Football Roundup: Atwater pulls away from El Capitan, Le Grand rallies in second half
Atwater High School quarterback James Bell rushed for a touchdown and threw for another score as the Falcons defeated El Capitan 30-10 on Friday night.
Bell started the scoring for Atwater (2-1 Central California Conference, 4-3 overall) with a 6-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter.
After the Gauchos (0-3 CCC, 3-4) tied the game, Grayson Soto kicked a 37-yard field goal to give Atwater a 10-7 lead with 7:45 left in the second quarter. It was the first of three made field goals on the night for Soto.
Bell connected with Jose Ramirez on a touchdown pass to give the Falcons a 17-7 lead at the half.
Atwater quarterback AJ Banks found receiver Seneca Ybarra Jr. for a 24-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter to extend the lead to 27-7.
Central Valley 47, Buhach Colony 40 — The Hawks stopped the Thunder on fourth down just outside of the Hawks’ 20-yard line with under two minutes left to win a wild shootout in Atwater.
Thunder quarterback PJ Curran threw four touchdowns, including three times to Gionni LaPlante.
Charles Peterson returned a fumble 75 for a touchdown for the Thunder that tied the game at 26-26 early in the third quarter.
Amir Drakeford scored three rushing touchdowns for Central Valley (2-0 CCC, 4-2 overall).
Buhach Colony dropped to 0-3 in the CCC and 0-7 overall.
Los Banos 46, Mountain House 22 — Quarterback David Herrera rushed for 205 yards and three touchdowns to help the Tigers improve to 3-0 in the Western Athletic Conference and 5-1 overall.
The Los Banos defense recorded nine sacks, including three from both Jett Lindeman and Philip Vanderpoel.
Los Banos running back Josh Alvarenga added 20 carries for 130 yards and a touchdown.
Le Grand 35, Denair 17 — The Bulldogs outscored the Coyotes 28-0 in the second half to erase a 10-point deficit at the half.
Le Grand star Reyes Diaz hauled in four touchdown catches from Diego Martinez, scoring on catches of 29, 58, 10 and 64 yards.
Martinez added a fifth touchdown pass to Brian Santos.
Diaz finished with six catches for 197 yards. Martinez completed 7 of 10 passes for 224 yards and the five scoring strikes.
Stone Ridge Christan 35, Elite 6 — Daijon O’Neil rushed for two touchdowns and quarterback Mario Perez tossed two touchdowns as the Knights (6-1) cruised to a victory.
Perez connected with Luke Agueda and Aiden Skeen for touchdowns.
Dos Palos 35, Avenal 0 (Thursday) — Broncos quarterback Peyton Van Worth threw two touchdowns and the Dos Palos defense stifled Avenal in the West Sierra League opener for both teams.
Dos Palos running back Andre Flores topped 100 yards and scored a touchdown.
The Broncos improved to 1-0 in the WSL and 5-1 overall.
Other Merced-area scores
Davis 31, Pacheco 13
Gustine 37, Delhi 6
Chowchilla 46, Riverdale 6
This story was originally published September 29, 2023 at 11:41 PM.
