HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL FINALS : Atascadero’s McGaughey Leaps Out of Bed, 42-30 : Southern Section Division IX: He has 202 yards and three touchdowns as Greyhounds down Nordhoff.

Those relentless Nordhoff Rangers finally relented.

Atascadero running back Ryan McGaughey, who lay in a hospital bed a week earlier, returned.

Did he ever.

The 5-foot-9, 160-pound senior rushed for 202 yards and two touchdowns in 32 carries, caught a touchdown pass of 13 yards and blocked an extra-point attempt to lead Atascadero to a 42-20 victory and its second consecutive Southern Section Division IX championship Saturday night.

McGaughey, who entered with 1,861 yards rushing, was hospitalized with viral meningitis during the Greyhounds’ semifinal victory over Harvard-Westlake the previous week. A return for the final was in doubt.

“He listened to the game on the radio last week while he was getting a spinal tap,” Atascadero Coach Larry Welsh said. “He said he was going to be here. And he came to play.”

He looked like he came out of the hospital with new legs as he rushed for 61 yards in six carries and scored on a 13-yard swing pass from Andrew McCrory in the Greyhounds’ opening drive.

And it was off to the races for Atascadero (10-4), which led, 20-7, after McGaughey’s one-yard dive with 1:48 left before halftime.

Nordhoff linebacker Russell Farrar threw him to the turf on the previous play on third and goal from the two-yard line.

But McGaughey wouldn’t be denied. On fourth down, he leaped over the pile at the line of scrimmage and leaned over the goal line.

“It was beautiful,” McGaughey said. “Everyone just jelled.”

A week earlier, Nordhoff (10-4) appeared to be a team of destiny by beating top-seeded Santa Ynez, 30-19, to reach a section championship game for the first time in school history.

But the Rangers looked sluggish and out of step against the quick, elusive McGaughey and the big offensive and defensive lines of Atascadero.

Running back Josh Hawkins rushed for 135 yards and scored all three Nordhoff touchdowns. He scored on runs of 11 and seven yards and romped 85 yards with a short pass from Mike Gardia. His combined rushing and receiving yards accounted for 245 of Nordhoff’s 255 yards of offense.

“I feel a little down,” Hawkins said. “We could have played better. We were flat and we couldn’t make anything happen.”

Nordhoff took a 7-6 lead on Hawkins’ 11-yard sweep in the first quarter. But the lead was short-lived.

Five plays later, Jordan Cunningham ran 51 yards for a score on a reverse pitch. Then came McGaughey’s one-yard plunge and a one-yard quarterback sneak by McCrory to make it 28-7 early in the third quarter.

Atascadero, which piled up 414 yards, 304 on the ground, could do no wrong. After Hawkins and McGaughey traded touchdowns, McCrory, on fourth and 11, threw into double coverage. Josh Brown leaped and caught the pass at the back of the end zone.

The defeat ended a seven-game winning streak by Nordhoff, which was 3-3 and struggling before beginning its march to the final.