Hilmar’s running game finds its footing in the second half in win over Los Banos
Hilmar High running back Luis Vargas rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the second half alone, and the Yellowjackets defense dominated as Hilmar picked up its first win of the season with a 21-7 victory over Los Banos on Friday night at McSweeney Stadium.
The game was a rematch of a first-round playoff game last November won by Hilmar easily, 61-27.
This time it was much tighter as the game went into the half tied 7-7.
Los Banos (1-1) struck first as Jamison Braniff blocked a punt and recovered the ball in the end zone to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead over the Yellowjackets just four plays into the game.
Hilmar answered back with a nine-play drive that covered 62 yards as Jax Branco scored on a 3-yard touchdown run to tie the game 7-7 with 3:54 left in the first quarter.
Branco made some key plays at the right time for the Yellowjackets as he finished with 65 yards rushing and receiving combined.
“I think the player of the game is Jax Branco,” said Hilmar coach Frank Marques, whose team improved to 1-1. “That kid made some really tough catches. He ran the ball really tough when he had to. He made some great blocks on the edge.”
Both defenses stood strong the rest of the half. Hilmar tried to take the lead on the final play of the half, but McKade Jensen’s 39-yard field goal attempt hit the crossbar.
Los Banos received the second-half kickoff and Tigers coach Dustin Caropreso gambled early going for it on fourth-and-two on Los Banos’s own 28-yard line on the first possession of the second half.
The Yellowjackets stopped Tigers quarterback David Herrera for a two-yard loss on fourth down.
Two plays later, Vargas scored on a 26-yard touchdown run around the left side to give Hilmar a 14-7 lead with 8:57 left in the third quarter.
“That’s on me,” Caropreso said. “I basically thought if we can get something on them there, we got the momentum. They guessed right and we guessed wrong. It put us in a bad spot. That put us on a short field and they turn around and score. The momentum went back to them. I’m the head coach. I made the decision to go for it and it backfired.”
The Hilmar defense forced two turnovers on fumbles in the second half and turned the Tigers offense over on downs twice in the second half. Players like Derek Taylor, Luke Cox and Dakota Maynard were flying around on defense for Hilmar.
Meanwhile, the Yellowjackets’ ground game got going as Vargas found the end zone a second time with a 4-yard touchdown run.
Vargas finished with 132 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.
“I don’t think we had it going in the beginning,” Vargas said. “We had a little talk at halftime and fixed some little things. Our offense got going, our O-line started making some blocks and we started playing Hilmar football.”
The Yellowjackets have another tough matchup next week at Sonora. Los Banos will host Orestimba.
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 11:40 PM.
