On Friday night, Kyle Colvin dropped 19 points and Carter Gran added 14 and Mission Prep held-on late to beat Arroyo Grande in San Luis Obispo.

One thing that always strikes me about Arroyo Grande is how they play together. The Eagles almost always pass-up an OK shot for a really good shot. On this night, Mission did the same at home and finished with the victory.

Photos by Owen Main. To view all photos click here

Atascadero beat Righetti to move to 2-0 and Paso Robles downed San Luis Obispo, dropping the Tigers to 0-2 in the young league season.

Mission Prep quarterback Bryce Fledderman threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns on Friday night. By Owen Main

On Friday night, Mission Prep used a big performance from quarterback Bryce Fledderman to improve their record to 3-0 on the young season. The Royals, who won just four games a year ago, have a defense that gets off the field on third  down and an offense that has been able to consistently move the ball.

Fledderman’s 295-yard, three-touchdown performance will make defenses have to respect the Royals’ passing game along with a running game that has been very efficient so far in this young season.

Mission, which has two more games before the start of league play, will host Sierra Canyon on Friday.

Photos by Owen Main – click here

Friday’s game had everything a fan could want from a high school football game, including the renewal of an old rivalry. By Owen Main

It brought me back to the days of the Central Coast League.

I’ll admit it — I’m as myopic as anyone can be about high school sports, but as I watched the football game between Mission Prep and Templeton, memories were flooding.

Back in the 1990’s, there was a league called the Central Coast League. It included, for a short time, Mission Prep, Morro Bay, and Templeton, which are all members of the revamped Northern League. The fourth team was Coast Union (where I went to school).

The final year of the Central Coast League — I think it was the fall of 1995 — saw Templeton lose to Morro Bay in the CIF Section Championship game, which was played at Cal Poly.

The following year, Morro Bay got back into the Los Padres League and Mission, Templeton, and Coast Union made the switch to the Central Section, where they added Avenal to make up the Coast Sierra League.

Mission’s football was soon an 8-man program before it’s current resurgence. Meanwhile, Templeton just has not stopped growing. (In the mean time, Coast Union’s enrollment has shrunk and it is now an 8-man program).

With that background, it was really fun to watch these two old rivals square-off on Friday night. The game had all the elements of a classic.

Tie scores. Both teams answering a touchdown by scoring touchdowns of their own. Big pass plays and tough, hard hits. It was everything that a league game is supposed to be — and neither team backed down.

In the end, the last pass of the game sailed just a bit high and Templeton escaped with the 41-34 victory. The message for me was clear: this league is going to be fun. Nobody’s going to back down.

Photos by Owen Main

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Mission Prep junior, Matthew Bosshardt tips the ball twice to himself before pulling in the catch on Friday night. By Owen Main

On Friday night, Mission Prep hosted Christian from El Cajon, a powerhouse in their division a year ago. Christian scored on their first offensive play from scrimmage and didn’t really look back, running to a 56-21 victory in downtown San Luis Obispo.

Down 21-7 in the first half, Mission got to within 21-14 in the second quarter. On the final play of the half, though, the Patriots scored a touchdown to push their lead 28-14 going into halftime. Despite Dyllan Smiley’s 106-yard rushing day, Mission was out-scored 35-7 to end the game.

The game was stalled for about 20 minutes in the middle of the third quarter when a power surge caused the stadium lights to go out. Fans, illuminated by their cell phones, used the time to pump themselves up with chants. The Mission student section broke into a hardy rendition of Silent Night.

Also notable was a second-half catch by Royals receiver, Matthew Bosshardt that was Lynn Swann-like. 

Mission Prep (0-1) faces Rio Hondo Prep on the road next week.

Photos from the JV game can be found here. 

Photos by Owen Main