ARROYO GRANDE — Louis Giroux made a stellar defensive play with 6:09 left in the first quarter Friday, ripping the ball from the hands of Arroyo Grande running back Ciaran Costa and rumbling 40 yards for a touchdown to put San Marcos up 7-0.
After that, the wheels came off for the Royals as the Eagles dominated to win 38-7.
San Marcos went 3-for-16 through the air for 37 yards and three interceptions. On the ground, the Royals averaged just two yards per carry.
“We’re struggling. The defense played well in the first half, and we played well in the second half last week,” said coach Jeff Hesselmeyer. “Now we have to put two halves together in the same game. It doesn’t help that we’re playing St. Bonaventure next week.”
Much of the credit goes to Arroyo Grande, which improved to 4-1 and featured massive linemen and a variety of hard-nosed running backs. The hosts went 8-for-11 passing for 88 yards, while seven rushers racked up 221 yards in the game.
Concluding with the matchup against the mighty Seraphs next week, the Royals are in the midst of a 4-week gauntlet of playing teams that had a combined record of 15-3 heading into Friday night.
“We just gotta keep practicing and try to get better. We’ve played some very good teams in the last three weeks. We need to start getting some first downs and stop shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Hesselmeyer.
The Royals defense was lights-out at the very start of the game. On the Eagles’ third play, quarterback Seth Jacobs completed a pass to LaTaurus Johnson in the flats. Bennie Kirkwood stormed in and hit Johnson so hard his hemet flew off, firing up the San Marcos sideline.
That forced a punt, which was followed by a three-and-out by the Royals. Giroux’s big play came three plays after that.
The Arroyo Grande offense was blue-collar, however, and showed it on the ensuing drive. The Eagles ran the ball 11 times on a 13-play drive that marched them 62 yards for the tying touchdown — a 4-yard catch by Christian Crichton. The Eagles had just one play over 20 yards on the night, instead wearing the San Marcos defense down bit-by-bit.
Another three-and-out gave the Eagles the ball to start the second quarter, but Derrick Dallmeyer intercepted a Matt McAustin pass to hand it right back to the Royal offense on the San Marcos 24. Quarterback James Crook found Anthony Patolo on an 18-yard cross pattern on the third play of the drive, but the Royals were eventually forced to punt at the Arroyo Grande 41.
The Eagles took the lead on a 5-yard touchdown run by Anthony Cabreros with 1:22 left in the half.
Crichton started the second half by returning the San Marcos kickoff 55 yards to the Royals’ 20, and two plays later the Eagles were up 21-7 and never looked back.
Hesselmeyer gave backup quarterback Joe Rivera a shot under center in the fourth quarter, and the junior tossed a 13-yard strike to Nick Thayer on his very first play. The next throw, however, was picked off.
Kirkwood made a fantastic special teams play in the fourth quarter, blocking an Arroyo Grande field goal attempt and then recovering the ball himself, taking it down to the Eagles’ 30-yard line. In the next four plays, however, San Marcos went back six yards.
While St. Bonaventure — which has never lost a Channel League game — is not a game to get their hopes up about, the Royals (1-4) still have plenty of big opportunities left heading into conference play.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to compete in those other four games. We just have to get better,” said Hesselmeyer.
ARROYO GRANDE 38, SAN MARCOS 7
San Marcos…7 0 0 0 — 7
Arroyo Grande…7 7 24 0 — 38
First Quarter
SM — Giroux 40 fumble recovery (Gutierrez kick), 6:09
AG — Crichton 4 pass from Jacobs (Robinson kick), 0:20
Second Quarter
AG — Cabreros 5 run (Robinson kick), 1:22
Third Quarter
AG — Perkins 5 run (Robinson kick), 10:58
AG — Crichton 1 run (Robinson kick), 7:48
AG — Owens 40 FG, 3:35
AG — Simon 8 pass from McAustin (Robinson kick), 0:45
First downs 5 15
Rushes-Yards 26-51 52-221
Passing Yards 37 88
Total Yards 88 309
Passes (Comp-Att-Int) 3-16-3 8-11-1
Penalties-Yards 3-15 1-5
RUSHING — SM: Miller 16-22, Keefer 6-18, Crook 1-(-1), Rivera 1-(-7), Thayer 1-13, Cruz 1-1. AG: Crichton 14-42, Costa 9-39, McAustin 2-5, Cabreros 2-24, Gibson-Cabalar 6-41, Jacobs 5-20, Perkins 14-92.
PASSING — SM: Crook 2-12-2-24, Rivera 1-4-1-13. AG: Jacobs 4-6-0-27, McAustin 4-5-1-61.
RECEIVING — SM: Patolo 2-24, Thayer 1-13. AG: LaTaurus 2-2, Simon 3-29, Crichton 2-22, Cabreros 1-35.
thayer had 2 catches for 26 yards.
thayer had 2 catches for 26 yards.