Buhach Colony football star rushes for over 300 yards, 4 TDs in playoff win over Los Banos
Jaxson Percoats continued his assault on the Buhach Colony High School record book on Friday night to help lead the No. 9 seeded Thunder to a 64-48 victory over No. 8 Los Banos in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs at Loftin Stadium.
Percoats push on a show, rushing for 346 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries to break the previous single-game rushing record of 321 yards, which was held by Cory Chapman.
Percoats also came in needing just 3 yards to break the BC all-time rushing record of 2,671, which was held by Dallon Muse.
Percoats sort of shrugged off any talk of records and focused on his team advancing in the postseason.
“It means just the world to me that we got another win in the playoffs,” said Percoats, who also set the single-season rushing record this season. “We get to move on to the next team.”
Both teams put on an offensive showcase with both teams combining for 112 points.
The game was close as both teams race up and down the field before the Thunder (5-6) pulled away in the fourth quarter.
“It seemed like we scored too fast some times,” said Buhach Colony coach Jerry Dietz. “Some games are defense has been helping us. Tonight the offense came through when the defensive struggled a bit.”
Buhach Colony threw one pass in the game and it was intercepted.
The rest of the night the Thunder kept it on the ground and for good reason as they racked up 542 yards rushing and scored touchdowns on nine of their first 10 possessions.
“Our offense was explosive tonight,” said junior Eric Thrasher, who rushed for 139 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown.
Junior Julian Ruiz added two touchdown runs for Buhach Colony.
Los Banos (8-3) kept pace with the Thunder until early in the third quarter.
Tigers quarterback David Herrera ran for two scores and threw two touchdowns. His second touchdown pass came following Los Banos recovering an onside kick. He connected with Kayson Welch on an 8-yard scoring strike that pulled the Tigers within 41-40 early in the fourth quarter.
However, a missed extra point prevented the Tigers from pulling even with the Thunder.
“When we got the onside kick and then we score and miss the extra point, I think it deflated us,” said Los Banos coach Dustin Caropreso. “We had been chasing them all night and we weren’t able to pull even. Instead we were still behind.”
Buhach Colony quickly seized momentum back, scoring two plays later as Thrasher broke free for a 62-yard touchdown run. Percoats added a 60-yard touchdown run on the Thunder’s next possession to extend the lead to 57-40 with 8:04 left in the game.
“He’s a special player,” Caropreso said. “They figured out our weakness and they attacked it.”
Buhach Colony advances to face No. 1 seed Vanden (9-1) next week in the quarterfinals.
”It’s really special to get another week with this senior group,” Dietz said. “With Percoats and those guys and the time they put in.”
