Photo by Aaron Crutchfield - Atascadero running back Tanner Thompson finds it tough going against Righetti on Friday. The Greyhounds lost 13-3.

Friday’s loss to Righetti by the Atascadero High School varsity football team continued what could be a troubling trend down the road: the defense isn’t ready to play when the game begins.

Each time it’s happened, the defense settled down, got in better positions and made the tackles later in the game. In weeks past, the offense was able to stay within striking distance and then took the lead in the second half, but that didn’t happen this time and the result was a 13-3 loss.

The trend started in the first game of the season, when the team allowed Clovis East to score three touchdowns and take a 21-14 lead into halftime. The defense tackled better in the second half and shut out the Timberwolves the rest of the way, and the Greyhounds scored 19 unanswered points for a 33-21 win.

Against Redwood, the Hounds gave up three touchdowns in the first half and were tied 21-21 at halftime before shutting out the Rangers in the final two quarters on the way to a 35-21 win.

In the first quarter of Friday’s game, Righetti got the ball first and marched right down the field with an efficient passing game, with a 15-yard and 30-yard pass on the drive. Although a false-start penalty and T.J. Jordan’s only incomplete pass of the first quarter made the drive stall, a 22-yard field goal put the Warriors on top 3-0 with 5:23 left in the first quarter.

After Atascadero’s first drive lost one yard, lasted two plays and ended up on a fumble, the Warriors cashed in, with a 31-yard touchdown pass on third-and-19 giving Righetti a 10-0 lead with 1:57 left in the quarter.

“It wasn’t really broken coverage,” said AHS coach Vic Cooper. “We just gave him too much time to throw.”

After that, the defense got better, and with more pressure on Jordan in the second half the Warriors could get nothing going. The other three points they scored came with 1:03 left in the game, after a punt hit the back of an Atascadero player’s foot and Righetti recovered at the Atascadero 20, with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moving the ball to the 10. After three plays netted four yards, the Warriors kicked a 24-yard field goal.

For the complete article see the 10-21-2009 issue.

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