Atwater rallies past Los Banos 35-34 in wild CCC finale comeback
For Atwater, Friday night was another wild chapter in a season defined by close finishes.
The Falcons, who already had endured multiple overtimes and a one-point game this fall, delivered one final heart-stopper by erasing a 13-point deficit to stun Los Banos 35-34 in the Central California Conference regular-season finale at Loftin Stadium.
Senior quarterback Ali Banks Jr. accounted for four total touchdowns — three passing and one rushing — as Atwater (6-4, 3-2 CCC) rallied late to spoil Los Banos’ senior night and deny the Tigers a chance to clinch a Division IV playoff berth.
Los Banos (5-5, 3-2 CCC) appeared in command most of the evening behind senior quarterback Gavin Estrada, who threw four touchdown passes and ran for another. He spread the ball efficiently to Jack Goodger, Carmello Smith, and Joshua Gargano, while running back Raul Diaz kept the Falcons off balance with 22 carries for 95 yards. Estrada’s fourth scoring throw to Gargano gave Los Banos a 34-21 lead at the end of the third quarter and appeared to secure the program’s first postseason berth in Division IV.
But Atwater never flinched.
The Falcons answered with a 7-play drive ending with a 1-yard score on the ground by Durrell Morrison, cutting the deficit to six points.
After a Los Banos turnover on downs, the Falcons had just over five minutes remaining in the contest for a comeback drive.
Banks launched a 24-yard strike to Charlie Whitby for the go-ahead score as the Falcons erased a 13-point Tigers lead.
Los Banos drove inside the Atwater 5-yard line in the final minute, but a turnover-on-downs ended the threat and set off a jubilant Falcons celebration.
Head coach Seneca Ybarra said he trusted his team to finish.
“All year we’ve been the next-man-up team,” Ybarra said. “We just keep playing four quarters — that’s what it’s all about. I wasn’t worried about the score, just whether we could get another stop and another score.”
He credited his defense for flipping momentum and his senior quarterback for leading the charge.
“It starts with defense,” Ybarra said. “Our coordinator made great calls, the kids executed, and our quarterback was phenomenal again — like he’s been all year.”
Banks said the Falcons focused on execution rather than the scoreboard.
“Just play by play,” Banks said. “I was trusting Coach Ybarra with the calls. All the seniors — it’s our last regular-season game — we had to go out with a bang.”
Austin, who caught the go-ahead touchdown, said the Falcons felt slighted by the senior-night setup.
“They scheduled us for their senior night, so it was disrespectful in a sense,” Austin said. “We just had to let them know.”
For Ybarra, the comeback capped a season of adversity and narrow margins.
“It feels like we’ve played eight seasons in one,” he said. “But to see the guys persevere and finish like this — that’s what you want.”
The loss leaves Los Banos anxiously awaiting the Sac-Joaquin Section’s playoff brackets. A win would have locked up a postseason berth; now the Tigers will hope their 5-5 record and section ranking keeps them alive.
The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Football Playoffs brackets will be released tomorrow on the section’s website.
