Guerrero’s last-second catch gives Los Banos dramatic playoff win

With no timeouts left and the clock quickly ticking down, Daniel Guerrero made sure he secured the first down.

The Los Banos High School junior wide receiver ran a hitch route at the El Dorado 6-yard line and quickly realized he had space. Guerrero turned upfield and absorbed a blow at the 2-yard line. His 5-foot-7, 135-pound frame spun with the would-be tackle and stretched out for the pylon while falling backward.

He landed across the goal line with 28 seconds to play, sending the Loftin Stadium crowd into a frenzy and giving the Tigers a dramatic 23-20 victory over El Dorado in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs Friday night.

The fourth-seeded Tigers will head to No. 1 Manteca for a semifinal Nov. 18.

“I ran a little hitch and I caught the ball,” Guerrero said. “I turned around and looked at the pylon and just drove myself, trying to get the touchdown.

“I just heard the crowd cheering. My teammates cheered me on. I got tears of joy after that.”

On an evening when the bulk of the Los Banos offense couldn’t get out of neutral, Guerrero was the exception. His big-play ability accounted for most of the Tigers’ points, including two touchdown catches in the fourth quarter that helped erase a 10-point deficit.

He hinted at the kind of evening ahead of him on the first play, returning the opening kickoff 90 yards to give Los Banos (8-3) a 7-0 lead just 13 seconds into the game.

It was a bit of serendipity that even had him back there. Harvin Manzanarez, the Tigers’ usual return man, missed a practice last week and consequently didn’t start. Guerrero took advantage of the opportunity, exploding up the middle of the field and racing away for the score.

That was about all that went right for Los Banos offensively in the opening half.

Quarterback Christian Corral was stripped on the Tigers’ first offensive series, handing El Dorado the ball at the Los Banos 41-yard line. The Cougars (8-3) took advantage, grinding out a 10-play drive. El Dorado star Chris Volek took a wide receiver screen 13 yards for a tying touchdown.

The Cougars went on top on Los Banos’ next play from scrimmage, as Corral was intercepted by Hank Haisemeier, who returned it 24 yards for a touchdown.

With its offense struggling, the Tiger defense rose to the challenge. Los Banos limited El Dorado to 107 total yards in the first half and intercepted quarterback Aaron Golmitz twice to prevent the Cougars from expanding the lead. Francisco Araiza’s first of two interceptions even helped Los Banos trim the lead at intermission by setting up a field goal.

In his first varsity game, Chase Ferreria drilled a 35-yard field goal to make it 14-10.

“We felt OK at halftime,” Tigers coach Dustin Caropreso said. “They weren’t doing much against our defense. All of their points were off of turnovers. We felt like if we could hold onto the ball in the second half that we’d be fine.”

The Tiger defense was even better after the break, forcing two more turnovers and recording seven of its nine sacks. Its only mistake came on a momentary loss of concentration at the end of the third quarter, as the Cougars burned the Tigers with a fake punt. Volek caught a 33-yard TD pass on the play to push El Dorado’s lead to 20-10 late in the third quarter.

“There was definitely some tension tonight,” said middle linebacker Vincent Alvarez, who finished with 13 tackles and 1.5 sacks. “The fake punt was a major blow. We allowed ourselves five seconds to be (mad), and then we regrouped and got back after it. One of the things we’re taught is mental discipline, and I think we showed it tonight.”

The momentum swung back Los Banos’ way when a punt took a funny bounce and glanced off El Dorado’s returner, handing the Tigers a short field. Corral struck two plays later, hitting Guerrero (three catches, 86 yards) for a 31-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to trim the lead to 20-17.

It remained that way until the final two minutes. The Los Banos defense made one last stand, and the Tigers took over at their 20 with 2:15 to play and no timeouts. After failing to go more than 25 yards on a drive the entire evening, the Tigers marched 80 yards in six plays to win the game.

A Guerrero 44-yard reception on a screen pass was the key. He won the game with his third touchdown of the night three plays later.

“A lot of our problems tonight were self-inflicted,” Caropreso said. “We didn’t take care of the ball in the first half. We took uncharacteristic penalties and always seemed to be behind the sticks. But we found a way to win.

“We’re going to have to play much better against Manteca, but what matters is we still have a chance.”

This story was originally published November 12, 2016 at 12:38 AM with the headline "Guerrero’s last-second catch gives Los Banos dramatic playoff win."