Royals fall in tough second half

BY PETER DUGRE
DAILY SOUND SPORTS WRITER

On a night when San Marcos Royals’ Head Coach Dare Holdren hoped to see his team turn it up offense against the San Luis Obispo Tigers, a soggy field and an early injury to starting running back Andy Segal slowed their attack.

The Royals offense burst onto the field behind Segal who gained forty-five yards on the team’s first four plays. The fourth play was a draw up the middle where Segal sprinted into Tigers’ territory only to be dragged down after 16 yards. Segal stayed down grasping his arm, before walking off unassisted with a dislocated elbow.
After the injury, the Royals’ drive fizzled out. Reserve running back Michael Hodson came on to replace Segal and gained 14 yards on his first attempt but was then stopped for short gains. A missed 38 yard field goal by Hodson ended the drive.
The Tigers’ defense tightened up after its slow start to allow only three more first downs before the half.
In the opening half, the Royals defense held the Tigers in check. The Tigers felt they did little early on having limited success on the ground and feeling the pressure of a pass rush lead by defensive lineman Joey Rao. Rao tormented quarterback David Schultz for two sacks to end a Tigers threat at the end of the first half, and to keep the score at 0-0 going into the break.
Both teams came out big on offense to open the second half. Kerr took the opening drive into his own hands for the Royals completing four passes, two to big tight end Nabor Aispuro for gains of 4 and 12 yards. Kerr then carried the ball into the end zone running consecutive quarterback sneaks in a goal line situation for the first score of the game.
It took less than a minute for the Tigers to retaliate. They stole the momentum from the Royals in two big plays. The Tigers called on the legs of senior running back Brian Lewelling. He gained ten and fifty yards on two straight runs to even the score.
When asked if he felt his team got down after the quick turn around coach Holdren said, “We have a tendency to do that. We shoot ourselves after we score a big play.”
Lewelling could not be stopped for the rest of the game. The Royals held onto the ball for only three plays and the Tigers went back to work.
They did not put up points on the ensuing drive, but demonstrated that they could move the ball at will. Their effort ended on a missed field goal only because the Tigers slowed themselves with penalties.
San Marcos went three and out before returning the ball to the Tigers. The Royals had their hands full with the powerful running of Lewelling, opening up the field for Schultz to connect with tight end Sean Dubois for a thirty yard touchdown.
Down only one touchdown in the closing minutes the Royals’ Kerr threw an errant pass for an interception to end the last chance at a comeback and to close the game in a 14-7 defeat.
Lewelling ran the ball 19 times for 152 yards, tallying most of the yards on a couple of breakaways.
Coach Holdren was impressed with the improvements of his defense. He refused to use the early injury as an excuse. He said, “It’s up to the players to step it up.”