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SPORTS The Atascadero News
Section B
CONTACT CONNOR ALLEN AT CONNOR@ATASCADERONEWS.COM
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
BOYS SOCCER
THE LEADOFF
The XFL is Back
OVERTIME GOAL LIFTS HOUNDS ON SENIOR NIGHT
CONNOR ALLEN SPORTS WRITER
I Atascadero senior Martin Anguiano, junior Julian Piepenberg and the entire Greyhound soccer team dog pile on sophomore Caleb Newby following his game-winning overtime goal after a game against Mission Prep Tuesday. Photo by Connor Allen
Atascadero finishes second in Ocean League
By CONNOR ALLEN connor@atascaderonews.com ATASCADERO — The Atascadero boys soccer team hosted senior night on Tuesday and won in thrilling fashion as sophomore midfielder Caleb Newby scored from 40 yards out with just a minute to go in the second overtime period to earn the 1-0 win and secure second place to themselves. The Greyhounds said goodbye to their longest tenured members before the start of the game, bidding farewell to seven seniors in Seth Camp, Jimmie Claudio, Noah Carlisle, Nathan Hontz, Jose Huitron, Wyatt Hasch, Geraldo Ayala, Manny Elias Frankie Fernandez and
junior left back Julian Piepenberg, who is an exchange student. “They all have a really strong bond, they have all been playing soccer together for a really long time and they are all really good friends, all of them,” Atascadero head soccer coach Gary Setting said following the game. “They are just a good solid group of kids — they are ready for adulthood is what I would say about them. They are all kind of looking to the next chapter.” It was as good of a senior night game as those in attendance could have asked for as it ended with the entire Atascadero bench sprinting onto the field and mobbing a disoriented Newby who was nearly dizzy with excitement. The Greyhounds and Royals battled
into the brisk winter evening with every piece of potentially exposed skin covered and tied in a scoreless gridlock. The first half was very much a defensive battle as both teams bounced the ball around like a pinball. At times, both teams were able to string together some possession and it was Mission Prep who threatened first with a pair of early corner kicks but Senior captain and keeper, Camp, was sharp in goal. The Hounds responded with an opportunity of their own when who junior Ryan Bianco sent a pass rolling past the Royal’s keeper toward a streaking Manny Elias but the ball bounced out of bounds just past his outstretched, sliding, legs.
The games’ intensity rose in the second half and as both teams became increasingly chippy and started chirping at the offical. After a number of free kicks and stoppages to give indignant finger waves, the official had enough and handed out a red card to the Mission Prep bench. After one scoreless overtime period the two teams headed into their final 10 minutes of play before penalty kicks would decide a winner and it was the Royals own mistake that led to their demise when their keeper fielded the ball and rather than punting it downfield, selecting a closer target in Atascadero’s J.J. Subia. The ball ricocheted off his back, high into the CONTINUED ON PAGE B12
CAL POLY FOOTBALL
Cal Poly Signs 15 Recruits in Regular Signing Period By CONNOR ALLEN connor@atascaderonews.com SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly, which announced the signings of 13 recruits in the Early Signing Period in December, has added 15 more football players — 14 from high schools and a transfer from a community college — to its 2020 Recruiting Class. The new group features four defensive linemen, a pair of offensive linemen, two tight ends, another quarterback, a pair of wide receivers, three linebackers and an “athlete” who can play multiple positions. The announcement was made Wednesday by first-year Mustang head coach Beau Baldwin and Cal Poly director of athletics Don Oberhelman at a press conference inside the football office on campus. “We’re really excited about a lot of the position-specific vacancies that we were able to fill with this class,” Baldwin said. “We feel like we’ve added a good mixture of both size and speed with a number of student-athletes who will have a opportunity to compete right away.” The Early Signing Period for Division I football was Dec. 18-20. The Midyear CONTINUED ON PAGE B12
One of Cal Poly’s newest recruits, Connor Heffler. Photo contributed by Cal Poly Athletics
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’ve said it once and I will say it again — there are only two REAL seasons in the United States of America. There is “football season” and then there is “waiting for football season.” I also don’t know if any of you noticed, but certain parts of Paso Robles got down 21 degrees on Monday night, breaking the previous low temperature of 23 degrees, which happened back in 1995. Coincidence? I think not. Even Mother Nature herself was depressed as she watched football season grow ever smaller in the review mirror as she headed down the highway toward winter. Well, friends, I come bearing gifts. This weekend, football is back. The XFL, a professional football league owned by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment, starts Saturday. You might be thinking to yourself, “wait a minute, I remember that there was a spring football league last season and it folded up like a tent in wind before the completion of a full year.” Or, you might be thinking to yourself, “wait a minute, I remember back in 2001 when the XFL tried the first time to create a spring football league that had dudes with nicknames like ‘He Hate Me’ and was basically a 22-man royal rumble for 60 minutes.” If you had either of these thoughts, you are correct. The Alliance of American football did begin and end last year and the XFL did try to do this unsuccessfully in 2001, but I think there is reason to be optimistic about this reincarnation and let me tell you why. Vince McMahon may be a loon with a couple of screws loose who is also off his rocker, but he is also undoubtedly a very successful businessman who has kept wrestling relevant for more than two decades. You can’t run something that hugely popular for that long and not have to reinvent yourself along the way and innovate to keep up with times. This is why the XFL can work, because McMahon has learned from his mistakes and the mistakes of those who came before him. First
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