Sterling Bullard is listed at just 5-8 and 175 pounds in the game program. But the Atascadero running back seemed much bigger to Arroyo Grande, Friday night.

Bullard rushed for 218 yards and four touchdowns to lead Atascadero to a stunning 37-14 rout of Arroyo Grande in a PAC-7 showdown. The loss dropped the Eagles to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in league and from a first-place tie with Righetti.

"Boy he ran really hard tonight," Arroyo Grande Coach Tom Goossen said. "He doesn't do anything really fancy but just comes right after you."

From the outset it was clear that Atascadero was ready to throw its entire playbook at the Eagles, needing the win to keep any hopes of a league title alive. The Greyhounds improved to 3-1 in league and 7-2 overall.

"We knew this was our chance to play for the league championship and we didn't want to hold anything back," Atascadero Coach Vic Cooper said.

Arroyo Grande plays Righetti next Friday while Atascadero has its annual North County showdown with Paso Robles. Wins by Arroyo Grande and Atascadero would create a three-way tie for the title.

Cooper was not surprised by Bullard's big night, but he certainly was impressed. "What he did tonight was pretty special. He had a whole lot of yards after the initial contact," Cooper said.

For the second-straight week, Arroyo Grande was without the services of running back Christian Crichton. "He has been battling an injury and we don't want to put a kid at risk," Goossen said.

With Crichton standing on the sidelines, the Eagles had a difficult time establishing a solid ground game, but Goossen didn't blame the injury bug on the loss.

"It certainly didn't help us that he was out, but that wasn't the reason we lost the game. They beat us in all phases, offense, defense and the kicking game," Goossen said.

Atascadero used a 36-yard punt return by Joseph Dodds to set up its first score of the game, a 39-yard field goal by Dodds. The Greyhounds followed with a perfectly executed onside kick to get the ball right back in great field position. Then it was time for Bullard to steal the show. Carrying the ball eight of the nine plays, Bullard capped off the drive with a 1-yard scoring run for a 10-0 lead with just less than four minutes left in the opening quarter.

Arroyo Grande came to life with a four-play, 70-yard scoring drive, highlighted by a 53-yard pass from Matt McAustin to Russell Perkins and finished off by a 17-yard pass from McAustin to Ciaran Costa.

But Atascadero was on a roll and there was no stopping the ground game led by Bullard. The Greyhounds went 85 yards in eight plays with Bullard again scoring from the one.

AG was moving the ball again, but Troy Norris' interception of a McAustin pass ended the threat. Later in the second quarter, Arroyo Grande pinned Atascadero deep in its own territory and forced a punt, but a fumble gave the Greyhounds great field position again, and three plays later, Bullard went 31 yards for another touchdown with just less than a minute left in the half.

AG wasn't ready to head to the locker room yet and put together a lightning fast 80-yard scoring drive as McAustin connected with four different receivers before Perkins scored on a 1-yard run with 12 seconds left in the half, cutting the lead to 23-14.

The Eagles weren't able to maintain that momentum after the intermission.