Los Banos aims to contend for title in new-look Western Athletic Conference.

Adrian Atangan gave the Los Banos High football team an impact player at middle linebacker late last season after sitting out the first half after transferring from Central Catholic.

The 6-foot, 195-pound Atangan recorded 52 tackles in five games, helping the Tigers finish the season with a 9-2 record.

The junior linebacker teams with third-year starter at middle linebacker Patrick Nunes to give the Tigers a strong linebacker group that will help anchor the defense. After coming up just one game short of winning Western Athletic Conference championships the past two seasons, Los Banos would like to win the new-look WAC this season.

With Patterson and Central Valley headed to the Central California Conference and Livingston headed to the Trans-Valley League this season with the Sac-Joaquin Section realignment, the WAC looks to be a wide open race.

Grace Davis, Beyer, Johansen, Lathrop, and Mountain House join Los Banos, Pacheco and Ceres in the new WAC. With a mix of speed and size, Los Banos should be in the mix again for the conference title.

“We have a lot of chemistry and a lot of hype on defense,” Atangan said. “We work together and when we do that we get hyped. Our linebackers and defensive line are pretty strong. We’re very athletic. Our defense probably isn’t the biggest, but we have a lot of speed.”

The Tigers offense looks to be very fast too.

Running back Antonio Lopez returns after rushing for 1,318 yards and 16 touchdowns despite missing two games with an injury and only carrying the ball four times against Pacheco.

Junior Justin Incaprera was called up as a sophomore when Lopez went down with an injury and rushed for 309 yards and two touchdowns in just 22 carries in two games. He averaged 14 yards per carry.

Lopez and Incaprera give the Tigers an explosive tag team out of the backfield.

“I got acclimated to (varsity) last year,” Incaprera said. “I got a feel for it so I won’t just be jumping into it this year.”

“We’ve got two running backs, we feel we have a quarterback that can get the ball out to receivers,” said Los Banos coach Dustin Caropreso. “Are we going to be just as explosive as we were last year? I’m not sure, but I couldn’t have told you last year we would have done that.”

The Tigers entered camp with three players vying for the quarterback job in Colby Copp, Connor Cascia and Dasani Tate. Whoever wins the job will have some big targets at receiver to work with, including Landon Ramos. The junior caught 15 passes for 353 yards and six touchdowns last season.

This is a team that has postseason aspirations.

“I want to experience it. For that to happen we have to be a really good team,” Incaprera said. “I think we’re looking good. Everything is coming together.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2018 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Los Banos aims to contend for title in new-look Western Athletic Conference.."