In their opening drive of the game against Templeton Friday night, the Cabrillo football team looked as good as it had all season.

The Conquistadores drove 56 yards on nine plays in 3:20 to take a 7-0 lead on Military Appreciation Night at Huyck Stadium in Lompoc.

After that the Eagles did all the marching, compiling 539 yards of offense - 436 on the ground - in a 41-14 Los Padres League victory.

Templeton fullback Chad McGill was the workhorse, rushing the ball 22 times for 127 yards, but the big gains came from Daniel Wheeler and Tyler Gray. Gray scored the first Eagles touchdown from 25 yards out and Wheeler had touchdown runs of 42 and 54 yards. Gray also had a 58-yard run nullified on one of many Templeton penalties on the night.

The Eagles (6-2, 3-2 LPL) were called for 13 penalties amounting to 130 yards.

Gray, a bruising runner at 6-3, 205, ran 12 times for 72 yards, while Wheeler had 186 yards on just 10 carries. Wheeler also had three receptions for 37 yards.

"He was hard to bring down," Cabrillo coach Craig Knowles said about Gray, "but we did a (lousy) job of tackling.

"We arm tackled all night and you can't do that against a big back."

Kyle Avillanoza had another good running game for the Conqs (1-7, 1-5 LPL) with 115 yards on 24 carries. He also scored the two Cabrillo touchdowns.

The Conqs put together a beautiful drive after opening the game holding the Eagles to 18 yards on seven plays.

Starting at their own 44, Cabrillo methodically drove down the field. Avillanoza ran 14, then six yards, followed by a 10-yard run from Jordan Watson. Avillanoza popped for another 14 on a run that sent fear throughout the Cabrillo crowd when he fumbled the ball at the end of the run on the 10.

But Cabrillo recovered to continue the drive, and five plays later Avillanoza dove over the line of scrimmage for the score at 4:52.

"We just came out fired up," Knowles explained. "We weren't flat, we moved the ball and held on - well, we almost gave it away, but we put it into the end zone."

Templeton was able to answer right back driving 80 yards ending at 1:35 with Gray's 25-yard run.

In the second quarter it was all Templeton which scored twice. Gray capped off a 12-play drive with a one-yard run and Wheeler dashed for 42 yards to end a quick three-play drive.

Cabrillo was only able to gain 24 more yards in the first half after the opening 56-yard drive and trailed 21-7.

Sophomore quarterback Jeff Aldridge struggled throwing the ball and was 2-of-11 in the half with one interception and only 13 yards, which allowed Templeton's big linemen and linebackers to crowd the line of scrimmage against the run.

"They started bringing guys a little bit more (on blitzes)," Knowles said. "We tried to throw the ball a little bit more to keep them from blitzing.

"If they are able to stack eight guys in the box and we can't complete a hitch (pass), it's going to be challenging to run the ball."

In the third quarter Cabrillo received the kickoff and quickly went out in three plays. The Eagles followed with a drive that took over five minutes, going 73 yards on 12 plays to make the score 28-7.

The next Cabrillo possession ended in disaster. After going another three and out, Fernando Osua stepped back into punt formation, but his punt was blocked by Gray. In the scramble for the ball, Templeton's Jake Simpson recovered the ball in the Cabrillo end zone for a touchdown.

But making matters worse, Osua was hurt on the play and did not return. At the end of the game the leading pass receiver, punter and place kicker was on the sidelines on crutches. The extent of his injury was unknown.

The Conqs did score again in the fourth quarter after a bad snap on a Templeton punt was recovered at the Eagle 25. Avillanoza ran the ball five of the six plays and scored on a one-yard plunge.

Cabrillo travels to Morro Bay next Friday, before returning to Huyck Stadium on Nov. 13 for the Big Game against Lompoc. Templeton hosts Pioneer Valley next Friday.

PAC-7 Football

Atascadero 49, Lompoc 35

In Atascadero, the Greyhounds ran their PAC-7 record to 2-1 (6-2 overall) with a 49-35 victory over the Lompoc Braves (0-4 PAC-7, 0-8 overall).

At press time, no other details were available.

Lompoc hosts Righetti next Friday night at Huyck Stadium.