St. Joseph High's football team figured out San Luis Obispo's plan early Friday night, the Tigers stacking the defensive box in an attempt to stuff the Knights' running game.

Quarterback Gavin Kelly was more than up to the challenge of throwing the pigskin.

Kelly threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns, and added two more on the ground as St. Joseph closed its regular season with a convincing 42-22 win over host San Luis Obispo.

St. Joseph moved to 9-1 overall with the non-league win, having already secured the Los Padres League title with a 7-0 mark.

Next up, the CIF Southern Section Northwest Division playoffs, where St. Joseph is currently ranked No. 4.

It turned out to be Kelly's best game through the air on the season - besting his previous top mark of 222.

“He's a returning all-league senior,” Hartman said of Kelly, who came in leading the LPL in passing yards (1,121) by more than 300 yards. “We saw that they put seven men in the box. They were trying to stop the running game.”

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St. Joseph running back Ryan Anglin still finished with 83 yards. KJ Cusack - who has been quite the utility weapon for St. Joseph, whether it be on special teams, carrying or catching the ball - finished with 75 rushing yards on just nine carries. He also caught a 27-yard touchdown.

Most the damage was done through the air.

Kelly's favorite receiver on Friday was Jason Buchanan, who finished with four catches for 97 yards. His favorite target on the year, Travis Biegel, hauled in six catches for 95 yards.

“We saw a couple things on film,” Kelly said. “We weren't too familiar with their defense.”

San Luis Obispo also found some success through the air, quarterback Davey Schultz passing for 153 yards on 11-for-16 passing. However, St. Joseph's defense, led by big John Sua, bottled up the usually effective Tiger running attack.

Feature running back Jay McElearney was more effective as a receiver, catching four balls for 35 yards and touchdown. He contributed just 13 yards on the ground. The Tigers as a team finished with just 127 yards on the ground.

St. Joseph wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. The Knights drove 71 yards in just five plays - picking up two big gains through the air. Kelly found Biegel - the team's leading receiver - for 35 yards on the first play. The senior 6-foot-1 wideout out-leapt two defenders for the ball. Anglin picked up 17 yards on the next play, before Kelly found his big tight end Stephen Buhring for a 9-yard touchdown pass.

San Luis Obispo, as it did against PAC-7 power Paso Robles the previous week, went to the ground early. The Tigers responded behind Dylan Candaele's ground work. And when Schultz went to the air, he also found success. Alexander Turbow broke up the middle for a 6-yard equalizer with 4:21 left in the quarter.

To the Tigers' credit, they did stop the Knights on the next series ... only to muff the punt, and gift-wrap two points to the Knights. St. Joseph's Seth Meyers fell on the ball in the endzone for the safety.

The mistake cost SLO another seven points when Kelly connected with the crafty Cusack for a 27-yard touchdown pass - Cusack making the first man miss before he was off to the races. St. Joseph was suddenly up 16-7.

Another SLO mistake soon resulted in more St. Joseph points.

At their own 48, the Tigers fumbled away the ball.

The Knights' best offense was the Tigers' offense.

Four plays later, Kelly tricked everyone with his quarterback keeper, good for a 22-yard touchdown and a 23-7 lead with 5:46 left to halftime.

SLO did make it interesting with Justin Goodman's 5-yard run, and a successful-point conversion. It was just an eight-point lead for St. Joseph at the break.

Sixteen yards. That's all St. Joseph allowed SLO to gain in the third quarter, minus penalties.

In the meantime, the Knights scored on both their possessions, the first a 30-yard field goal from Anthony Gallegos. Kelly found Cusack in the endzone for a second time, this one from eight yards out with 1:11 left in the third.

St. Joseph was in command 33-15.

Kelly's second rushing score came with 9:20 left, from one yard out.

Another Gallegos field goal, from 34 yards out capped the St. Joseph scoring.

SLO tacked on a final score on McElearney's 15-yard touchdown catch from Schultz.

November 15, 2008