Defense saved the day Friday night at Warrior Stadium.

Righetti is still on track for a league title showdown with Arroyo Grande.

With the offense struggling, the defensive unit came up bigger than ever in Righetti's 13-3 win over San Luis Obispo. SLO dropped to 1-3 in the PAC-7 with the loss. Righetti moved to 3-0.

Barely.

"We got the 'w' and we're happy to move on to the next one," Righetti coach Gary Wilson said.

It was not a pretty win, but Righetti did keep pace with league counterpart Arroyo Grande, which also won on Friday to stay perfect in league. Two impressive wins over Atascadero and Paso Robles to kick off Righetti's PAC-7 campaign were nearly for naught.

Still, a potential title-decider looms between the two squads two weeks from now.

SLO almost spoiled those thoughts.

The Tigers came in undersized and losers of two straight to Arroyo Grande and Atascadero - but a strong secondary kept quarterback TJ Jordan off-balance and the triple-option offense was effective at times.

"They came out with some things we were not prepared for," Wilson said bluntly.

For starters, the starting quarterback was neither Anthony Maez or Dylan Candaele. David Murillo got the nod and performed admirably.

The Righetti offense stumbled out of the gate, botching a breakaway 44-yard run with a fumble. It was one of three fumbles by standout running back Michael Hale, two of those lost.

"We were moving the ball, but you can't turn the ball over," Wilson said. "We had three turnovers and it really hurt us at crucial times."

But when the game was at its most crucial point, the offense stepped up.

Presented with a fourth-and-long, Righetti - clinging to a 6-3 lead late in the fourth - did more than kill time on the clock. Jordan escaped the pressure and found Michael Puente in the endzone from 25 yards out to seal the deal.

"The clock was against us because they had some time left on the clock," Wilson said, describing his timeout before the big play. "We were going to roll out and if someone was open we'd take the throw, but if not we'd hang onto the ball, keep the clock rolling and play defense."

Instead, the game was all but decided with 1:45 remaining.

"The defense really had to step it up," Righetti's Uso Taua said. "Our offense wasn't doing that good. So our defense pulled it together and we got the 'w.'"

It was Taua's big special teams' play that put Righetti up for good.

Taua - the younger brother of star ex-Cabrillo running back and current Nevada Wolfpack standout Vai Taua - fielded a punt at 10:35 in the third quarter. He raced up the middle before spotting room along the farside.

"I cut inside and then I saw guys on the outside ready to block," he said, describing his 62-yard scamper. "I knew they were ready to hit someone."

Matt Miller and Cody Berry were sure ready to hit someone. Miller made some bone-crushing plays on defense from safety, and Berry from linebacker.

"Berry, (Eric) Wilson, (Dylan) Jones and Matt (Miller) made some great hits," Wilson said. "And Jordan Rubio did a great job again tonight. Zack Moody too. We had a slew of guys step up."

SLO struck first in the second quarter on Greg Wright's 16-yard field goal.

But the offense stalled from there. Murillo finished 6 of 16 for 100 yards. Jordan - after two strong passing games - grinded out a rough line: 4-for-17 with 55 yards.

SLO's No. 1 running back Nate Nuno was held to just 62 yards on 14 carries.

Righetti returns to action Friday against Lompoc.

Arroyo Grande 26,

Paso Robles 10

The Eagles (3-0, 7-1) didn't have any problem passing what figured to be their first stern PAC-7 League test of the year.

Russell Perkins ran for 124 yards and two Eagles touchdowns at Paso Robles. Perkins lugged the ball 33 times.

Arroyo Grande had 16 points before the Bearcats (1-2, 3-5) got on the board thanks to Jacob Bedell'es 38-yard field goal a second before halftime.

Perkins scored from a yard out, and Austin Robinson kicked the extra point to put Arroyo Grande ahead 23-3 before Robbie Burbank, the area rushing leader, scored for Paso Robles on an 80-yard run.

Garrett Owens kicked two field goals for Arroyo Grande. Matt McAustin threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Kelly Shepard.

Atascadero 49, Lompoc 35

At Atascadero Sterling Bullard ran for three touchdowns and Jesse Whitten threw for two, to Gavin Cracknell, to help the Greyhounds win this PAC-7 League game.

Atascadero moved to 2-1, 6-2. Lompoc (0-4, 0-8) had its highest scoring game of the season.

No statistics for the Braves were available.