San Luis Obispo lets 20 point lead slip away, loses opener

Posted: Aug 25, 2012 11:13 PM by Bill Halter
Updated: Aug 25, 2012 11:15 PM

The San Luis Obispo football team let a 20-0 fourth quarter lead slip away and the Tigers lost 21-20 to Garces on Saturday night. The private school from Bakersfield made it to the CIF Central Section Division 2 championship last year and was a tough opponent for San Luis Obispo to start with.

The game was a defensive battle until San Luis Obispo senior quarterback Garrett Giovannelli ran for a 68 yard touchdown with 39 seconds left in the second quarter. The Tigers took a 7-0 lead to the half.

San Luis Obispo scored quickly in the third quarter as Giovannelli led senior Jordan Knauer into the endzone with a slant pass. It gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead. Garces fumbled the kickoff and San Luis Obispo took over with great field position. Senior Riley Humphrey scored on a short touchdown run to finish the drive but the Tigers missed the extra point. Still, San Luis Obispo was up 20-0 going into the fourth quarter.

Garces scored touchdowns on pass plays from Cruise Adams to Jacob Sweaney with 10:59 and 5:29 remaining.

Up 20-14 the Tigers were not able to run out the clock and punted it back to the Rams with four minutes to go.

Garces converted a 4th and 10 during a game winning drive that ended with an Adams two yard touchdown pass with 1:06 remaining. The Rams added the extra point to make it 21-20.

Two pass completions and a Garces personal four penalty got the Tigers to the Garces 35 but Giovanelli was intercepted with 30 seconds left.

Despite the loss, San Luis Obispo head coach David Kelley was one hundred percent positive with his team during the post game huddle. "They're a class act, they're a good program. They just faced a very good team. They showed that we're that caliber of program and if not better. We just came up on the short end of the stick" said Kelley.

San Luis Obispo will host Dos Pueblos on Friday. The Chargers are 1-0 after beating Santa Ynez, 12-0.