ARROYO REVENGE - LOMPOC - CIF FOOTBALL

It is said that defense wins championships. If that holds true the Eagles of Arroyo Grande are surely in the drivers seat as the have only given up 3 points in their two post season games.

Arroyo Grande High School prior to Friday night had not beaten Lompoc since 2010 including a week one loss. 

That is a statement which can no longer be made as they ran, passed and played nasty defense on way to a 28-3 throttling of Lompoc High School. 

The Eagles did fall behind 3-0 on the Braves opening drive. Lompoc score was set up by a 32 yard pass which set up the field goal to take the lead.

AG's Jordan Harrigan a 6'0 and 200lb running back rambled for a 50 yard bust up the middle with a cut back for a score and the kick was good. The score moves to 7-3 Arroyo Grande midway through the second quarter. Lompoc failed to drive and was forced to punt.

A second and 8 pass interference from the 16 by Lompoc and a unsportsmanlike call led to a Joey De La Rosa running play for the touchdown. 14-3 with 2:20 to play in the half.

Lompoc answered with a 45 yard pass play beating the AG secondary to the 26 yardline on their next possession. AG answered with their biggest play of the half which was a sack near midfield with 14 seconds going into the half. Lompoc was forced to punt. The scoreboard read 14-3 at the half. 

The a Eagles drive on the opening drive to a 4th and 4 from Lompoc 30. May lofted the ball that resulted in Lompoc batting the ball down. AG's Alex Cecchi defensive back picked off an errant Lompoc pass with under 7 min to play in the third. AG's Griffin Lintner bounced outside for the score moving the scoarboard to 21-3. 

Cecchi who was big on defense also dotted the "i" in win with a fourth quarter scamper moving the score to 28-3. The Lompoc fans began the adventure home as the filed out of the stands. 

JUDKINS FALLS AT BUZZER - MESA MIDDLE SCHOOL

Before you start reading take a look at the scoreboard in the photo. The final 21 seconds there were four lead changes where the rest of the game only had two. Judkins is up 33-31 with three seconds to play after they hit a turn around no look shot to take the lead. Mesa threw the ball 70 feet on the fly to #25 who had the hot hand all day with three ticks remaining in the back and forth contest hit the buzzer beater which was good for a 34-33 victory.

The game opened with Mesa only missing two shots which was good for a 12-1 open. Then it was Judkins turn. Judkins took the lead at 22-21. Then with 12 tics remaining Mesa regained the lead with an inbound take away. A Judkins inbound with six seconds on the clock led to a  Mesa intercepted pass went to a jump ball. The possession arrow was pointing to Judkins.






That's when Judkins knocked down the turn around and the rest is the books.

Judkins moves to 1-1 on the season.

The 7th grade game went to Judkins in a lopsided contest.

LOMPOC AT ARROYO GRANDE - HIGH SCHOOL PLAYOFF FOOTBALL OUTLOOK - WEEK TWO

On Friday night the Arroyo Grande Eagles will look to avenge their 20-13 early in the season loss to the Lompoc Braves. The odd thing about the rematch is where the game is being played. Usually the lower seeded team (better team) earns the home game. The Braves will travel to AG for a 7:00 kickoff.  The Braves did not drop a single game this fall while the Eagles fell to Paso Robles and Lompoc. Maxpreps.com lists AG at 63 and Lompoc at 52. Oh well. Let's look at the match up.

Lompoc 

The Braves won the Los Padres league at 4 wins and no losses along with an overall 7-0 record. They tallied 430 points  while giving up 198.

Arroyo Grande 

The Eagles finished the Pac-5 league in a three-way tie. Their league record was 3-1 and overall at 8-2.  AG is 6-0 at home and have scored 364 points while giving up 175.

Outlook

Both teams won their first round playoff contests. AG did it with defense defeating Nordoff 7-0, while the Braves did it with offense as they won 38-28 over Camarillo (6-5). Both of their first round teams hovered around .500. Round two will pit two very strong teams who played this fall but this time the Eagles will have the home field advantage. In their first meeting the Braves won the game by playing very good defense which produced two turnovers that resulted in a 20-3 lead after three quarters. 

The real difference this time around will be two fold. AG's quarterback is only a sophomore who now has 12 games under his shoulder pads. While the first time he had none. The other factor is the Eagles have not dropped a game at home all season. Lompoc's QB is a junior who is a run first option player.

 Arroyo Grande has not beat Lompoc since 2010 and over that time the Braves have scored 124 points while the Eagles have posted 70.

If defense wins championships then AG should win the contest as they have given up 23 fewer points. But Lompoc deploys 3 running backs who are nearing 1,000 yards rushing. This is a team that will run the ball down your throat. In the earlier meeting AG held Lompoc to their lowest rushing game of the season at 204. While AG was also held to their lowest rushing totals of the season during the match up at 52 yards.

Bottom line - Lompoc finishes +6

Home field AG + 6

Defense AG + 6

Head to head LO +6

Senior Leadership LO +6

Running game LO +6

This could be a classic smash mouth contest between two teams that know each other well. The team to make the least mistakes will win. A low scoring game will go to AG but if Lompoc scores more than 20, they are a lock.

LAGUNA AT LOS OSOS - BASKETBALL

The theme of the match up between Los Osos Middle School and Laguna Middle school 8th grade basketball teams was for the visiting Laguna to pressure the ball on defense. Which resulted in an early lead. Los Osos fought back at the end of the first 16-13. But once Laguna put the starters back on the floor the lead was extended to 35-17 at the half way point. The lead was extended to as much as 26 points as Laguna went on to win the contest.

Team high points- The Los Osos point guard has great vision, speed and ball handling skills. He can shoot from  the perimeter but his foray is to push the ball up the floor as well as finding the open man. Laguna on the other hand doesn't have a clear standout in their lineup. They are tall and athletic across the board. The kill the glass and score in transition. They control the defensive boards by sending 4 to the glass and cherry pick the available player. The only weakness the team showed was their perimeter shooting. Pack a zone, box out and always keep a man back on defense and you may have a chance to stay close.

The 7th grade score was 47-22 in favor of the visitor.

Morro Bay High School dance team

ST. PATS AT JUDKINS MIDDLE SCHOOL - BASKETBALL

On Monday afternoon St. Pats traveled to Pismo Beach for a 7th and 8th grade basketball double-header versus the Judkins Panthers.

The 7th grade contest went to the visitors by a lopsided score of 44-27. St. Pats shot the ball well behind the arch as well as pushed it in transition. Number 11 for the visitors can dribble in the open court and knock down three which Judkins had no answer. 

The 8th grade game went in the other direction. The home team jumped to a 12-0 first stanza lead on way to a 22-6 score at intermission 

The remainder of the game went the same as the first half. When the final horn sounded the scoreboard read 37-17.

The Panthers travel to Mesa Middle School on Thursday.

CAL-POLY PIER OPEN HOUSE

The Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo pier held and was the place to be on Saturday morning. The visitors were given a rare opportunity to peak into what happens on the private 3/4 of a mile environmental studies dock in the San Luis Bay.

The students of Cal-Poly have the opportunity to share what they have learned with the community two times per year. Once in November and another time in April. The pier was open from 9 a.m. to noon.

The event was free to all-comers. The pier itself is constructed of 4 inch metal grates which allows rain to pass right through as well as very small feet. It also made pushing strollers difficult. The visual perspective was hard for those who are afraid of heights as you could see the oceans surface some 50 feet below.

Cal-Poly put on a really nice event. The students were kind, articulate and very knowledgeable. They offered information regarding the local ecosystem including; fish, mammals, vertebrates and invertebrates. The two hands on events that had the most participation were the water samples which were viewed under a microscope and the scuba diving booth. Kids had the opportunity to put on a diving mask and an oxygen tank. They then proceeded to put their heads under water in a tank where they viewed star fish coral and other indigenous species.

This event was attended by many children but if you are a local grown-up who frequent Avila Beach it's well worth the walk. Your next opportunity to see what happens on Cal-Poly pier is in the spring.

The history of the pier is rather extensive. In 1868-1878 John Harford builds Harford Pier (now Port San Luis Pier) for exporting the County’s products.  The first pier is 540 feet long.  A narrow gauge railroad to the pier is constructed, which eventually became part of the Pacific Coast Railroad.  In the late 1870’s the pier is extended 1400 feet to deeper water and the Ocean Hotel is built for passengers waiting for ships.  The Ocean Hotel is purchased by the Marre family and becomes the Hotel Marre. Click here for what happened next.

BEAR RIVER POWDER PUFF RESULTS

Bear River's senior powder puff football team scored on an 80 yard run on their first play from scrimmage and looked as if it was going to be a blowout. The juniors tightened up their defense and forced the game into sudden death. The senior class did score in OT while the juniors did not. The final score was 28-21.

The junior team moved the ball on the ground but the fans were most impressed with their passing game while the seniors ran a traditional Wing-T offense.

Both teams wore matching black shirts due to an ordering mishap so when looking at the photos the junior team has the blue duct tape.

I'm not sure who was running the game clock but it seemed to run when it shouldn't have. Also the two boys in the photo below were smoking at the game. Really?

These two boys brought their own puff to the Powder Puff game.

The 2014 contest was a great game.

TRUCKEE RIVER - GAME CHANGER

Game Changer fly

Arriving at the banks of the Truckee River at 7;30 am with anticipation of a big brown was a let down. My fishing buddy Doug and I fished the Game Changer fly for six hours without a fish. We did not stop swinging the new concept in fly fishing which was created by  Blane Chocklett. While we did not hook up, the fly swims perfect in the water. I have fished streamers for years. But none that has action like this. 

 Doug swinging his fly through a deep pool.

The recent rains as well as the cool nights have helped lower the river's temperature but it is still very low. The exposed rocks are normally submerged.

 The morning was cold and windy but the by 11am we took off our jackets.

 The sun was so warm Doug fished only in his waders.

POWDER PUFF FOOTBALL - BEAR RIVER HIGH SCHOOL

On Wednesday, October 8th at 7pm the Bear River High School seniors will look to defeat the juniors in the annual Powder Puff football game. This battle on the gridiron is always one of the highlights during Homecoming week at all high schools across the country.

The game's format is 11 senior girls who will compete against 11 junior girls in flag football. The teams are coached by varsity football players and It is not uncommon to also see some very uncommon cheer routines.

Historically the seniors win the game.

Previous game photos

BAND-TAILED PIGEON - NEVADA COUNTY

The Band-tail pigeon is on the migratory move and for a brief period they can be seen in Nevada County. The photo above (see inside the red circle) was taken in Alta Sierra Ca. ( 9/29/2014).

The Band-tailed Pigeon ranges from British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, and southern Arizona south in higher elevations through Mexico and Central America to northern Argentina. In autumn it migrates out of its permanent resident range into northern California, New Mexico, and parts of Utah and Colorado. It is found at altitudes from 3,000 to 12,000 ft, generally in oak, pine-oak, and coniferous forests. It feeds on seeds, notably acorns.

It is the biggest pigeon in North America, measuring 13 to 16 in long and weighing 7.9–18.2 oz). The plumage is gray, somewhat darker above. The head and underparts have a faint pink cast, especially in the adult male; the belly is nearly white. The distal half of the tail is also pale. The bill and feet are yellow, good identification marks at sufficiently close range. Adults have green iridescence on the back of the neck, adjacent to a thin white collar on the nape. Juvenile birds have white feather edges above, giving a scaly appearance.

STANISLAUS RIVER TROUT - CALAVERAS COUNTY

2,000 feet below Highway 4 there laid a few hungry trout who call The Stan home. The adventure as one that I may never do again as the hike to the waters edge took 45 minutes while the walk out took almost three hours. It was hot and very dry.

 This is one of the many rainbows that took to the fly that day.

The rugged shore line made for very torturous walking when trying to get into position to cast.