Los Banos’ Machado year’s top WAC defensive player

Anthony Machado had to bide his time.

The Los Banos senior wore a lot of hats during his three years on the varsity football team, playing on the offensive line as a sophomore and the defensive line as junior.

After filling a couple holes out of necessity, Machado moved to a more natural position of outside linebacker for his senior-season campaign. He made the most of the opportunity. Machado led the Tigers in tackles and became a regular nightmare for offensive coordinators around the Western Athletic Conference.

The league took note and Machado was named the WAC Outstanding Defensive Player. It’s Los Banos’ second straight season taking home the honor: Alec Barcellos earned the nod a season ago.

Patterson running back/corerback Michael Lawson, meanwhile, was named league MVP; Central Valley running back Moses Ghiorso was named the Outstanding Offensive Player; and Ceres’ Seth Gibson earned Outstanding Special Teams Player to round out the major awards.

“I definitely felt more at home at linebacker,” Machado said. “You just read the lineman and then react and play football. I loved being able to move around and then fly to the ball.

“When I found out I got the award I was at a loss for words. I didn’t really think it was a possibility the way we fell apart at the end of the season. It means a lot to have finished fourth and still be recognized like that. I’m honored.”

Considering the team’s late-season struggles, Los Banos coach Dustin Caropreso was pleased with the Tigers’ representation on the all-league team in general.

Los Banos had the most of area teams with five players. Joining Machado were quarterback Adam Herrera, offensive lineman Jacob Geist, defensive lineman Carlos Pineda and inside linebacker Mason Leal.

“I thought we got what we deserved,” Caropreso said. “If we win one or two more games, we probably get a couple more guys on there. It shows that we had the guys, though. We didn’t get it done on the field at the end of the season, but the rest of the league still respected the performances we gave.”

Pacheco and El Capitan were the two other local squads with first-team representatives.

Running back Carlos Garcia, offensive lineman Thor Rodoni and safety Chris Munoz earned first-team nods for the Pacheco Panthers, while offensive lineman Art Prieto represented the El Capitan Gauchos.

Running back Daniel Fernandez, wide receiver Kevin Spencer and offensive lineman Gilbert Pena of Los Banos; offensive lineman Nick Saballa, offensive lineman Michael Fa, linebacker Ryan Dumagan of Pacheco; and wide receiver Elijah Reid, offensive lineman Reno Bandoni and linebacker Dustyn Greggains of El Capitan were named to the second team.

This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Los Banos’ Machado year’s top WAC defensive player."