Los Banos trio makes plays on both sides of ball

Dustin Caropreso and his coaching staff made the decision early in the summer.

The Los Banos High School football team’s star offensive trio of Adam Herrera, David Walker and Daniel Fernandez were too athletic and versatile not to see defensive reps. Caropreso believed the trio had the instincts to not just contribute, but excel on the defensive side of the ball.

In many ways, the move has gone even better than expected. Herrera, Walker and Fernandez have combined for 51 tackles and forced seven of the 14 turnovers by Tigers opponents, returning four for scores. That playmaking ability has helped elevate a good Los Banos defense to an elite level with the threat of a defensive score on every snap.

“We talked it over as a staff and looked at what we had coming back,” Caropreso said. “We came to the conclusion that all of them had to go both ways this year.

“Having Daniel at middle linebacker gives us a lot of versatility. His toughness and ability to go sideline to sideline is something a lot of teams can’t match. Then having two athletes like David and Adam on the back end at safety allows us to be more aggressive defensively. They’re guys that aren’t afraid to hit and can athletically match up with just about any skill player.

“It’s probably the natural position for all of them. If they go on to play at the next level, Adam and David probably end up somewhere in the secondary and Daniel will probably be used as a linebacker.”

Caropreso hopes the big defensive plays keep coming as Los Banos (5-1, 2-0 Western Athletic Conference) gets set to host Patterson (6-0, 2-0) Friday at Loftin Stadium in a game many believe will decide the WAC title. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Revenge will certainly be on Patterson’s mind after Los Banos shocked the Tigers 47-41 in overtime at their place a year ago.

“It’s going to be a tough one,” Fernandez said. “No doubt everybody knows that, but I think we can beat anyone if we do our jobs and play disciplined. Everybody thought this was the game that was going to decide league coming into the season. Through six weeks, nothing has changed.”

Discipline was the word of the day at Los Banos practice Tuesday.

The Patterson triple-option offense isn’t one Caropreso’s squad often sees and can be a handful if defensive players don’t stick with their assignments.

“Their whole game plan is to hit you with the run, hit you with the run, and then try to beat you over the top when you start sneaking toward the line of scrimmage,” Caropreso said. “It’s something we have to be aware of, because as well as our guys have played, we’ve been caught looking in the backfield a couple times.

“Adam got beat on a ball over the top last week doing just that. It doesn’t matter how fast you are, if a guy is going full speed and you take a couple steps in, he’s going to blow right past you.”

Herrera looks forward to the challenge on both sides of the ball. The senior quarterback acknowledged that playing both ways has been therapeutic at times.

“If I have a bad series offensively, it is pretty satisfying to go out and hit somebody on defense,” Herrera said. “This is definitely a game you look forward to. I said from the beginning of the season that this was going to be our biggest challenge.

“We’re ready for it.”

Los Banos isn’t the only team looking to keep the good times going.

Pacheco (3-4, 2-1 WAC) has won back-to-back games for the first time this season and has a chance to get back to .500 with a trip to Ceres (2-5, 1-2).

David Snapp’s squad seems to have turned a corner on both sides of the ball, averaging more than 44 points per game while yielding just 26 the past two weeks.

It’s a classic matchup of contrasting styles with the Bulldogs airing it out 31 times per game. Pacheco will counter with its improving ball-control ground game. The Panthers have averaged 45 carries and 364 rushing yards the past two games.

This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Los Banos trio makes plays on both sides of ball."