Prep football roundup: Herrera runs wild in Los Banos win
Adam Herrera has made a lot of improvement with his passing in his year plus as a quarterback.
The Los Banos senior has improved his footwork, is better at reading defenses and has learned to trust his receivers. But for all the progress Herrera has made with his arm, he still tends to be the most dangerous runner on the field.
He showed why on Friday night, rushing for 316 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries. Herrera passed for two more scores and Los Banos cruised to a 59-20 victory over El Capitan at Stadium ’76.
The win sets up a highly-anticipated matchup next week with undefeated Patterson coming to Los Banos.
“It’s got to be pretty close to a record,” Los Banos coach Dustin Caropreso said. “I think (James) Sams went for 300 something a few years ago against Manteca, but it was definitely a special night.
“His game has become so well rounded, I honestly don’t know how you stop him these days.”
Herrera wasn’t the only star to shine for the Tigers (5-1, 2-0 Western Athletic Conference) on Friday night.
David Walker caught touchdown passes of 27 and 15 yards and returned an interception 66 yards for a score, all in the opening quarter, as LB raced out to a 22-0 lead.
Daniel Fernandez took one of his two interceptions to the house and added a rushing score.
Chase Whitaker and the El Capitan (2-5, 1-2) passing game got going at the end of the second quarter with a couple long TD passes to Marcos Dinkins. Elijah Reid added a 93-yard touchdown reception in the second half.
The Gauchos were without star running back Joshua Stewart, who missed the game with a sprained ankle.
“Our defense didn’t quite play as well as it had been, but we still forced four interceptions,” Caropreso said. “We got in some bad coverages and got beat a few times, but I felt overall it was still a good performance.
“We played our starters through the third, which was a goal and we got out of the game healthy. Now it’s on to Patterson.”
Pacheco 42, Livingston 13 at Los Banos – The Panthers jumped out to an early 35-0 lead on five rushing touchdowns and cruised past the Wolves.
Chris Munoz started the scoring barrage with a 56-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Aric Barton broke free for a 53-yard touchdown and Tk Teneng scored on a pair of runs in the first half.
Pacheco improved to 3-4 and 2-1 in the Western Athletic Conference. Livingston dropped to 1-6 and 0-3.
Gustine 44, Denair 0 at Denair – Sebastian Figueroa threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns as the Redskins remained unbeaten at 6-0 and 3-0 in the SL.
Figueroa threw two touchdowns to Jeremiah Laupua of 16 and 23 yards. Figuero also connected with Brandon LaBry on a 40-yard screen pass for a touchdown.
The Redskins defense recorded their third shutout of the season. Figueroa now has 13 touchdown passes this season.
Delhi 51, Le Grand 24 at Le Grand – Jesse Flores scored two touchdowns on runs of 3 and 70 yards to help the Hawks (4-2, 1-2 Southern League) run away with a win over the Bulldogs.
Le Grand quarterback Beto Marquez threw three touchdowns to Jose Renteria on plays of 50, 7 and 47 yards. Marquez has thrown five touchdowns to Renteria the last two games.
The Bulldogs dropped to 0-6 and 0-3 in the SL.
Chowchilla 46, Kerman 21 at Kerman – The Redskins’ defense produced three touchdowns – Alex Gutierrez’s 32-yard fumble return and interception returns of 27 and 25 yards by Ronnie Reyes and Damon Perry, respectively – to spoil Kerman’s Tom Hanks homecoming in the North Sequoia League opener.
Chowchilla (5-1, 1-0) was led offensively by Anthony Stewart, who rushed for 113 yards and touchdowns of 60, 11 and 9 yards, and Gutierrez, who rushed for 164 yards.
For Kerman (2-3, 0-1), Sean Chambers was 18 of 39 for 158 yards and two TDs and also rushed 11 times for 45 yards. He was intercepted four times.
This story was originally published October 10, 2015 at 1:12 AM with the headline "Prep football roundup: Herrera runs wild in Los Banos win."