fourth drive. And then the fifth. When it was all said and done, San Luis Obispo's Brian Lewelling scored three times, leading his Tigers to a 37-7 win over the Eagles in both teams' regular season finale.

With the loss, Arroyo Grande finished 1-4 in the PAC-7 League, needing a win over SLO for the third and final playoff spot. San Luis Obispo's season will continue in the playoffs, as a result of the win.

Despite the loss, Arroyo Grande coach Tom Goossen expressed admiration for his players.

“I could not be more proud of them,” he said. “Most teams would have quit. They would have given up. But they continued to work hard all season.”

Despite opening league 0-3, the Eagles got a monumental win over the Righetti Warriors last week, giving them a shot at the playoffs with a win over SLO Friday.

And after the opening play, it seemed Arroyo Grande might have a shot over the visiting Tigers.

“It's called the starburst, and the other team doesn't know who has the ball,” Goossen said of the opening kickoff. “We had some fun with it in practice, and it turned out it got us a touchdown. Unfortunately, it was our only touchdown.”

It was the first time the Eagles had tried it in an actual game, igniting the home crowd on Senior Night. It was also a night that saw longtime PA announcer Chuck Bowles call his last game.

However, San Luis Obispo responded behind their dual track and football standout, Lewelling.

“He's a two-year starter that we moved from tailback to fullback to help blocking,” San Luis Obispo coach Craig Winninghoff said. “He's a tough receiver too. He catches the ball well, and the kids were blocking so he had an open field.”

Following the “starburst” score, SLO and Arroyo Grande exchanged failed offensive drives. Lewelling's motor started churning strong on the next series. He capped gains of 13 and three yards with a 4-yard touchdown up the middle to tie the game at 7-7.

After Arroyo Grande failed to advance the ball on its next two drives, Lewelling went to work again on offense - as the game moved into the second quarter.

“We knew they run the fly offense and that it's a good run offense,” Winninghoff said. “So we wanted to make them throw the football.”

The Eagles did, and struggled. The Tigers did, and watched Lewelling do most the work.

Lewelling caught a 28-yard toss from quarterback Dave Schultz to set up the go-ahead score.

Schultz finished with a strong line, connecting on 7-of-16 passes for 177 yards.

His 9-yard toss to wide receiver Robert Rose on a post route gave San Luis Obispo its first lead of the game, 14-7.

But his next toss was much more spectacular - and he had Lewelling to thank for it.

Lewelling took a short pass from Schultz and turned it into a jailbreak scamper to the endzone, scoring a 76-yard touchdown for a 20-7 lead at halftime.

“We wanted to continue to build off the momentum (of the starburst play), but, unfortunately, we got beat by a better team tonight,” Goossen said.

Of Lewelling, “We had a hard time when he got into open space. Generally, we did a good job when we contained him.” They contained him until the 3:30-mark of the third quarter.

And then he found open space, once again. His 49-yard touchdown all but sealed the win, giving SLO a commanding 30-7 lead.

Despite the loss, wide receiver Trevor Salas put on an impressive performance, as he has the entire season. The Eagles' leading receiver - entering Friday with 389 yards on 14 catches - added to his total with three catches for 54 yards.

“He's also a volleyball player,” Goossen said. “He was hurt last year with a broken collarbone. But he's done a tremendous job all year.”

SLO's final touchdown came on a 17-yard Schultz pass to Sean Dubois.

November 10, 2007