Herrera sparks Tigers

Adam Herrera made sure his final Westside War was a memorable one.

The Los Banos quarterback-linebacker displayed his all-around versatility on both sides of the ball on Friday night at Loftin Stadium. The senior rushed for three touchdowns, passed for another and forced a pair of turnovers on defense as the Tigers rolled to a 43-6 victory over Dos Palos.

The win makes it five straight for the Tigers over the Broncos and cuts the all-time series lead to 42-29-6.

Herrera finished the night 6 of 10 passing for 128 yards, rushed 12 times for 90 yards and had a interception. He also had a hand in the Tigers’ first four touchdowns.

“It was a good performance by him,” Los Banos coach Dustin Caropreso said. “The kid busts his butt every day at practice. I was glad he had a big night.”

Herrera opened the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and then hit Dalton King with a 63-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to send LB (3-1) into the half up 14-0.

The Tigers’ defense, led by Herrera and Anthony Machado (eight tackles, three sacks), helped break the game open in the third quarter, forcing three turnovers to set up short fields. Herrera scored on runs of nine and seven yards, and Daniel Fernandez capped the quarter with a nine-yard touchdown run of his own to all but put the game away.

“Our defense has been playing their butts off,” Caropreso said “We challenged the team at halftime. We got a great kick return to open the second half that set up a quick score and then we forced a turnover to set up another one.

“We put the throttle to the floor after that and didn’t let them hang around in the game. Our kids are fired up about the victory.”

Alex Flores helped Dos Palos (1-2) avoid the shutout, punching the ball in from one-yard out in the fourth quarter.

This story was originally published September 19, 2015 at 1:05 AM with the headline "Herrera sparks Tigers."