Los Banos thumps Vanden

LOS BANOS -- The Sac-Joaquin Section Division 3 playoff opener between No. 13 Vanden of Fairfield and No. 4 Los Banos was a shootout between Tigers running back James Sams and Vanden quarterback Ben Scott.

But LB's defense and offensive line got involved as well, leading the Tigers to a 56-18 victory Friday night in Los Banos.

"We came out hard the first play and hit them in the mouth, and they kind of settled down a little bit," left tackle Bryce Howard said. "They didn't want to go anymore."

LB's line gave Sams plenty of room to operate, and the junior finished with 232 yards and five touchdowns on 32 carries.

"I just am so excited about our O-line. They just dominated," Los Banos coach Dennis Stubbs said. "Paul Jacob (fullback) was just -- that's what we've been wanting him to do for the last three years. He was on a mission, and Sams, the guy just finds a little crease and he takes it."

Vanden's Scott needed 98 yards to break the Fairfield city record for career passing yards, and achieved that with a 3-yard pass to Christian Basden in the second quarter, part of a 24-of-38, 289-yard night. LB's defense bent but didn't break, allowing Vanden into the end zone three Scott passes -- two to Christian Basden.

"We did well, but we can do way better," LB middle linebacker Adrian Rivas said. "We can shut them out every single game, every single play. That's the kind of defense we have."

The nail in the coffin came at the end of the first half, when Vanden called a timeout before punting, leaving LB with the ball on the 50 and 1 second to work with. Quarterback Chris Corpuz hit Tommy Wright over the middle, and Wright weaved his way to a touchdown. The score, along with Sams' first four, put Los Banos up 36-12.

"We knew we had to stop the run against these guys," Vanden coach LeVon Haynes said. "They run the ball hard and they run it very well between the tackles, so we knew we had to come in and stick some hats to these guys.

"Unfortunately we didn't play 48 minutes of football like that, we only played maybe 5 or 10."

Garrett Mentz added another rushing touchdown for the Tigers in the fourth quarter, and Rivas added the exclamation point with a 67-yard interception return.